4 ms·

Of course, the situation is different because we're smarter than they are ;) First, we aren't the real elite. Founders are yeoman project managers at best, eng

Of course, the situation is different because we're smarter than they are ;) First, we aren't the real elite. Founders are yeoman project managers at best, engineers are less than that-- not even able to raise a family in the Valley-- and even the venture capitalists are, for the most part, merely junior elite. I'm not so sure about that claim, anyway, given that IQ is relative. The intellectual edge of the modern elite is quite thin, by historical standards. The upper-class average IQ is generally held to be in the upper 100s-- no higher than 110-- even if class is defined to include social connections, respectability, and educational pedigree in addition to income. So the upper class is only about 0.5-0.7 standard deviations smarter than the general population. That's not that much. They're also a small elite: less than 0.1% is running the world. For every Davos Man, there are 10,000 people wanting to see him fall. In any pool of that size, there are some fiercely smart people. Compare that to the medieval elite, which had superior nutrition by far. They had what would be close to average height and intelligence today. Charlemagne (Charles the Great) was considered a giant. He was about 6 feet tall. Average people were a foot shorter, and were probably at an IQ level around 70-75.

neilk 14y ago
> Average people were a foot shorter, and were probably at an IQ level around 70-75. A foot shorter, yes (we know this from all sorts of physical evidence) but how do we know the average IQ? They also might have spent their mental processing power differently. Medieval people trained their memory much more - I think this also extended to the average peasant, but I can't find a reference right now.
- stcredzero 14y ago
  What I read from authors like Jared Diamond indicates to me that this is too often couched in ethnocentric terms and was heavily dependent on nutrition. In a highly extractive, oppressive state, I could believe people might be oppressed into a lower IQ. I'd also suspect that those regions would be out-competed by regions where the average people had better diets and whose intelligence is average. In the wilds of Papua New Guinea, lots of highlanders meeting us there would consider us clumsy and stupid and wonder how we run a complex civilization.
stcredzero 14y ago
> First, we aren't the real elite. Founders are yeoman project managers at best, engineers are less than that-- not even able to raise a family in the Valley-- and even the venture capitalists are, for the most part, merely junior elite. I bet a lot of folks in France between 1789 and 1799 were paraphrasing, "I'm not a real aristo," or "I'm only a minor aristo." Note that the junior elite is more likely to be left as scapegoats to the mob, while the real elites will have the resources to escape. And you do realize, as a smart, hip, dare I say elite person, that the ;) was a signal of sarcasm.

neilk 14y ago

> Average people were a foot shorter, and were probably at an IQ level around 70-75. A foot shorter, yes (we know this from all sorts of physical evidence) but how do we know the average IQ? They also might have spent their mental processing power differently. Medieval people trained their memory much more - I think this also extended to the average peasant, but I can't find a reference right now.

stcredzero 14y ago
What I read from authors like Jared Diamond indicates to me that this is too often couched in ethnocentric terms and was heavily dependent on nutrition. In a highly extractive, oppressive state, I could believe people might be oppressed into a lower IQ. I'd also suspect that those regions would be out-competed by regions where the average people had better diets and whose intelligence is average. In the wilds of Papua New Guinea, lots of highlanders meeting us there would consider us clumsy and stupid and wonder how we run a complex civilization.

stcredzero 14y ago

> First, we aren't the real elite. Founders are yeoman project managers at best, engineers are less than that-- not even able to raise a family in the Valley-- and even the venture capitalists are, for the most part, merely junior elite. I bet a lot of folks in France between 1789 and 1799 were paraphrasing, "I'm not a real aristo," or "I'm only a minor aristo." Note that the junior elite is more likely to be left as scapegoats to the mob, while the real elites will have the resources to escape. And you do realize, as a smart, hip, dare I say elite person, that the ;) was a signal of sarcasm.