# Race differences in average IQ are largely genetic **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 27, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236 "2012-05-27T12:28:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/341 "2012-06-04T02:57:54Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > The authors of The 10,000 Explosion refer to a study that indicates that for hundreds of years the upper class in England was more prolific than the serf and peasant classes, which on the average produced fewer than two children who survived and reproduced. The experience in many Asian cultures is similar. Wealth was positively correlated to having adult children. In some cultures, children were seen as an important form of wealth. > [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > The skeletal record clearly supports the idea that there have been rapid evolutionary change in humans over the past 10,000 years. The human skeleton has become more gracile - more lightly built - although more so in some populations than others. Our jaws have shrunk, our long bones have become lighter. Changes in agriculture, diet and technology accounts for most of that doesn’t it? If we went back to subsistence hunter gatherer economies, the very next generation would have heavier short bones wouldn’t they? > [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > If you documented that assertion, I missed it. > > In Intelligence and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations, Richard Lynn estimated the average IQ in Nigeria as 67. I have a lot of trouble believing that the average Nigerian is moderately retarded. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/342 "2012-06-04T03:19:35Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > I already have, but I will do it again. The Negro race evolved in Africa. It is characterized by dark skin, thick lips, and black kinky hair. The white race evolved in the Near East and Europe. It is characterized by light skin. The eyes may be blue, or brown. The hair varies from blond to black. It may be straight, or curly. No, that’s wrong. You’re confusing the Northern European race (light skin, blonde hair, blue eyes) Southern European race (light skin, dark hair, brown eyes) and Middle Eastern race (olive skin, dark hair, dark eyes.) They’re totally different. Just look at them. Now please explain the intellectual differences between the NE, SE and ME races. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/343 "2012-06-04T04:39:08Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > So I look forward to your evidence for this hidden chapter of Australian history. Always glad to help. You could start with the following: _The Aboriginal Population of Australia_ by Len Smith _“Difficult to Found An Opinion”: 1788 Population Estimates_ by Derek John Mulvaney _Our Original Aggression: Aboriginal Populations of Southeastern Australia 1788-1850_ by N.G. Butlin _Continent of Hunter-Gatherers: New Perspectives in Australian Prehistory_ by Harry Lourandos _Prehistory of Australia_ by Derek John Mulvaney and Johan Kamminga On the other hand, maybe you’d prefer something a little easier to digest and more readily available online. For that we have Wikipedia. > [@](#): > > At the time of first European contact, it is estimated that between 315 000 and 750 000 people lived in Australia, with upper estimates being as high as 1.25 million. Population levels are likely to have been largely stable for many thousands of years, and it has been estimated that between 1 and 5 billion people had lived in Australia before British colonisation. The regions of heaviest indigenous population were the same temperate coastal regions that are currently the most heavily populated. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the Murray River valley in particular. However, indigenous Australians maintained successful communities throughout Australia, from the cold and wet highlands of Tasmania to the more arid parts of the continental interior. In all instances, technologies, diets and hunting practices varied according to the local environment. > > Post-colonisation, the coastal indigenous populations were soon absorbed, depleted or forced from their lands; the traditional aspects of Aboriginal life which remained persisted most strongly in areas such as the Great Sandy Desert where European settlement has been sparse. - [History of Indigenous Australians](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Indigenous_Australians#cite_ref-19) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/344 "2012-06-04T04:54:35Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > The Negro race evolved in Africa. It is characterized by dark skin, thick lips, and black kinky hair. What race do Pygmies belong to? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/345 "2012-06-04T05:02:59Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > What race do Pygmies belong to? PIGMY, n. One of a tribe of very small men found by ancient travelers in many parts of the world, but by modern in Central Africa only. The Pigmies are so called to distinguish them from the bulkier Caucasians — who are Hogmies. – Ambrose Bierce ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/346 "2012-06-04T05:24:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Always glad to help. You could start with the following: > > _The Aboriginal Population of Australia_ by Len Smith > _“Difficult to Found An Opinion”: 1788 Population Estimates_ by Derek John Mulvaney > _Our Original Aggression: Aboriginal Populations of Southeastern Australia 1788-1850_ by N.G. Butlin > _Continent of Hunter-Gatherers: New Perspectives in Australian Prehistory_ by Harry Lourandos > _Prehistory of Australia_ by Derek John Mulvaney and Johan Kamminga Quotes please. Because I contend that I have read those sources, and not a single one of them agrees with your claims. So please quote where they do so. