What is Digg?212 Comments
- tkdan235, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29You must be a retard if you live on the equator then...
- gherikill, on 10/12/2007, -6/+29Didn't someone else do a study on this in the 40s? I thought it was done on a pretty large scale and they also came to the conclusion that Germans were the smartest.
- rebz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27People need to understand that IQ and real world "intelligence" have nothing in common. There are people with extremely high IQs who can't function in society, how is that helpful to themselves, or others?
- Olle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22I did military service in the Swedish army. It was so cold that my socks froze to my shoes.
I'm not sure I feel any smarter. - gherikill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18It was a European study
- mayhemt, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20What about german blondes?
- Wamzlee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17there are two things I can't stand in this world...people intolerant of other people's cultures....and the Dutch!
- masooga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14The methods of measuring intelligence is one of the most conflicted fields in the field of psychology.
Two buzzwords? causation vs correlation - AlanLivingston, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Yeah! WTF! How can they produce a list of the smartest countries in europe and totally leave the US off? That's nuts!
Oh boy... - carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16yeah, i think they "conclusivly" found that those who weren't german were inferior. hope the author of this survey thought long and hard about how much crap they'd get when they published it...
- bertdevriese, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12sorry dude, dr evil was raised by belgians!!
- schlagzeuger, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14Goethe, Mann, Heine, Rilke, Nietsche, Schopenhauer, Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, Orff, Stockhausen, Einstein... yup, they're pretty smart
- JosiahQ, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11How does this explain the David Hasselhoff and Iron Maiden phenomenons?
- michael.calfee, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Makes sense, considering the modern developed world began way north of the equator. Conceivably, warmer climates should have offered better opportunities for development around the equator. Why did it it happen in the harshest and coldest environments instead? (Man, this topic could get real touchy, real quick.)
- ivachen, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15they are smarter than the american blondes, and still below the french brunettes
- antipro, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12they dont count because they were obviously engineered as the 'master' race
- deBeuk, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Intelligence (as in abstract thinking) and IQ have everything to with each other, but they have nothing to do with the ability to adapt to different circumstances and to interact with other humans, which is what being able to function properly in a society ('to fit in') is all about. It's more a matter of empathy than of intelligence.
- takeda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9As for the jokes about Polish people, we too joke about Americans in our country, so I guess it balances everything out :)
If somebody bases his judgment about other cultures on jokes, then that simply means the person is a retard and probably has a low IQ ;))) - traybucket, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Pseudoscience. Outcomes of wars are indicators of "national IQ"? So the Romans were really smart for awhile, then turned stupid? So the Arabs under Muhammad were really smart for awhile, then turned stupid?
Cold climate makes you smart? Then why did civilization start in warm, mediterranean climates? Does this guy really think that people in warm climates have no hardships?
Ladies and gentlemen, all of these ideas have been examined and refuted already. The authoritative book on the subject is "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond. Read it, and you'll never be in danger of buying into this kind of racist pseudoscience ever again. - Jomwilli, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10How the hell did Italy get there on the top?
- shovel10, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7even Dutch and Germans are smart enough to know this is *****. Let's forget the EQ as well.
- deBeuk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I think it's the French speaking part of the country that drags the average down ;)
/From the Netherlands
//20 km north of Belgium - grzelakc, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11So much for stupid Pollacks, eh?
God, I those Polish jokes in the states are so lame... As a Pole I'm not offended by them but they are very lame (at least the vast majority of them). - quasipalm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"As for the jokes about Polish people, we too joke about Americans in our country, so I guess it balances everything out :)"
As a polish-american, I make fun of everyone. - Olle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Do you know why Norwegians stopped putting ice in their drinks?
The guy with the recipe died.
Hahahaha *sniff*
(Yes I'm Swedish and Swedes make Norwegian jokes just as Americans make Polish jokes). - gherikill, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Guns, Germs, and Steel is made for liberal hippies.
- Speckles, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Throwing the racist card eh? Anyhow, there is a definite correlation between a nation's high IQ and prosperity. Just look at Africa's average IQ. It's the lowest on Earth.
http://www.vdare.com/misc/rushton_african_iq_map.htm - Clearz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9"How do you explain Africa. "
What are you talking about? I hate to say it but Africa is a failed continent. This data fits right in with where Africa is today. - Dajestar, on 10/12/2007, -15/+21"Professor Lynn ascribes the differences between British and French intelligence levels to the results of military conflict. He described it as “a hitherto unrecognised law of history” that “the side with the higher IQ normally wins, unless they are hugely outnumbered, as Germany was after 1942”."
What would the IQ of the Iraqis be? They lost three wars in the last 20 years.... - GreatBunzinni, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Correction: IQ (or intelligence quotient) is the quotient between two numbers: one representing the intelligence level of the tested individual and the other the "normal" quotient for an individual of the same age.
Everyone who can understand simple reasoning knows that the IQ concept is complete *****. Right now there is no accepted general definition of what "intelligence" is. No one can evaluate something that they don't even know what it is, let alone evaluate it as a dumb number. Therefore the IQ score is the quotient of two numbers that are meaningless and that can't be attributed scientifically.
