A person’s IQ (intelligence quotient) is a score derived from standardized tests designed to measure human intelligence and intellectual potential. IQ tests include questions that measure reasoning and problem-solving skills. The discovery that average IQs differ worldwide has been a focus of inquiry and controversy.
Is not “we have most if the world’s wealth, we’re aware that 25% of our populationvm can’t find the biggest ocean in the world in a map, and we also won’t allocate funds to schools to fix this” a sign of low intelligence?
No, it’s a sign of greedy people wanting to keep a population ignorant.
Ignorance is not the same as unintelligence. To use the example I gave elsewhere, an indigenous Amazonian couldn’t find the Pacific Ocean on a map either. That doesn’t mean they’re stupid, and they’re far more likely to survive long-term in the Amazon than people the West regard as geniuses.
Yes. We cannot measure intelligence. We can only measure culturally-relevant knowledge
Generally, its in the interest of a country to have knowledgeable people. Its an investment that pays back well in $$$
Qualitatively, I argue that a country that doesn’t allocate funds to make their population knowledgeable is not an intelligent country, regardless od what knowledge they try to teach (be it the three sisters or geography or mathematics or whatever)
Is not “we have most if the world’s wealth, we’re aware that 25% of our populationvm can’t find the biggest ocean in the world in a map, and we also won’t allocate funds to schools to fix this” a sign of low intelligence?
No, it’s a sign of greedy people wanting to keep a population ignorant.
Ignorance is not the same as unintelligence. To use the example I gave elsewhere, an indigenous Amazonian couldn’t find the Pacific Ocean on a map either. That doesn’t mean they’re stupid, and they’re far more likely to survive long-term in the Amazon than people the West regard as geniuses.
Yes. We cannot measure intelligence. We can only measure culturally-relevant knowledge
Generally, its in the interest of a country to have knowledgeable people. Its an investment that pays back well in $$$
Qualitatively, I argue that a country that doesn’t allocate funds to make their population knowledgeable is not an intelligent country, regardless od what knowledge they try to teach (be it the three sisters or geography or mathematics or whatever)
I agree. Hence my comment about the American educational system being broken. It hasn’t been invested in for a long time.
But that doesn’t mean that Americans are, on average, less intelligent. It means that the system failed them.