[Paleopsych] Joel

[Lynn D. Johnson, Ph.D.]

I didn't understand Joel's reaction here. Actually, I am not sure that 
Frank is too far off base, but I think the observation is irrelevant. 
Here is why: approximately 50% of IQ is inherited, and it appears that 
all human varieties (races) have around the same inherited portion. The 
other 50% comes from environment; it appears to me that the Arab / 
Islamic environments are quite impoverished. Their education seems 
woefully inadquate, and the home environment (primary place for 
nurturing high IQs) seems to be not be so hot. So an average of 90 would 
seem reasonable.

But it is irrelevant because of the K / r reporductive strategies. If we 
assumed the Islamic version is primarily r, then as Val says, they are 
cannon fodder. Yet in every population there is a distribution. there 
are outliers in the cannon fodder, the occasional brilliant one.

The average IQ is 100 (by definition, we keep moving the goalposts to 
keep it that way) and the SD is 15. If a region has an average of 90, it 
is likely some other region (the east side of Salt Lake City above 1300 
east, for example, or Jewish neighborhoods, or Asian neighborhoods, 
where education is highly valued) has one of 110. It has to balance out.

So proportionally, there are fewer >130 (superior) or >145 (genius 
level) in the islamic group (further out from the mean, so fewer 
examples) but because of the r reproductive strategy, you have a larger 
group. Within that population, there will still be the 145 point IQ 
examples. They can surely produce some wicked viruses. That is why the 
average is irrelevant. Because there are always outliers, and the 
greater the population, the more outliers, in absolute terms.

 From what I understand, Iraq pre-Saddam was an enclave of smarties, 
people who went to good universities and graduated in engineering and 
science. Perhaps Saudi Arabia would be the mirror image, an excessively 
religious society that de-emphasized secular learning. So we might argue 
that Arab countries might have an average IQ of 90, but Iraq would have 
been an exception. Saddam's blood thirsty appetite for killing the best 
and brightest would keep education from being valued, so the national IQ 
would naturally fall.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Johnson
Salt Lake City


HowlBloom at aol.com wrote:

> I agree wholeheartedly.  I'm astonished that Frank would say such 
> things.  He is an extremely intelligent and well-informed man.
>  
> If Frank's attitude is indicative of a widespread opinion, this nation 
> is in serious trouble.  Or let's put it differently.  This nation IS 
> in grave danger.  There's no doubt about it.  One reason is the 
> complacency for which Frank momentarily acted as spokesperson.  Howard
>  
> In a message dated 7/24/2004 8:18:46 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
> isaacsonj at hotmail.com writes:
>
>     Look, Premise Checker, it is downriight idiotic to pronounce an
>     "average
>     IQ of about 90" in Moslem nations.   Where do get your facts?
>     Also, denigrating the smarts of the adversary is an act of singular
>     stupidity, sepecially in this case.  Take it back and re-think
>     the wisdom of your attitudes
>
>  
> ----------
> Howard Bloom
> Author of The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the 
> Forces of History and Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From 
> The Big Bang to the 21st Century
> Visiting Scholar-Graduate Psychology Department, New York University; 
> Faculty Member, The Graduate Institute
> www.howardbloom.net
> www.bigbangtango.net
> Founder: International Paleopsychology Project; founding board member: 
> Epic of Evolution Society; founding board member, The Darwin Project; 
> founder: The Big Bang Tango Media Lab; member: New York Academy of 
> Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
> American Psychological Society, Academy of Political Science, Human 
> Behavior and Evolution Society, International Society for Human 
> Ethology; advisory board member: Youthactivism.org; executive editor 
> -- New Paradigm book series.
> For information on The International Paleopsychology Project, see: 
> www.paleopsych.org
> for two chapters from
> The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of 
> History, see www.howardbloom.net/lucifer
> For information on Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the 
> Big Bang to the 21st Century, see www.howardbloom.net
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>_______________________________________________
>paleopsych mailing list
>paleopsych at paleopsych.org
>http://lists.paleopsych.org/mailman/listinfo/paleopsych
>  
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/paleopsych/attachments/20040727/f2153e7e/attachment.html>