To make matters worse, the IQ test was designed to evaluate the intelligence of pre-teens and teenagers. The test itself doesn't make any sense when it is applied to anyone over 16yo. So, not only it's score is meaningless, it is obviously ***** when someone tries to apply it to the general public, including adults.
So, to sum things up... why the ***** does everyone still hammer on this IQ *****? - cico, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Don't worry for us and for our beloved cheeses :o)
- philz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Explains alot about penguins, doesn't it?
- Rickard, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Since when do IQ tests include literacy questions?
- LordRahl72, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I kind of agree. But there have been some very advanced civilizations that evolved from warmer climates long before what you consider to be the modern developed world. Like the Egyptian and the Maya empire for example.
- deBeuk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Well maybe the fact that it's a European study using test results from countries in Europe has something to do with it, what do you think?
Not that the US /would/ show up in the top 25 even if it had participated in the study ;) - bni999, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5There are some amusing comments here regarding this very specious and dubious subject. However, I think it may all be rather irrelevant since the country that put George Bush in office not once, but twice (!) has the largest military arsenal and currently deployed offensive force in the world. That is to say, stuff the IQ tests, theres a really big, dumb guy across the pond with some honking guns 'n' bombs and he doesn't know what he's doing. It is to my lasting shame that I am a natural born citizen of Walmart ..er I mean the US.
I guess my point is: pay attention to who you vote for and in general just pay attention. I'm afraid we're all in this together now. - hammerattack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5My grandfather was Polish. He'd always get these wisearses who wanted to share every Pollack joke they knew. So his standard retort was "Why do they bury Pollacks face down? So the world can kiss our asses."
My other grandfather was German. So half my family spend the better part of the last century conquering the other half. Yeah, that's really smart... - largobargo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Looking at the mean IQ scores is interesting but doesn't tell much about the shape of the distribution.
There could be a country with a lower mean but a flatter distribution. So there would be a higher percentage of people at genius and mentally retarded levels.
I also wonder how much the Nazi euthanasia program on the mentally retarded affected Germany's high average IQ.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9The IQ of the French would have been higher, but they gave up on the test too quickly.
- PaulC, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"Some of the smartest people I know at university are Africans (straight from Africa). If this temperature theory doesn't hold on a global scale, how could it hold in Europe? I call shenanigans."
You're comparing your own anecdotal evidence against 30 years' worth of IQ data. While I'm not defending this guy's theories, I would put more confidence in a scientist with real data than the fact that you know a few smart people from Africa. - PaulOwen, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8This is BS - the logic doesn't stand up on its own. Denmark and Norway are much colder and further north than the UK yet they score lower according to his measure. Germany is south of the UK, but scores higher.
There is scope everywhere for drawing invalid conclusions based on valid data.
Here's a great example of how this is put into practice in an urban myth - the worldly study of :
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF MEN WASH THEIR HANDS AFTER USING A URINAL?
Most women will tell you only 60%. If you ask them how they know this, they'll say "Oh, a study was done", or "That's according to some research conducted a while ago". At that point you could ask about the providence of such a study, who conducted it, where? why? how? But they won't be able to answer.
"But it was definitely 60%."
Instead of looking at whether such a study ever took place, think about the how -
How do you decide where to sample for the study?
How do you decide what social group to sample for the study?
How do you choose the sample of male visitors to the urinal?
How do you decide when to stop monitoring?
How do you decide whether they soiled their hands at all?
Yes, that last one was a joke, but you see the point - as soon as you answer these questions in formulating your study, you realise that your method of testing will inevitably affect the outcome to the point where you can't distinguish the valid and invalid data, and therefore can' t conclude anything of any value.
And at this point you haven't even considered the "why?" questions of such a mythical study.
Professor Lynn's conclusions fall into the same bracket - it's easy to take a sample and inflate it and call it representative - it's a methodology borrowed from physics and economics, but to make conclusions about society based on a sample doesn't work. There are always examples contradicting the study - it's just that they weren't included.
Oh, and the correct statistic is 100%, because you just went for a pee, and you washed your hands. Didn't you? - majordanger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I think there are Intelligence Latitudes. I also believe ocean air plays a factor. Push a pin in the world map at the locations of every major invention and see. Cool moist air where it's dark in the winter forcing one indoors give one time to ponder and think. It's all about necessity. Leaning against a coconut tree waiting until dinner hits you on the head is no incentive to design a better plow.
- doant, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5the Greeks were a German tribe. Alexander the great was blond remember. but IQ alone doesn't make you a great civilisation. you need social IQ s too. sometimes I think we miss allot of that over here.people in Belgium'are better of I would like to see a test with both
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7like one of the digg user said, pseudoscience. racist people will just use this for their racist agendas.
Hitler basically said the same thing and look at what happened. - Quarks, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Maybe that's too cold, it freezes the brain cells.
- JohntB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Nevertheless, IQ is correlated relatively well with academic and job performance, and, on some level, success. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ
- cormster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I see my country, Ireland featured lower than the "British Isles". Well, with the Times being a British paper, and three points smarter than I, you'd think they would have noticed that Ireland is in fact in the British Isles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles
The Idiots - tazamore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5European study. USA not in Europe.
- tazamore, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Perhaps the IQ test was in German.
- quadvods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"He found that [British] university students had, at 109, the second-highest undergraduate IQs in the world, beaten only by their US counterparts on 110".
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