Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!cadre!geb
From: geb@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU (Gordon E. Banks)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Genetics and IQ
Message-ID: <3229@cadre.dsl.PITTSBURGH.EDU>
Date: 9 Aug 89 12:47:37 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu (Gordon E. Banks)
Organization: Decision Systems Lab., Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA.
Lines: 33

>  For this to be the case, the inability to solve x-type problems would have
>to prevent the given race from breeding successfully.  Culture would play
>much more of a role than genetics. i.e. because of the way Culture Y has
>taught me to think and learn, I am better at solving problems of type X.

>  Physical properties may work differently.  The environment of one society
>may have killed anyone who didn't have a certain strength, while those living
>in gentler climes may not have been so affected.  Also, perhaps the stronger
>would breed more successfully (the alpha male idea).  

>  But I see little evidence that the same is true for intelligence.  In 
>history, those with the greatest intelligence may be better at solving 
>problem X, but this does not increase their breeding chances greatly.

If problem X is such a serious problem that its solution promotes
survival of the individual, then intelligence will be selected for.
Obviously this occurs, otherwise, we'd all still be Chimps, no?  Why do you
think we became intelligent in the first place?  To say that now we
have reached the point that further evolution in intelligence has
no survival value is a nice speculation, but needs more than a
statement to convince me.  Cultural factors may also play a role
in biologic selection of intelligence.  In some societies, the
intelligencia have been celibate priests, hardly conducive to
selecting intelligence.  In others, they have been polygamous 
rulers, making the opposite the case.

>  Does anyone have an example of a society where this HAS been the case?
>I would be interested in hearing about this.

How about the Jews?  You had to be a pretty smart cookie to make it
through the persecutions from about 70AD to 1945, didn't you?  Does
anyone doubt how smart they are now?  What is more, smarts are very
highly valued by Jewish culture.  Jewish women have traditionally
preferred a clever man to a jock for a husband.