Quote: (06-28-2012 01:59 AM)Moma Wrote:
Harry, your statement on intelligence vs education is interesting and one that I have discussed with peers for the past decade or so. Can you break down what intelligence is?
Are there any external factors that lead a group of people to become more intelligent than others or is it entirely down to genetics?
For instance, the Japanese have made huge bounds in terms of advancements in technology and what have you in the past what 30 years (don't quote me on time span, I've just heard they are ahead).
Is this down to an innate intelligence on their side or is it just sheer hard work?
Intelligence is a genetic trait. Just the way it is. Always has been and always will be. Jews are a very good example of this, where intelligence was highly valued by women. They clock average IQ's of over 110 now, which is just 10 points short of extreme intelligence. Thats their average! All based on years and years of pre selection for intelligence, to the point where genetic diseases have developed as a result of all the interbreeding
The result though is a small population of people who dominate business, the sciences, politics, you name it. No matter where they go, they will thrive. Nutjobs then blame Jewish conspiracies, when all it really is is highly intelligent people doing well for themselves and rising to the top.
You can educate someone, but you cannot make them smarter. So you can help make them more functional, but thats as far as its going to go. They wont break new ground or think any differently from the way they were taught. A lot of people in academia for example classify themselves as intelligent, when they are very often dimwits with a penchant for study and repetition. Its not the same thing. A guy heading up a street gang is probably smarter than half the guys in a university. Education often has more to do with opportunity than anything else.
As for the Japanese? They have created little and are not really responsible for any of the technological advancements we have seen over the last 30 years. They have contributed, make no mistake, but they have made few breakthroughs with anything. They are the worlds greatest reverse engineers, and their cultural approach to business is almost unmatched IMO, but they never had the technical creativity Europeans did. It has not been their time yet, and its why they have stalled.
When it comes to systems of interpersonal trade and management though? They make everyone else look stupid.
Germans are not stupid people. They are highly intelligent, which when combined with a culture which demands perfection and diligence has seen them give the world more than most other nations in the last 80 odd years. To call them dumb fucks I find rather ignorant and insulting, not to mention pretty fucking retarded.
Most slavs are intelligent people, but culture plays a role in how it will be displayed. Educated Russians and EE's are a different story to small town village folk. Russia gives us an excellent example of intelligence too. Most of the successful business people there are street smart, not educated only, and many would be running street gangs if not sitting in boardrooms.
