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from the maybe-they-only-surveyed-the-nimnobs dept.
Why can we talk about PISA results, comparing the performance of students in school, but we are not allowed to talk about differences in IQ? Bring this subject up, and you are immediately accused of racism. And yet. And yet, if there are substantial differences in intellectual capability, might this not explain some of the world's problems?
An update of a massive "study of studies" is underway; this article summarizes the work to date, and provides links to the work in progress. A quick summary of the answers to the questions no one dares ask:
- Eastern Asia (Japan, China): IQ around 105
- Europe/North America: IQ around 98
- Middle East: IQ around 85
- Africa: IQ around 70
In the first instance, it doesn't even matter why there are differences. They may be genetic, or disease related, or nutrition related, or something else. If these differences are real (and the evidence is pretty strong that they are), then we need to deal with them. Imagine if the low IQs in Africa turn out to be fixable - what would the impact be, if we could raise the IQ of an entire continent by 30 points?!
Sticking our collective heads in the sand, because the topic is not PC, is not going to solve any problems.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 02 2017, @07:30PM
IQ as a metric of individual intelligence is indeed bullshit. But in large samples, it can help identify societal problems.
Consider the state of an individual's state of mind or health when IQ test is conducted. The scores will fluctuate wildly depending on how well-rested they are or if they had a meal prior. If country A scores low on IQ tests overall, but sees no glaring faults in the quality of their education system or average caloric intake, it can be deduced that a widespread lifestyle problem may be a factor (too much work, not enough sleep, lack of high-skilled jobs for sustained brain stimulation, etc). On the other hand, if country B scores low but sees the overall health of their populace to be satisfactory, then they might look into revamping their educational system or attracting high-skilled jobs through regulatory changes. So on and so forth.