Does Intelligence really vary across different races?

Question

Statistically speaking, East Asians have on average the highest I.Q of any race, followed by Europeans.

I ask this not out of arrogance, but out of genuine interest.

When man early migrated out of Africa into Eurasia, surely selective pressures would have favoured those of higher intellect, better able to adapt to a new environment through enginuity rather than sheer physical endurance.

Answer 1

If asians are so smart wtf are the freiggin countries so poor?

Answer 2

This is a argument with no base as we do not know how to measure intelligence on the whole. An IQ test measures only certain types of intellect and leaves out a lot, one big example is the skill to learn, which I believe has a lot more to do with survival than mathematical and lingual skill.

Answer 3

It is almost certain that what we name and measure as intelligence is an incorrect and quite likely meaningless application of this information.  The most populous and therefore the most successful group are those of average intelligence.

If you search for "intelligence" which is meaningful you have to break the mold because all of mainstream western culture including the so called qualifying geniuses are pursuing life according to two unreal perspectives.

Eintein reported that genius is 99% persperation.  Clearly this is the truth.

Answer 4

I  don't  think  any  one  race  is  any  more  intelligent  than  another.  However  the  culture  may  effect  the  manner  in  which  the  intelligence  operates.  It  was  suggested  that  an  I.Q.  test  used  for  one  race  shoudn't  be  used  for  a  person  of  another  race,  because  of  this.

Answer 5

I don;t think it follows race lines,maybe gender/class lines moreso.But all human beings regardless of race/gender are deeply variagated as far as intelligence goes,it does'nt pay to generalize.Our brains are something we can develop and hone intially by the functions we use or value.

If you mean left brain sort of intelligence the ablity to crunch numbers,do difficult sums,write essays,read,order,memorize facts,analyze? I would say that some peoples brain are more left brain oriented and they are more equipped for that.I would consider the "indian" male brain the most "intelligent" in this respect as they were the first mathematicians and also the early incas with their extremely complex accounting systems.

Then in Africa,native american,slavic/baltic areas,early celts/vikings etc were  thought of as unintelligent/iliterate/barbaric -because reading/writing [left brain functions] were not introduced/honed as much and not highly valued.Lets remember that city europeans still think rural europeans are unintelligent barbarians.

If you mean more right brain intelligence,spatial skills,imagination,ablity to create and invent,understand people,social cues,empathize,draw,recognise faces,play music,design etc then certainly some groups are more intelligent in that respect.

IQ is a poor measure of intelligence if you ask me.

Answer 6

I read that Jews have the highest IQ's followed by Aisans, then come the Anglo-Saxons.

Here is the thing, a person who doesn't know how to invent a light bulb might know how to build a house. A person who deosn't know how to be a ceo of a company may know how to bake the best pot roast you ever tasted.

God gave us all gifts and abilties. The danger is in one thinking he is better than another.

Paul the apostle said by divine inspiration, that the little toe is necessary as well as the eye.

The eye can't say it doesn't need the little toe, the arm can't say it doesn't need the little finger.

God made all things well, but because of stupidity and pride things get bad when one stands up with his chest out and says.."LOOK AT ME! GOD MADE ME BETTER, BIGGER, SMARTER AND PRETTIER THAN YOU!

This is stupidity, not smarts..

Look at evidence here. England nor any country alone could  be an America, but God took the Spaniards, Native- Americans,. Italians, Jews, and English and the Blacks, Irish, Scots, etc to make America.

Answer 7

If you look through the history of inventions, medicine, engieering etc, etc, you will find the scottish people to have a higher intelligence than any other nation, thats why Great Britain became Great.

Answer 8

I'm not a specialist, so I'm afraid I can't quote chapter and verse for you, but I can tell you this is not really the case.

All the serious anthropological/sociological studies conducted (and many were conducted with the aim of 'proving' the superiority of the white race) have shown that basic intelligence, in any relevant measurable way is much the same in every culture, and in every race.