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, maybe you’d prefer something a little easier to digest and more readily available online. For that we have Wikipedia. Yeah, Wikipedia. That’s a reputable source. :rolleyes: In short, still waiting fro your evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/347 "2012-06-04T05:42:00Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Not even remotely correct. > > People have continuously inhabited the inland desert regions of Australia for _at least_ 40, 000 years. > > ETA: I’ve seen this factoid on the boards a few times. Where does it come from? Harper’s comment about Aborigines having 25% larger visual cortex than caucasions comes from this paper. Klekamp, J., Riedel, A., Harper, C., Kretschmann, H. J. (1994). [Morphometric study of the postnatal growth of the visual cortex of Australian aborigines and Caucasians](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7884214). Journal of Brain Research, 35, 541-548. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/348 "2012-06-04T05:47:28Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > The experience in many Asian cultures is similar. Wealth was positively correlated to having adult children. In some cultures, children were seen as an important form of wealth. Yes, as noted [here](http://infoproc.blogspot.co.nz/2011/08/demography-and-fast-evolution.html) where Hsu discusses possible changes in average population intelligence. > [@](#): > > So we have at least two documented cases of the descendants of the rich replacing the poor over an extended period of time. My guess is that this kind of population dynamics was quite common in the past. (Today we see the opposite pattern!) Could this type of natural selection lead to changes in quantitative, heritable traits over a relatively short period of time? > > Consider the following simple model, where X is a heritable trait such as intelligence or conscientiousness or even height. Suppose that X has narrow sense heritability of one half. Divide the population into 3 groups: > > Group 1 bottom 1/6 in X; \< 1 SD below average > Group 2 middle 2/3 in X; between -1 and +1 SD > Group 3 highest 1/6 in X; \> 1 SD above average > > Suppose that Group 3 has a reproductive rate which is 10% higher than Group 2, whereas Group 1 reproduces at a 10% lower rate than Group 2. A relatively weak correlation between X and material wealth could produce this effect, given the demographic data above (the rich outreproduced the poor almost 2 to 1!). Now we can calculate the change in population mean for X over a single generation. In units of SDs, the mean changes by roughly 1/6 ( .1 + .1) 1/2 or about .02 SD. (I assumed assortative mating by group.) Thus it would take roughly 50 generations, or 1k years, under such conditions for the population to experience a 1 SD shift in X. Peter Frost also dicusses that [here](http://evoandproud.blogspot.co.nz/2011/02/east-asian-intelligence.html): > [@](#): > > China’s poor, however, were a population sink. As Unz (1980) points out: “In each generation, the poorest 10-15% of the population either failed to reproduce or produced only a negligible fraction of the successor generation.” This point emerges in ethnographic accounts:… > > This all sounds a lot like the scenario described by Clark (2007) for English society before the 20th century. Ron Unz says as much in a personal communication: > > Overall, the model is pretty similar I think to what that Clark fellow wrote about England. However, I think the degree of genetic pressure in each generation was enormously greater, fenjia [division of land among sons] caused automatic downward mobility each generation, and I think the system remained in place for several times longer than the few centuries Clark claims for England. > > Clearly, the higher mean IQs of East Asians cannot be solely or even mainly attributed to the Confucian exam culture. The main cause was the establishment of a State society, its monopoly on the use of violence, and its creation of an orderly, rules-based society. Reproductive success depended on being able to play by the rules. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Changes in agriculture, diet and technology accounts for most of that doesn’t it? If we went back to subsistence hunter gatherer economies, the very next generation would have heavier short bones wouldn’t they? There is evidence that there have been genetic changes too in response to these new environments. The New York Times [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/science/02evo.html?pagewanted=all) I cited above: > [@](#): > > Many genes for taste and smell show signs of selective pressure, perhaps reflecting the change in foodstuffs as people moved from nomadic to sedentary existence. **Another group under pressure is that of genes that affect the growth of bone. These could reflect the declining weight of the human skeleton that seems to have accompanied the switch to settled life, which started some 15,000 years ago.