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> Wealth is super correlated. The top of the chart are exlusively industrialized democracies. The bottom are exclusively impoverished (and mostly unstable) back

by brabel 7y ago

> Wealth is super correlated. The top of the chart are exlusively industrialized democracies. The bottom are exclusively impoverished (and mostly unstable) backwaters. Exactly... one may conclude from this one of two things: * countries become wealthy for unrelated reasons, allowing its populace to get wealthier and achieve a higher IQ. * people with higher IQ can generate more wealth, hence countries with higher average IQ become wealthier. I think that the first hypothesis may be true in certain cases, e.g. oil-rich places... but it seems more likely to me that the second hypothesis is correct, after all I would expect a group of more intelligent people to achieve more than a group of less intelligent people, or is that a polemic claim?

skybrian 7y ago
It's ignoring history. When a country starts out poor and becomes rich, or suffers a setback, this is better explained by other events in their history. Things like wars.
mcguire 7y ago
Absolutely. It's why Finland, Germany, and Britain have always been the center of human cultural development. And why Asia certainly did not spend any time in the "Third World" category and positively never fell victim to European colonialism.
papln 7y ago
> I would expect a group of more intelligent people to achieve more than a group of less intelligent people, or is that a polemic claim? Imagine if a bunch of "more intelligent" people invent a nuclear bomb and blow themselves up (might yet happen), or discover the amazing properties of lead and poison their brains across an entire civilization (already happened). then the less intelligent people might achieve more, eh? Let's dive right into a big racial/IQ claim: Jews have above average IQ. Assuming that, that makes them more successful as a group, perhaps? On the other hand, starting from say 1930, Jews were absolutely horrific at average achievement, thanks to the Nazi Holocaust. If the Jews were less intelligent, perhaps they would have blended into society better (after all, Jews don't look especially different, except for Jews that kept their mating pools limited) and been less noticeable by the Nazis.

by brabel 7y ago

skybrian 7y ago

It's ignoring history. When a country starts out poor and becomes rich, or suffers a setback, this is better explained by other events in their history. Things like wars.

mcguire 7y ago

Absolutely. It's why Finland, Germany, and Britain have always been the center of human cultural development. And why Asia certainly did not spend any time in the "Third World" category and positively never fell victim to European colonialism.

papln 7y ago

> I would expect a group of more intelligent people to achieve more than a group of less intelligent people, or is that a polemic claim? Imagine if a bunch of "more intelligent" people invent a nuclear bomb and blow themselves up (might yet happen), or discover the amazing properties of lead and poison their brains across an entire civilization (already happened). then the less intelligent people might achieve more, eh? Let's dive right into a big racial/IQ claim: Jews have above average IQ. Assuming that, that makes them more successful as a group, perhaps? On the other hand, starting from say 1930, Jews were absolutely horrific at average achievement, thanks to the Nazi Holocaust. If the Jews were less intelligent, perhaps they would have blended into society better (after all, Jews don't look especially different, except for Jews that kept their mating pools limited) and been less noticeable by the Nazis.