The Economist runs an article in which a genetic scientists insists that Jews are smarter than anyone else — due to persecution and intermarriage of the Ashkenazis.
Dr Cochran, however, suspects that the intelligence and the diseases are intimately linked. His argument is that the unusual history of the Ashkenazim has subjected them to unique evolutionary pressures that have resulted in this paradoxical state of affairs.
Funny, my grandfather told me the same thing, only without the genetic background.
I think there will be much controversy over this claim. Most of us hold that Jews rise to the top of our game due to our upbringing. We are taught to respect education. There are very few Jewish professional athletes for a reason. Our children are raised with the expectation that they’ll put aside the games and concentrate on real-life concerns like becoming doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals.
But I thought my readers would be interested. I expect this one will bring out the anti-Semites in droves.
Update: Whoops, this article is a year old. It somehow showed up as new on Google News.
If we’re so smart, why do we keep letting gaijin keep killing the crap out of us every generation?
That is an old article (1 year) and there was remarkably little reaction to that piece of research. I never understood why.
Brian of London
And how, then, can one explain Jerry Lewis?
What comes to my mind is a quote from the musical ‘fiddler on the roof’:
Tevye looks up and says to God “I know we are the chosen ones, but once in a while can’t you choose somebody else?”
One of the emotions that anti semites seem to have of Jews is envy – and I don’t think this article helps that issue much.
Time to drag out films with Charlie Chaplin, the Three Stooges and other great cultural icons of the west to offset this little study. ;)
Aw, c’mon cond0010!! The Stooges?? When comedy like that is still gut-busting after some 70+ years, that’s superior stuff! :-)
I once read that a huge percentage of Nobel winners are (were) Jewish. I’d be hesitant to link genetics to it, but I believe it’s as Meryl said — Most of us hold that Jews rise to the top of our game due to our upbringing. We are taught to respect education. There are very few Jewish professional athletes for a reason. Our children are raised with the expectation that they’ll put aside the games and concentrate on real-life concerns like becoming doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals.
I’ve been teaching for 15 yrs. and year after year my top students are Jewish. I give out 4 “outstanding academics” awards at the end of each year. This year, 3/4 of the recipients are Jewish. Our district’s Jewish pop. is not much above the national figure.
The success of Jews is something to be greatly admired and respected, not disdained.
–Hube (the Three Stooges-loving gentile fan of the Jewish people!)
The most significant evidence against the superior intelligence hypothesis, other than what Lair Simon stated in comment #1, is that the majority of us American Jews are Democrats.
chsw
I can’t believe that anyone who thinks that Jews as a group are smarter than other people actually has met many Jews.
As to the Stooges, I go with the alien character in David Brin’s “The Uplift War,” who is proud of his collection of Three Stooges tapes because of “the subtle brilliance of those ancient Terrman geniuses.”
I don’t know how true it still is, but I remember hearing something that made sense. Traditionally, the smarter Jews were married off the quickest, being the prefered ones. They had more time to make more kids.
Compare to the Catholics who sent their best and brightest to be priests=no kids.
I go with Meryl’s theory on upbringing. Asian-Americans are in much the same position Jews were in a generation ago – overweighted in terms of academic achievement, enrollment at top schools etc. The common denominator is blindingly obvious: the cultures put a high value on literacy and education.
(* Aw, c’mon cond0010!! The Stooges?? When comedy like that is still gut-busting after some 70+ years, that’s superior stuff! :-) *)
Yep. Exactly. It is gutbusting. and tons of money was made. And it has stood the test of time (Making them ‘classics’). And they have many grown men aping their antics even today in office spaces around the world (I know ‘cuz I have co-workers doing just that…)
– and they look ‘stupid’ at the same time. Perfect. Genius. But a subtle genius, none the less.
The common denominator is blindingly obvious: the cultures put a high value on literacy and education.
When one looks beyond the blindingly obvious we find that Caucasion children raised in homes that stress the same values as those that are typical in East Asian homes tend to perform to lower academic standards.
For those who are interesting in reading the actual Cochran, Harpending & Hardy paper, we provide a link here.
The principle question here is whether one believes that evolution stopped at the neck. Actually, we know that it hasn’t for Dr. Bruce Lahn’s work has shown the rise and differential sweep of two alleles associated with cognition. See the maps included in this post.
The secret is in a common Jewish breakfast.
It’s well known that complex carbohydrates (found in bagels), omega-3 fatty acids (found in lox), and the amino acide tyrosine (found in cream cheese), all improve brain function.
Ah, hubris…
Meryl, you shoulda known you were setting yourself up here. You call a piece “Smarter than you,” and don’t notice that the news story you’ve hooked your posting to is a year old? You know I love you, but I am laughing at the irony here…
J.
this might explain the Smart jews – but how do we account for all the dumb ones out there.
Dumb ones? Whaddya say Moe!!?? Nyuk Nyuk… :-D
Don’t be silly, Jay. Not paying attention to the date of an article isn’t a sign of intelligence or the lack thereof.
It is a sign of inattention to details.
Actually, this should be a lesson to all bloggers: Check your source before you quote it.
Anyway, the “Smarter than you” title was deliberately provocative. Jew-haters really don’t like it when the superiority of so many of the people they loathe is pointed out to them. I mean, what’s David Duke’s real contribution to the world? Getting arrested for tax fraud? Getting thrown out of the Louisiana state legislature after one term? Being ugly?
Now compare his contribution to the world with any Jew of similar fame, and you will find that, hands-down, the Jew’s contributions are by far the greater. Hey. Even my great-aunt Tibby left more of a lasting impression on the world than Duke, and all she did was run a deli in Brooklyn.
I hope you took my comment as affectionate teasing, Meryl. I actually recognized it as a variant of your “better than you” bit, which I sent to a couple of Jewish women I know. I’m right there with you on most things, especially those of a Zionist slant; that’s why I felt I could get away with a little friendly poke.
J.
This is an interesting theory, that Ashkenazi jews have higher average intelligence because of genes that can lead to Tay Sachs etc.
I don’t think it’s an axiom that all populations of people have to be equal in every aspect, so it’s an interesting hypothesis.
The suggestion is to find the gene responsible and iq test the holders of the gene and their non-carrier siblings, and compare the results.
With the Flynn effect raising IQ scores of nearly all races and populations, maybe the Ashkenazi/gentile difference could simply be that Jewish enlightenment has given Jews more time with the Flynn effect. Though the Flynn effect is mostly a phenomona in the visual spatial area of IQ tests, where as jews perform better in Verbal and mathematical sections.
I think it’s very interesting, though as a gentile, I am a bit jealous of Jewish intellect.
But I do have a nice nose, so i should count my blessings ;-)