tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post159728163772381753..comments2024-03-23T07:33:30.972+00:00Comments on Quodlibeta: A Reason for SuccessJameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01594220073836613367noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5074683.post-23137824792913967752008-02-27T02:58:00.000+00:002008-02-27T02:58:00.000+00:00Hmm. I'm sure there's some truth to that, but it s...Hmm. I'm sure there's some truth to that, but it strikes me as a just-so story... and one very often used to justify social inequalities. Are there any scientific experiments demonstrating the genetically-based superior intelligence of the middle class? Is there really time for a noticeable genetic difference to arise when only a few generations before most people's ancestors were farmers?<BR/><BR/>Sorry for thinking anecdotally, but my story is the one I know best. My own family was definitely working class but gradually edged into the middle class thanks to a particular job my mother got, not because of great intelligence but because of diligence. Now, I think my parents are/were intelligent. But I know other equally intelligent people who avoided academic acheivement and stayed working class, based on what they valued and their beliefs about the world. And my father only got a fourth or fifth grade education because WWII intervened, which consigned him firmly to the working class, regardless of inherent smarts he may or may not have had. So I suspect life experiences can either greatly accentuate or greatly dampen the effects of those underlying genetic factors. Perhaps, as you say, in the grand scheme of things the statistics average out.Elliothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08144417439505262113noreply@blogger.com