Are there more intelligent races than others?

Question

Border Collies and Labradors are intelligent dogs, but there are some which aren't as intelligent, yet they are the same species. So is it the same with humans? Are whites more intelligent than blacks or vice versa? I'm assuming if that was true, no-one would say it anyway as it would be considered too "un-pc."

Answer 1

there are those at both extremes in every race.

Answer 2

There have been studies on this topic, but they've all been biased towards white people generally. Such as an IQ test which was given to American's and people immigrating to America from other races with questions that would require knowing common knowledge for the area. American's scored higher, but the reason for that was they were both more comfortable with the language and they knew what brands such as "Mom's & Pop's" was and who's head was on what coin.

So basically, so far no-one has tried a fair way to measure it that I know of. Cultural differences would also make a difference, so it really can't be measured easily.

If a fair test happened, I expect the results would be roughly equal. That's only a hypothesis though.

Answer 3

No, and there is a very simple reason. There is no scientific way of defining or measuring intelligence. PC or not PC has nothing to do with it. You may have an idea of what intelligence is, and your own way of evaluating how much of it some people have. Your perceptions might agree with other people's. But that's all they are: perceptions. This is, in fact, the problem that plagued intelligence studies in the early 20th Century. No one could define it. Even with a vague definition, measuring it is very sketchy. There is a great deal of debate and argument about this among people who study this kind of thing.

So you can't say that one race is more intelligent that another, in a scientific sense. You can't even say one person is more intelligent than another. I mean, you can say it, but it's like saying the Earth is flat. There's about the same amount of evidence supporting your statement.

Answer 4

Studies of intelligence in relation to race are considered deeply offensive by many today, and are often backed up with a hefty agenda.

But, a huge amount of research on the subject was carried out in the 19th century and up to the 1970's. There is an overwhelming lack of evidence that there is any significant deviation in IQ between races, and certainly no evidence that white Europeans (and descendants) are more intelligent than other races (which is often the conclusions politically-motivated studies have tried to draw).

Answer 5

Border collies and labs are very smart at what they do, but put them in the wild and a Russian elk hound or a wolf hound will run them to ground in a second. Each race, and this is very un pc, has a genetic heritage that will come forward when necessary. But intelligence has nothing to do with it.

Answer 6

Different types of dogs were specifically bred to do specific tasks (ie herding sheep, fighting, pull a sled). So a dog that was bred to do a task that might have required more intelligence would be more likely to have an overall more intelligent breed as a whole because of artificial selection. So the analogy doesn't apply necessarily.
A study of U.S. adult IQ in 1981 found that while IQ overlapped a lot, that there were gaps between races. Asians were highest, then whites, then hispanics, then blacks. However, since the study, the gaps between the races are narrowing. IQ is heritable from your parents, but also influenced highly by your level of education and social status. For instance I found that my IQ has gone up by 7 points since I've started college two years ago. Another example being a hispanic family I know. The mom was very poor as a child and didn't get past junior high, but her children were brought up in a middle class neighborhood. Of her 4 children, all are in college, all have high IQs, one was just accepted to Harvard Law with an LSAT score in the 98th percentile, and another is preparing for medical school.
What I'm saying is that yes, there are gaps in intelligence, but it seems to represent a gap in socio-economic status. Also there are huge overlaps... in other words any given asian isn't likely to be more intelligent than any given hispanic, they are all within a close range.
Also one more point: there are lots of different kinds of intelligence that an IQ test doesn't measure. Who knows what the results would be if we could measure every kind.
In rebuttal to another answer, there is more genetic diversity within races then between them. See this link:
http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/anthro/evolve4/ch/15/welcome.shtml

Answer 7

On average, is the key word here. There is an average variance in mean intelligence, despite all the social science howls of protest to the contrary. These people spend more time trying to wish away the true results, than trying to do something about it. The cause is really not known; the variance, on average, is really there, though, regardless of social science BS.

Answer 8

"Intelligence" as we measure it, is a combination of nature and nurture.
The "nature" part is influenced by the physical structure of the brain and how well it functions.
But nurture comes in not only educationally (which is how we usually measure intelligence) but also in the development of the organ, the brain. Brains need good inherited ability to function, proper prenatal as well as post natal nutrition, etc. In addition, stimulated brains actually grow more nerve pathways, etc. which contributes to 'intelligence"
To answer your question, it is not a racially predetermined situation. But cultures which have the economic stability to attain proper nutrition for the mothers and children and the leisure to care for their children in a way that stimulates them intellectually generally score higher on "intelligence" tests.
Generally, smart parents make smart kids-- why? Because they work at doing the right things for their kids development--- both physically and mentally!

Answer 9

No way. If you go to any country and try to walk in their shoes for a week, you would most certainly not be thought of as smart by that culture.
Could you survive in a desert?
Could you survive in sub-artic temperatures?
Could you live in the jungle and not be killed within days?
Every culture has learned to adapt to their surroundings and making them smart enough to do it well.
Here in America we have things right at our fingertips.
Not so in most other places.
Everyone has intelligence, it shows up in surprising and varied forms.
Who would you think was more intelligent.
A Someone who can find the best bargains before Christmas or
B Someone who can live in the desert where they live off what the land provides them and they protect themselves from lethal predators with courage and cunning?
No culture is smarter than another, we just have different information handed down to us from our ancestry and from our experiences.

Answer 10

Go to www.zerotothree.org or www.educare.com

There are articles/books that explain how nurturing in the first few years of a child's life make brain connections. It is explain that all newborns are born with the preliminary "wiring", but that there are any number of synapses that must be formed during the first few years in order for the child's brain/personality to develop correctly. If the connections are not formed they are lost. It is also possible to form "bad" connections, which will mean that person's brain will respond to any number of things inappropriately for the rest of his/her life.

Believing that all newborn humans start out with the same potential is not a matter of political correctness. It is science.
Realizing that not all babies get the benefit of the right kind of nurturing is a reality for any number of people regardless of race.

Answer 11

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