Quake3World

what? I thought that like half of all jews were of ashkenazi descent?

(@geebs)

80% according to the wikipedia. That was more of a comment on the validity and sensitivity of iq tests in general than population.

The lowest average IQs are
found for sub-Saharan Africans -- from 70 to 75.
.

rofl...

Geebs wrote:80% according to the wikipedia. That was more of a comment on the validity and sensitivity of iq tests in general than population.

Ah I see, good point

yep rushton has been discredited time and time again.

Massive Quasars wrote:From the economist link:

But the thesis also has a strong point: it makes a clear and testable prediction. This is that people with a single copy of the gene for Tay-Sachs, or that for Gaucher's, or that for Niemann-Pick should be more intelligent than average. Dr Cochran and his colleagues predict they will be so by about five IQ points. If that turns out to be the case, it will strengthen the idea that, albeit unwillingly, Ashkenazi Jews have been part of an accidental experiment in eugenics.

Testable predictions, always good to see.

He is that rare bird, a scientist who works independently of any institution

Actually, that article is utter shite.

Massive Quasars wrote:While that article was bullshit, there seems to be some evidence to suggest that Ashkenazi Jews are on average more intelligent than the rest of us.

http://www.economist.com/science/displa ... id=4032638
http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http: ... 5DQ7E,BCeb
http://homepage.mac.com/harpend/.Public ... socsci.pdf

ps: Don't go off on my ass for suggesting this, read and rationally critique yourself. I don't speak definitively here.

*cough cough* I may be forced to agree with this one.

yes it's just a joke me being one and all

Geebs wrote: ffs, if you wanted to prove a 5 iq point discrepancy, you'd need a larger population of people than there actually are ashkenazi jews. Coming up with a null hypothesis is, in the context of research, the absolute furthest you can get away from actual proof.

Perhaps, I wouldn't know.

It must be extremely difficult controlling for all the variables that could affect intelligence aside from population genetics.

I'd need to examine the studies, otherwise it's just pissing in the wind.

Professor Philippe J. Rushton.

He's been all but run out of Canada over his teachings in ontario

You're confusing skin tone with lacking illumination.

Foo wrote:You're confusing skin tone with lacking illumination.

:icon32: very witty indeed

couldnt be bothered to word it properly but you see where I was headed with it

Massive Quasars wrote:It must be extremely difficult controlling for all the variables that could affect intelligence aside from population genetics.

You can't. That's why IQ tests don't work either.

And it's a simple matter of man's adaptation to its local enviromental conditions

Jackal wrote: You can't. That's why IQ tests don't work either.

It's possible of course (unless you'd like to challenge even that), but far beyond our capacity atm.

I read a study on how the intelligence quotient is really a farce before and it was quite convincing. Giving the proper environment, motivation and tools ALMOST anybody can be as intelligent as somebody else.

i believe that

Yes, me too.

Can the forum support a sophomoronic discussion? Sure. But you would really need to start with a question of whether there exists a credible measure of intelligence.

Pick a statement, any statement and you can probably find a study supporting it. If we consider the nature of constructing an IQ test, it is much like constructing a benchmark, say for the 3D addicts, a benchmark to decide whether the latest Nvidia card is faster than the latest ATI card. Depending on what you stress in the test, one will come out faster and you could easily construct a credible test which would make your fav card come out on top.

Suppose we wanted to show that on average - men are smarter than women. You would probably construct it to have lots of little 3D analysis/manipulation tasks and if you wanted to show women are smarter than men, you would construct a test with alot of small arithmetic and percentage problems.

And of course we are not even starting on the problem that the tests are only showing how the participants are doing "under pressure." Some peeps may be smart but freeze under pressure.