Evolutionists, are some races superior in intelligence?

Question

I'm asking because lots of people seem to believe all races are equal in intelligence, yet that would mean that every race evolved EQUALLY as far as that particular physical quality goes. How does that make sense, seeing that so many other qualities did not develop in the same manner (i.e. hair color, skin color, etc.)? How could every race throughout history have acheived the exact same rate and proportion of intelligence?

Yes, I realize the implications of this, but I'm asking people to be honest here. How could everyone's intelligence have evolved perfectly equally? It's impossible so there must be vast differences.

I know there are different ways to measure intelligence. Let's just take one test, for example, the IQ. Studies show there are vast differences among all races.

NOTE - I'm not concerned here about what race we are talking about - black, white, red or yellow! I'm just looking for an answer to the basic question.

Answer 1

This is an EXTREMELY complex question as it must deal with much more than simple genetics. You also have to include environment (food, water, air, activities), society (religion and education), disease and genetic differences.

As for determining superior intelligence. This is also arbitrary. Would it seem that people from the US are smarter than Japan? Well Japanese students seem to test better, but we went to the moon. Is the tribal leader in the jungle any less brilliant than the dean of a college?

Also one could ask a Creationist, does God make people stupid?

The problem also is that by saying one race is less or more than another is immediately branded as being racist. Similar to pointing out upper body strength in men and multitasking abilities in women is sexist. In this PC day and age this question probably can only be discussed by a very small group of people.

Answer 2

I will concede to you, albeit tenatively, that living in different parts of the world would have required different skillsets. I will aslo acknowledge that, even among people with similar physical features, the way in which a person learns can vary greatly. Your pitfall, however, comes in not thinking things through all the way.

One way that evolution could have coped with the requirement of differing skillsets would have been to hardwire those skills into the mind of the human. This is the position you are proposing. The other alternative is that evolution championed an adaptive mind. Now because the adaptive mind was not only capable of learning the skills needed in their present environment, but also able to develop new skills, the adaptive mind model is better suited to expansion. A hardwired fisherman could not move to the grassland, but an adaptive one could.

To take this further, consider the two in competition. Let's say an adaptive clan moves into the seaside territory of a hardwired clan. At first, your hardwired seasiders have the advantage, but the adaptive clan can quickly close the gap. Yet the adaptive clan still has the advantage, because if fish become scarce, they can rely on previously learned skills. It might also be reasonable to say that the adaptive clan would be better suited to devise new and better ways of fishing. Eventually, as competition becomes fierce, the adaptive clan pulls farther and farther ahead until the hardwired clan vanishes.

Evolution favors an adaptive mind, and this is why it has come to dominate the globe. Even if it arose in several different areas, the basic template would remain the same. People may learn differently, but the overall capacity remains comparable

Answer 3

I can't answer your question until you do two things:

1. Define intelligence. What kind of cognitive activity counts as "intelligence," and what is your basis for choosing only some kinds of thinking as "intelligence"?

2. Develop a method for objectively measuring intelligence. The intelligence quotient (IQ) test doesn't count here, in my opinion. Measured this way, a person's "intelligence" may be affected by general stress level, time of day, season of year, test-taking ability, test-related nervousness, and any number of other things that have nothing to do with cognitive activity. Furthermore, the IQ test measures aptitude for academic knowledge and problem solving. What about other kinds of "intelligence?"

The fact of the matter is that, barring genetic diseases or birth defects, all Homo sapiens sapiens are born with the same cognitive equipment. If you were to perform brain scans of healthy newborns of different races and line them up side by side, they would all look the same. If you were to physically examine their brains, you would not be able to say "aha, this is a white brain", or "oh, here's a black brain".

Differences in the ways our brains work arise as we grow and are influenced by our environments. One could argue that this characteristic is what gives humans their "superior" intelligence. We are, regardless of race, supremely adaptable, and our cognitive abilities develop according to the environmental pressures in which we find ourselves. So, as a species, we *have* evolved equally, but people from different parts of the word *develop* differently. (Please note that I do not claim any development process yields people that are better or smarter than anyone else.)

Answer 4

Okay, I'm an evolutionist, but I think the idea that all humans evolved equally is completely idiotic. Neanderthals, for example, had larger brains than us are are NOT thought to be our direct ancestors, so evolution is not some smooth and perfect process.

But what I'm going to say is a politically incorrect, but nontheless true answer (at least I think it is). I think some groups of people are more intelligent, and/or morally or intellectually superior to others, NOT for reasons of biology, for reasons of circumstance. We now know that the most likely reason Europe has ruled the world for so long is because the climate of Europe itself is incredibly temperate in comparison to the rest of the world. This gave the Europeans the opportunity to master agriculture and thus, advance in other ways.

Many in Africa, on the other end of the spectrum, have not evolved to a high level of conciousness yet. This doesn't mean they don't have the capacity to do so, it is because they have environmental obstacles that are preventing this, corrupt leaders, religious extremism, and deprived land stripped of its resources most likely by the ancestors of me and many others here. We also know that proper nutrition is essential to optimal brain developement, and many in Africa do not have the privilige of this.

So you see, when the most likely causes of this are analysed, it seems biological evolution has less to do with this than social evolution.