** > > A third group of selected genes affects brain function. The role of these genes is unknown, but they could have changed in response to the social transition as people moved from small hunter-gatherer groups a hundre ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/349 "2012-06-04T06:00:27Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Quotes please. > > Because I contend that I have read those sources, and not a single one of them agrees with your claims. > > So please quote where they do so. > > Yeah, Wikipedia. That’s a reputable source. :rolleyes: > > In short, still waiting fro your evidence. So the short version’s too short for you and the long version’s too long for you? Why am I not surprised? Do your own research from here on. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/350 "2012-06-04T07:45:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > To the surprise of no one, this evidence is nonsense. > > The writer is claiming the Australian aborigines are adapted to their desert environment. Really? And when did that happen? > > The aborigines lived in Australia’s coastal region up until two hundred years ago. They only moved to the desert when they were driven out of the coastal regions by European settlers. The cause of the larger visual cortex in Aborigines could come about for a variety of reasons. However, the fact is they do in fact perform rather well in terms of spatial memory and do have a larger visual cortex than caucasians. Their brains are noted to be quite different and they tend to have different iq results. As a population isolated for about 44,000 years provide an interesting example of human diversity. The recently found [denisovans](http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/334612/title/Humans_reached_Asia_in_two_waves) may have provided some of their ancestry. > [@](#): > > Australian aborigines share as much DNA with Denisovans as do New Guineans, the researchers say. Several other island populations in eastern Oceania display lesser amounts of Denisovan genetic material. Groups in Indonesia and mainland Asia possess no Denisovan genetic remnants… > > All non-Africans possess roughly the same amount of Neandertal DNA, about 1 percent to 4 percent. That’s consistent with a single human migration out of Africa about 65,000 years ago, followed by interbreeding with Neandertals in western Asia, Reich says. A trek to Southeast Asia then must have occurred. Common ancestors of New Guineans and Australian aborigines mated with Denisovans there at least 44,000 years ago, before journeying to their current homelands, the scientists estimate. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/351 "2012-06-04T11:06:23Z")
> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > “Had”? ☹ Be more careful next time, then! Well, she’s not _new_ anymore, is she? ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/352 "2012-06-04T11:13:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > No, that’s wrong. You’re confusing the Northern European race (light skin, blonde hair, blue eyes) Southern European race (light skin, dark hair, brown eyes) and Middle Eastern race (olive skin, dark hair, dark eyes.) They’re totally different. Just look at them. > > Now please explain the intellectual differences between the NE, SE and ME races. I can’t. There is a relationship between the number of thousands of years a population has practiced civilization and the average IQ, but it is not a perfect correlation. Nevertheless, Italy, to whom we owe the Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance, has a higher average IQ than the Scandinavian countries, which did not really begin to build cities until a thousand years ago. [http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm](http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/353 "2012-06-04T11:19:52Z")
Why is Italy more corrupt and crime-ridden, and also economically worse-off, then? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/354 "2012-06-04T11:40:44Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > I can’t. There is a relationship between the number of thousands of years a population has practiced civilization and the average IQ, but it is not a perfect correlation. > > Nevertheless, Italy, to whom we owe the Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance, has a higher average IQ than the Scandinavian countries, which did not really begin to build cities until a thousand years ago. > > [http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm](http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm) You keep quoting this as if it is fact. It’s the product of some moron with access to the internet. It’s just complete ignorance that would allow someone to think they could “estimate the IQ of a nation.” Read their methodology - it’s ludicrous and racist to boot. The average IQ of any distinct cultural group is 100. All this stuff you’re saying makes absolutely no sense. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/355 "2012-06-04T12:20:48Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > I can’t. There is a relationship between the number of thousands of years a population has practiced civilization and the average IQ, but it is not a perfect correlation. Well you’d better revisit your theories if you’re now admitting there’s no suck thing as a “White race.” Now please explain this “black race” you’re talking about, when Africa has no such thing; I see the EAst African, Bantu, Khoisian and Pygmy races. Does the early adoption of ironworking and animal husbandry by Bantu affect their IQ? ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/356 "2012-06-04T12:51:15Z")
