[extropy-chat] it's all understandable, except

[pjmanney]

>What can I say, you're still missing the mark widely. Look
>at Ashkenazi eugenics. You'll probably think the results like
>http://www.masada2000.org/nobel.html are sure due to IQ alone. But
>please read http://www.masada2000.org/Powerful-Jews.html
>especially the very last line. Yeah, sometimes it's that simple.

As an Ashkenazi, I can say, Yes.  It is that simple.  Take a good look at that Nobel list.  Beyond being mind boggling, it demonstrates that you have to be motivated to want it.  And the entire Jewish culture is based on the concept of motivated education -- be it studying the Talmud or the physics book.  We are motivated to learn at the earliest ages.  And defend our knowledge and our thoughts, be it in the classroom or around the dinner table.  Frankly, my dinner table was way tougher than any classroom.

A punchline to my "killer school" dyslexia story:  As you can imagine, my parents were beyond horrified to find out I had this problem that we could have been dealing with all these years, but were unaware of it.  Beyond wanting to murder the teachers, my grandmother said: "Ach mein Gott, you COULD have been a doctor!"  My father said: "Oh my God, you COULD have been a rocket scientist!"  Nobody, not even my mother, wanted me to be a lawyer.

Such were their expectations for me, as good Jews.

I didn't have the heart to tell them that either scenario would have still been pretty unlikely...

PJ