Answer 5

Well as a Catholic who agrees with the late Pope on the subject of evolution (that it is more than a theory) the reason for that is simple.

Modern humans appear (both in terms of mitochondrial DNA analysis and the fossil record) about 200,000 years ago (the Herto skull, Homo Sapiens Idaltu.)

At this time, the genetic evidence suggests that the gene pool was extremely shallow - only five thousand people or so formed the early community of humanity. As such, there really was no significant racial variation to speak of... everyone is remarkably alike (even today, the average chimp is likely to be ten times as different from his fellows as we are from each other.)

There were no different races at all until about 60,000 years ago, when modern people (likely originating with the San tribe in the Kalahari) began to spread through the middle east to Asia and Europe.

And in 60,000 years, there's just not enough time for differences in intelligence to arise due to natural selection - in evolutionary terms, that's the blink of an eye. The only evolution there's been in that time are some of the bare, bare necessities - lighter skins in northerly climes so that the body can take in a bit of the much needed Vitamin D in a less sunny environment.

Truth to tell, most human selection for intelligence happened a long time ago - even the Neanderthals were likely our equals in this respect. When an advantageous trait arises, it doesn't necessarily keep changing. When we got smart, it was not evolutionarily necessary for us to keep getting smarter - quite the contrary - we have smaller brains than Neanderthals did, because most of us don't have to be generalists that flint knap, figure out hunting strategies, make dwellings, and remember the lay of all the local plantlife. Large brains are an adaptation that is really, really expensive because a lot of food energy is needed to drive them - and we don't have as much of a need for those deep problem solving skills as Paleolithic people did, because we tend to be specialists, and not struggling generalists.

it is the same thing with the human wrist - it became flexible with Homo Erectus - it didn't need to keep getting more and more flexible - evolution caused it to achieve all it needed to.

Answer 6

There's no evidence of that despite various studies. Perhaps its too controversial to discuss openly. One problem is how to calculate intelligence scientists use a term g (normally italicised) which indicates general cognitive ability. IQ tests measure this only imperfectly. Many ask you to identify the correct expression, which will only be answerable to someone brought up in that culture with the same language. Critics have claimed that all IQ tests measure are an ability to do IQ tests.

Another major problem is that its hard to prove a causative link anyway. For example children in impoverished 2rd world countries might do less well on tests, but this could be due to malnutrition, ill health and a poor education.

I feel that if anyone has a good upbringing, is healthy and well educated then they're free to make the most of their phenotypic qualities.

**'How could everyone's intelligence have evolved perfectly equally'

We're all the same species though! Also keep in mind that human beings tend not to have strong selection pressures in day to day life. For example, I'm reduced to eyeglasses but I doubt that would stop me from ever replicating my genes if I find a woman who likes me for me! Humanity is undergoing a combination of sexual selection and genetic drift.**

Answer 7

There is a large difference in intelligence when it comes to the different races, why this is I really do not know. I have to say evolution does play a large part in the whole skeem of things. Most people do not realize if it were not for the slave trade that happened over 200 years ago that most African tribes would still be living in the stone age when it came to intelligence. The slave trade was a horrible thing when it came to mankind treating others of its kind like animals, but remember without it most blacks around the world would not have began to grow in the intelligence department. They would still be running around the African plain chacing down their next meal. They would still be naked also. In all honesty the African American as we are to refure to them today, really owe us a great big thank you for trading with their chiefs over 200 years ago. Most Americans go along with the flow because of the liberal thinkers in our society today. They believe that all society members should be treated equally no matter their intelligence level or income level and I think this is the lie that keeps us from growing and connecting as members of a great nation called America. If all members of our society are treated equally it is called a socielistic or communist government. If this is what the liberals want then let them move to Cuba, China or Russia. I am sure this is not the answer you are looking for but you said be honest and this is as honest as I can be. Good luck in finding the aswer you want.

Dominus Vobiscum
Don

Answer 8

All races evolved their cognitive functions in relatively the same area.

The "races" that you refer to are actually just sub-divisions of the same creature. The differences in physical features appeared long after brain development. While things such as skin color and hair color evolved due to the advantages they game to people in certain regions, the brain function was used all the same. They three sub-divisions did not evolve from three different species, they evolved from the same animal... thus only appearances have been altered.

Answer 9

It's hard to know what you are getting at. All humanity goes back to Lucy, "Found in eastern Africa--in the area of Kenya" I think each group evolved based on the problems they had to conquer. I think each race has exhibited superior intelligence in what it had to master to come to a certain point. If you want to talk about superior intelligence, I would say, on the hole, it would belong to Orientals; I think Europeans were superior in their creative arts; but every egotistical in that everybody in history that they reproduced had to resemble them. There are many brilliant developments in the modern world, and I think each racial group had a hand in them. So to make a long story short, superior intelligence is not a racial characteristic but a human characteristic.

Answer 10

I think the correct statement is all have the ability to learn the same amount. Obviously, any IQ test will be unfair for 85% or more of the people on Earth, at least any that I have seen. But, if you take that out of the equation, any people other than Asians are going to be far behind, unless you take it to a country by country not caucasion/*******/etc basis.