Please do not forget the Sahelien peoples, who are different than the Atlantic cost peoples of West Africa from them came the Bantu. How a Peul or Songhiké is the same as a Fan I do not know. It is also strange he makes the difference from north Africa but they have had indigenous from prehistoric and slave descended black people for many centuries. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/357 "2012-06-04T12:58:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well you’d better revisit your theories if you’re now admitting there’s no suck thing as a “White race.” > > Now please explain this “black race” you’re talking about, when Africa has no such thing; I see the EAst African, Bantu, Khoisian and Pygmy races. Does the early adoption of ironworking and animal husbandry by Bantu affect their IQ? When confronted with a theory one does not want to believe in it is common to look for any discrepancy, and use that as an excuse to reject the whole thing. * * * In Africa south of the Equator the period from 500 BC until AD 1000 was first and foremost the period which saw the change to food production. Before 500 BC there may have been a little deliberate ‘vegeculture’, or intentional planting of vegetable foods, but most food was either hunted or gathered. After AD 1000, though people still hunted and gathered, most of their food came from agriculture and stock-raising, the emphasis in the economy depending largely on ecological factors. This transition to food production coincided, more or less, with the transition from the Stone to the Iron Age. On present evidence it would seem safe to say that before 500 BC no metal tools were in use, [http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521215923\_CHOL9780521215923A008](http://histories.cambridge.org/extract?id=chol9780521215923_CHOL9780521215923A008) By the times Negroes were leaving the paleolithic age whites had already built the great civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, and Greece. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/358 "2012-06-04T13:02:39Z")
> [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](#): > > [http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm](http://sq.4mg.com/NationIQ.htm) Yay! Yet another chance (this is the third time I’ve asked) to request a cite that corroborates the “evidence” presented at the above link. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/359 "2012-06-04T13:06:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why is Italy more corrupt and crime-ridden, and also economically worse-off, then? In Italy the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants is 0.87. In the United States the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants is 4.8. In Italy the per capita gross domestic product is $30,100. In the United States the per capita gross domestic product is $48,100. > **[List of countries by intentional homicide rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate)** > > The list of countries by homicide rate is derived from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) data, and is expressed in number of deaths per 100,000 population per year. For example, a homicide rate of 30 out of 100,000 is presented in the table as "30", and corresponds to 0.03% of the population dying by homicide. The reliability of underlying national murder rate data may vary. Only UNODC-vetted data is used in the main table to maintain consistency. In some cases, i Homicide rates ... [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html?countryName=Italy&countryCode=it®ionCode=eur&rank=45#it](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html?countryName=Italy&countryCode=it®ionCode=eur&rank=45#it) ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236/360 "2012-06-04T13:11:17Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Yay! Yet another chance (this is the third time I’ve asked) to request a cite that corroborates the “evidence” presented at the above link. These findings come from IQ and the Wealth of Nations, by Richard Lynn, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and Dr. Tatu Vanhanen, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland. > **[IQ and the Wealth of Nations](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations)** > > IQ and the Wealth of Nations is a 2002 book by psychologist Richard Lynn and political scientist Tatu Vanhanen. The authors argue that differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) are correlated with differences in the average national intelligence quotient (IQ). They further argue that differences in average national IQs constitute one important factor, but not the only one, contributing to differences in national wealth and rates of economic growth. > The ... To the best of my knowledge no one else has made an international study of IQ differences between different countries. However, their findings correlate with international school performance, and every study comparing the IQs of blacks, whites, and Orientals. > **[Who's No. 1? Finland, Japan and Korea, Says OECD Education Study - Site...](https://siteselection.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf011210.htm)** > > Who's No. 1? Finland, Japan and Korea, Says OECD Education Study [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/race-differences-in-average-iq-are-largely-genetic/623236.md?page=19)