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If you look throughout the world, most black countries are in dire destitute. Corruption is rampant in most countries in Africa, and to some extent in the Caribbean.
Is it exploitation? Is it an effect from slavery and the imperialism that took place in the last 400 years?
If you look throughout the world, most black countries are in dire destitute. Corruption is rampant in most countries in Africa, and to some extent in the Caribbean.
Is it exploitation? Is it an effect from slavery and the imperialism that took place in the last 400 years?
I more or less believe that a societies's national IQ level has a strong correlation with how well their institutions are run.
I think a lot of the problems with Africa have to do with colonialism creating artificial borders of these small nations...which lead to constant warfare and genocides.
-Then add in the natural resources taken and you have a recipe for disaster.
I think a lot of the problems with Africa have to do with colonialism creating artificial borders of these small nations...which lead to constant warfare and genocides.
-Then add in the natural resources taken and you have a recipe for disaster.
I believe so too. I also think the exploitation of foreign firms prohibit domestic growth in the economy.
Several negative reviews have been published in the scholarly literature. Susan Barnett and Wendy Williams wrote that "we see an edifice built on layer upon layer of arbitrary assumptions and selective data manipulation. The data on which the entire book is based are of questionable validity and are used in ways that cannot be justified." They also wrote that cross country comparisons are "virtually meaningless."[19] Ken Richardson wrote "This is not so much science, then, as a social crusade. The Pioneer Fund of America, champion of many dubious causes in the past, will obtain little credit from having assisted this one."[20] Thomas Nechyba wrote of "relatively weak statistical evidence and dubious presumptions."[21] Astrid Ervik asked "are people in rich countries smarter than those in poorer countries?" and concluded that "the authors fail to present convincing evidence and appear to jump to conclusions."[22] Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel (1997), while obviously not mentioning the later published book by Lynn and Vanhanen, argues that historical differences in economic and technological development for different areas can be explained by differences in geography (which affects factors like population density and spread of new technology) and differences in available crops and domesticatable animals. Richard Nisbett argues in his 2004 The Geography of Thought that some of these regional differences shaped lasting cultural traits, such as the collectivism required by East Asian rice irrigation, compared with the individualism of ancient Greek herding, maritime mercantilism, and money crops wine and olive oil (pp. 34–35).
There is controversy about the definition and usage of IQ and intelligence. Also, it is generally agreed many environmental factors can affect measured IQ.[23] The authors agree on this, in particular for the importance of nutrition and health for IQ, but also more controversially argue for a large genetic contribution. See also race and intelligence.
Finally, the Flynn effect may well reduce or eliminate differences in IQ between nations in the future. Using the IQ values of today the average IQ of the US in 1932, according to the first Stanford-Binet standardization sample, was 80.[24] Some predict that considering that the Flynn effect started first in more affluent nations, it will also disappear first in these nations. Then the IQ gap between nations will diminish. Richardson (2004) argued, citing the Flynn effect as the best evidence, that Lynn has the causal connection backwards and suggested that "the average IQ of a population is simply an index of the size of its middle class, both of which are results of industrial development".[3] However, even assuming that the IQ difference will disappear among the babies born today, the differences will remain for decades simply because of the composition of the current workforce.[
I think a lot of the problems with Africa have to do with colonialism creating artificial borders of these small nations...which lead to constant warfare and genocides.
-Then add in the natural resources taken and you have a recipe for disaster.
That presents a chicken v egg argument. If the Africans were so competent....how is it the found themselves being ruled over other societies?
Me neither. The subject of IQ and group outcomes is so taboo. You can find all sorts of smears of the motivations of scientists who actually research the subject.
Suddenly, scientific data that would be perfectly acceptable with a non-human subject, is nit-picked along, with the errors [found in every major study], being blown out of proportion.
Last edited by padcrasher; 06-19-2011 at 01:17 PM..
That presents a chicken v egg argument. If the Africans were so competent....how is it the found themselves being ruled over other societies?
Not every society values warfare as a test for "competence"
Since we will never know about African History prior to foreign invasion...since a large majority of the history has been destroyed...I don't think any of us can gauge how competently those countries in Africa were run.
This same argument could be used against Native Americas and other cultures that aren't based on colonialism and warfare.
White Anglo countries have done horribly themselves too. Let's not just blame darker skinned people for venal and insufficient leadership.
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