Do you think different races have different levels of intelligence?

Answer 1

I do not believe that people of different races have different levels of intelligence.
The true problem is that there is no certain way to test intelligence.

Intelligence is a philisophical concept. Humans for the longest believed they were the only intelligent organisms in the world and then, when humans learned how to devise new tests, they realized animals were intelligent as well.
So long as the tests allowed for them to show their unique intelligence.


Lisa Delpit in her work "Other People's Children" which seeks to inform teachers that they need to be more aware of cultural diveristy so they do not underteach to specific ethnicities claims that:
" Children who may be gifted in real-life settings are often at a loss when asked to exhibit knowledge solely through decontextualized paper and pencil excersices"

it is no secret that I.Q. tests, the SAT , The TOEFFEL,etc are all culturally biased. Interestingly enough, White Americans have traditionaly scored much lower on these tests that Asians from India and China. WHY?
Because in India and China as well as Japan and Korea, children are taught, not how to conceptualize information, but how to pick out the correct answer.
That is primarily the reason why the SAT was changed from VERBAL + MATH to VERBAL+MATH+ a written Essay.

If you take a close look at resulting scores, you will see that children with great verbal and math scores scored poorly on Essays for the first consecutive test cycles.

All of the work developed to discredit members of certain races, i.e. Blacks, Hispanics, etc so that racist idealogies could be developed against them are diabolical and calculatingly unfair.

I for instance was a major in Physics and Geology (which I hold BS degrees in) and I am currently on scholarship for a MS in Physics education. I also speak, read and write Mandarin Chinese. Obviously I am more educated than many people out there but I would never say they aren't as intelligent as I am.
Furthermore, most of the racist idealogies would say that a man like me shouldn't know what I know, and should be capable of knowing what I know.
However, I came from an educated family who stressed the acquiring of knowledge.

I believe that if every student had the oppourtunities I had, they would be able to prove they are just as intelligent as anyone else.
Unfortunately the world's education systems are not able and in many cases unwilling to give all people equal oppourtunity and equal oppoutunities to prove themselves. Instead, becoming educated is likened to ice-skating uphill.

Answer 2

Yes. Absolutely. But I think you're real question is whether these differing levels are biological and not likely to be improved. Everything is biological and physical. Beyond that is religion. There are different levels of intelligence because first - there is no one definition of intelligence. Industrialized nations have pushed the idea that progress is consumption, growth and development so it is intelligent to do things that promote those views, however, such views would be seen as ridiculous to a native group that has learned to balance their consumption with the limits of their environment.

So despite the cultural and changing definitions of intelligence I would assert that any individual of any race has an equal chance at genius or idiocy but it depends on the environment in which that mind developed.

Presently, there are huge disparities in the relative situations and potentials of many of the world's people vis a vis industrialized and more developed countries which will hamper any meaningful comparison of intelligence between the two.

And one should not equate entitlements that came with a choiceless birth with a theory of inherent intelligence....

Answer 3

Different people have different levels of intelligence. Using race is just an excuse.

Answer 4

No...but I do think that different races may excel in one area than another...not because they are born that way-but because of the society in which they live. For instance, African-Americans tend to excel in sports and entertainment...I think this has a lot to do with their culture. Their culture and society is very communal...they spend time together in large groups-they listen to music, dance and play sports. Combine that with the fact that after decades of discrimination, the only place where African-Americans could gain respect and move up in the world was in sports or entertainment-these are the role models that young African-Americans look up to.

This does not mean that African-Americans do not or cannot excel in other areas-because they do, nor does it mean that people of other races cannot excel in those areas.

Asians are percieved to 'smarter' than the rest of us-they tend to excel in mathematics, science and technology. It isn't because they're smarter, but the the maticulous nature of those disciplines fits in well with many Asian customs.

Anyway, those are just a couple of examples of why certain ethnic groups appear 'smarter' or more 'talented'...but really, any race can do anything. Race is not a determining factor in IQ...genetics plays a role, but most of it is how one is raised and childhood experiences. The ole nature vs. nurture.

If I have offended anyone with these stereo-types, I apologize. It was not my intent.

Answer 5

I don't think. I know the outcome of a huge amount of academic research into this. Yes, there are differences--not as great as some might think but differences nonetheless.

And I will not comment beyond that on a public board. These things properly belong in a graduate school seminar or academic conferences as the testing sciences are still being refined and while the differences are definitely defined, the degree of them is still somewhat (slightly) qualified.

Answer 6

On average - maybe. Most of the old research is too biased to be useful, and nowadays everyone is too scared to actually study the question.

On an individual level, though, it makes no difference; I've met smart, stupid, and average people of all races. The proven variation between individual people must be far greater than any average difference between races, even if such exists.

Answer 7

No, I think different levels of intelligence are gained by different races as they desire to learn more than what they currently know.

Answer 8

Intelligence - no, race does not matter.

Certain countries or sectors of the society may be perceived as less intelligent because of the lack of availability of proper education due to various sociological reason. It is unfair to categorically conclude certain races are more intelligent than others.

Answer 9

I think it all has to do with the education that is available to the different races.
Unfortunately an education today is very expensive and out of some peoples reach.

Answer 10

I don't think different races do bit I believe that different locations of the US will have different levels