Posted on 09/23/2023 4:33:24 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Bell Curve don’t lie
You beat me to it!
I'm looking at my copy of this great book sitting on my bookshelf even as I type. A very well-researched and profound book.
The Bell Curve factor is a major contributor, but there is much more to this story. Much more.
Why Do The Poor Countries Always Stay So Poor?
Corruption recall for years the tons of food and supplies the U.S. sent to 3rd work countries and it all ended up in warehouses by the leaders and it’s still going on.
Kickbacks is a long term game plan.
Poor countries remain poor for the same reason that corrupt and incompetent leaders of companies go bankrupt.
I agree wholeheartedly with the theme of your comments.
I do wonder, though, what is your source that genetics is not a contributing factor and, in particular, your source for the increased IQ since published by the Bell Curve almost 30 years ago (Polish vs. Germany, etc.).
While I agree in theory, in reality if you have little money and mouths to feed and shelter to secure you don’t have a lot of time to think about building things. You’re in survival mode. If, on the other hand, you’re spending your meager excess on smokes, dope, alcohol or shiny things then I agree wholeheartedly with your contention.
We used to have a term for that when I was young, but it uses a derogatory term not allowed to be uttered in polite society.
Discuss among yourselves.
In my opinion, even if you are in survival mode, you sometimes have to say “fckt” and do what you have to do. If you just buy one thing wholesale to resell at retail and then do it again, you’re on the road to long term prosperity.
You sometimes have to hurt yourself more than you are hurting to create the conditions to end up hurting yourself less.
They aren't Cleaning up, or doing anything but sleeping....
they aren’t that smart or motivated to work maybe.they keep having babies they can’t feed to add to the not smart or motivated population.
is that the capital? the leaders and the diplomats have to live somewhere.
Thomas Sowell, “New Light on Black I.Q.” New York Times Magazine, March 27, 1977, pp. 57ff
James R. Flynn, “Mean IQ of Americans: Massive Gains 1932 to 1978” Psychological Bulletin 95 (1984): 29-51.
“Massive IQ Gains in 14 Nations” Psychological Bulletin 101 (1987): 171-91.
Eka Roivainen,“Economic, educational, and IQ gains in eastern Germany 1990-2006” Intelligence 40 (2012): 571-75.
William T. Dickens & James R. Flynn, “Black Americans Reduce the Racial IQ Gap: Evidence from Standardization Samples” Psychological Science, October 2006.
I have come to believe that it is not so simple as IQ, although IQ plays a major part.
It is certainly not a black/white issue, either. One of the authors noted the Ashkenazi Jews were the most highly rated group, followed by East Asians, as noted in the book. The evidence certainly seems to support the hypothesis.
Of course, the next question is, is it genetics or environment? My belief is that it is both. Not a simple answer.
Anyway, as someone who has studied and read extensively on this topic for decades, I'll share my opinion later.
Yep. Evolution as it affects DNA is tough and the Left doesn't want to acknowledge real science.
Kumbaya is such a sweet way to think of things but nature and reality destroys all that sugar coated crap.
While I don't dispute your comment regarding black IQ, I also note that all IQs, in general, throughout the world have risen over the decades since that book. In fact, they have risen steadily since IQ was first identified and tracked.
IQ by itself isn’t a good predictor. Combine IQ with conscientiousness (from the Big 5) and we’re talking. Analogously, SAT and high school GPA.
Regarding blacks catching up, you can trust that Flynn knows that whites have advanced, and that blacks have been catching up to a moving target.
Um, you're wrong. Environment can overcome a lot of genetic deficiency but abstract thinking requires a high IQ, above 110-120 IQ.
I am not wrong. IQs of groups change. Neither are you wrong. IQs of individuals are predictive of their individual success. In support of your point, I don’t care how much time Jane Goodell spends with gorillas, they’ll never approach a human-level of intelligence. We humans are off the charts. The missing link is between us and non-human animals. I hate Charles Darwin and other evolutionists who argue that some groups of us are more evolved that other groups of us.
To return to my point (IQs of groups), nobody questions that a diet deficient in protein, and even in calories, contaminated water, and inadequate sanitation result in stunted human physical and mental growth; and, so, can keep an entire group down.
The open questions are: (1) how important is upbringing (prior to school), (2) early schooling, and (3) a vigorous, free market economy? The progressive left thinks they can use Head Start and Pre-K to make up for single-parent, welfare-dependent families. No.
That’s not the way white ethnics rose up in this country early during the 20th Century. And, that’s not what enables eastern Europeans to quickly catch-up to northern Europeans in IQ since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
If I may continue, over in Germany, they administer a test to incoming students to primary school. Can they read and do they know their numbers? Basically, the children of ethnic Germans do well on these tests and are placed in the second grade. They learn to read and their numbers at home, whether through some kind of formal education or simply from the culturally-rich environment provided by their families.
The ethnic Turk and Arab children, no, they don’t do well on the entrance tests and are placed into the first grade. It is very infrequent that any of the second group of children catch up to the German kids.
But. does their poor performance mean Turks and Arabs are genetically-inferior to Germans? Possibly, if this were all the evidence we have. But, taking all the evidence into account, the poor performance means the Turks and Arabs are socially-dysfunction. Their families are seeing to their youngsters starting to learn while at home.
If you love your children, make sure they are brought up in a culturally-rich, physically- and mentally invigorating household.
Accra is the capital.
I’m sure it’s near there.
Lots of international business folks live in Accra.
i know that but i will bet the rest of the cities do not look like that. could be wrong though. i had friends that lived in Ghana and they said for Africa it was an okay gig.
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