Tapsearch Com EditorMore on Jews and IQ
July 6th 2007 20:59
Not too long ago I blogged about Charles Murray's Commentary essay about why Jews have such high IQs. Now, the magazine has printed some responses.
Some are pretty good, but I'm appalled they even bothered printing the one from Daniel N. Haines of New York:
"[One of Murray's thoeries] is the idea of occupational selection, which holds that 'the high IQ test scores of Ashkenazim, along with their unusual pattern of abilities, are a product of natural selection, stemming from their occupation of an unusual social niche' over the last millennium. But this is the logical equivalent of asserting that the giraffe has a long neck because its ancestor occupied an environmental niche that strongly selected for long necks, which is the classic fallacy of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck that gives Lamarckianism its name."
Dude, what the hell are you talking about? That's not at all what Lamarck said, and if he had said that, he'd have been right!
Lamarck's idea was that there was no "selection." Rather, giraffes had to stretch their necks to get to food. Over a giraffe's lifetime, this made his neck longer, and he passed the longer neck on to his kids (the "inheritance of acquired characteristics"). They in turn stretched their necks and passed them down. Eventually, all giraffes had long necks.
Darwin's evolution centered on the assertion that individuals don't evolve; populations do. A giraffe can stretch his neck all he wants, but (A) he won't make it longer and (B) even if he does somehow stretch his neck out, the change is physical, not genetic, and he won't pass it down. Rather, what happens is that short-necked giraffes starve to death and their genes die out -- in other words, they did in fact occupy an "environmental niche that strongly selects for long necks."
Not content to make an ass of himself once, Haines follows up with:
"Mr. Murray’s second, preferred hypothesis is that Jews are smarter than the average because in ancient times one had to be smart to be a Jew. It is difficult to get past the absurdity of this notion in order to comment on it. It has a companion in the idea one hears voiced from time to time that Christians are more compassionate because one has to be more compassionate to be a Christian. The reasoning in both cases offers little enlightenment."
Actually, it offers quite a bit of enlightenment. In fact, if it's true, one might say it completely explains the topic under study!
The question is why Jews have high IQs. If you can't be a Jew without a high IQ (or if this was true at some point in the past), that pretty much takes care of it. It might not be the complicated "aha!" moment Haines is looking for, but it's far from absurd. After all, it rests on a very simple factual assertion.
I am impressed with Murray's very professional takedown of pretty much all the criticisms (at the bottom), though.
Some are pretty good, but I'm appalled they even bothered printing the one from Daniel N. Haines of New York:
"[One of Murray's thoeries] is the idea of occupational selection, which holds that 'the high IQ test scores of Ashkenazim, along with their unusual pattern of abilities, are a product of natural selection, stemming from their occupation of an unusual social niche' over the last millennium. But this is the logical equivalent of asserting that the giraffe has a long neck because its ancestor occupied an environmental niche that strongly selected for long necks, which is the classic fallacy of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck that gives Lamarckianism its name."
Dude, what the hell are you talking about? That's not at all what Lamarck said, and if he had said that, he'd have been right!
Lamarck's idea was that there was no "selection." Rather, giraffes had to stretch their necks to get to food. Over a giraffe's lifetime, this made his neck longer, and he passed the longer neck on to his kids (the "inheritance of acquired characteristics"). They in turn stretched their necks and passed them down. Eventually, all giraffes had long necks.
Darwin's evolution centered on the assertion that individuals don't evolve; populations do. A giraffe can stretch his neck all he wants, but (A) he won't make it longer and (B) even if he does somehow stretch his neck out, the change is physical, not genetic, and he won't pass it down. Rather, what happens is that short-necked giraffes starve to death and their genes die out -- in other words, they did in fact occupy an "environmental niche that strongly selects for long necks."
Not content to make an ass of himself once, Haines follows up with:
"Mr. Murray’s second, preferred hypothesis is that Jews are smarter than the average because in ancient times one had to be smart to be a Jew. It is difficult to get past the absurdity of this notion in order to comment on it. It has a companion in the idea one hears voiced from time to time that Christians are more compassionate because one has to be more compassionate to be a Christian. The reasoning in both cases offers little enlightenment."
Actually, it offers quite a bit of enlightenment. In fact, if it's true, one might say it completely explains the topic under study!
The question is why Jews have high IQs. If you can't be a Jew without a high IQ (or if this was true at some point in the past), that pretty much takes care of it. It might not be the complicated "aha!" moment Haines is looking for, but it's far from absurd. After all, it rests on a very simple factual assertion.
I am impressed with Murray's very professional takedown of pretty much all the criticisms (at the bottom), though.
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
I have a high IQ which I don't believe is an indication of my academic capabilities (I refer you to my test scores
thats my guess anyway.
Comment by Anonymous
Of course, there is a price to everything. "Great wits are sure to madness allied, for thin partitions do their bonds divide." I can attest to that.