So I'm not sure where your statistics are coming from. The problem, often, with IQ tests, is that they contain some culturally specific content, context or iconography -and this will skew the results in favour of the culture where the specific test originated.

An example, from a friend of mine- a consultant psychologist, and an 'expert  witness' in many criminal cases.

In an English case, the defence were trying to show that the defendant was, functionally, an imbecile, and was therefor not responsible for the actions he had been 'led into' by another.

However-on scrutiny, the IQ test he had been given contained questions like 'who were the first five presidents?' and much besides that was culturally very specific to the US; this meant the defendant had scored much lower than he would have, had he taken a UK test. The man was re-tested, and found to be easily smart enough to make his own decisions!

Always beware of statistics.

Answer 9

Probably you are correct but my understanding is that in East Asia people maintained their original languages and cultures, what was different to Africa where colonialism imposed European culture, destroying original synergy. While Europeans stayed by centuries consuming row materials brought from Africa and America, East Asians had to discover themselves how to leave without colonies. Is also crucial to see that people attitude and discipline is very important. East Asian people is more disciplined that European one and be said that their culture remain not influenced by European culture.

Answer 10

never

Answer 11

In a college psych class 30 years ago, I was given a white American IQ test, written in American English, skewed toward white American culture.  My score was 130.  Then I was given another test, written in black American English, and skewed toward black American culture.  My score was 70.  Given that the average IQ is based on a score of 100, makes me pretty average, doesn't it?  I had always known that black and white English are not quite the same language, but had no idea there was that much difference.  It would appear that blacks are taught white English in school, but whites are not taught black English.  So what the heck, Archie, none of it could make any difference in overall intelligence, other than the fact that blacks are likely to be bi-lingual without anybody noticing.  Wonder where that would place Asians in the scheme of things?  All of this doesn't address Amerinds either, or those who used to be known as Austroloids.  A pint's a pound the world around, and so are people.

Answer 12

Personally, I believe it has more to do with culture than race. I think most people in the Asian countries place a higher priority in getting a good education and being intelligent than other countries. Many people from the middle east and asian countries go to the U.S. for a college education and then go back.

Answer 13

The most intelligent people are the one that adopt best to where they are living .

Answer 14

Look up Richard Lynn's research. He has compiled the average IQs

of many countries, using culturally-unbiased IQ tests.

Answer 15

i really don't believe that intelligence has anything to do with race

Answer 16

Generally speaking, it MAY be possible that certain races are more intelligent than others, but this does not mean they are ABOVE other races.

It is a well-accounted fact that people of African origin tend to be taller and bigger than Caucasians , who then overshadow Asians in height and weight. Following this train of logic, one may argue in favour of the question asked. But its not to say that all people of a certain race are superior than others in terms of intelligence.

Such a study to prove the issue would not be feasible for many reasons. One is the fact that there is no standardised method of measuring intelligence. Another is the fact that so many other factors come into play. For instance, does all the experiment subjects have an equally comparable amount of education? What about age? Thus, to say with abolute certainty that the A race is superior in intelligence to the B race is an erroneous statement.

Answer 17

I don't think so. We are more a product of our  environment

than we are our race. Example, note the deference in the

way the blacks in the UK. speak English compared to the

way blacks speak English in the USA.

Answer 18

I think it just comes from how you were raised or the environmental influences. Its like some of the schools in America where only 50 people graduate, I believe the environment they live in would be the determining factor, not race.

Answer 19

Yes it is interesting, and of course it is such an emotive topic it is very hard to study it objectively. There may be genetic causes or environmental (diet etc) causes for such fluctuations, but there is also the issue of culture, and how IQ is actually assessed. Most western IQ tests actually only measure a narrow band of cognitive skills, and do not really amount to a measure of an individuals 'intelligence'.

It is very difficult to construct a culture-free assessment of intelligence. A Kalahari bushman needs intelligence of a very high order to track game and survive in such an environment, and would succeed where an English PhD would fail, yet would themselves flounder utterly if placed in a high-tec, over engineered environment.