The Huffington Post recently published an article by Tom Zeller, Jr., “For America’s Least Fortunate, the Grip of Poverty Spans Generations.” It’s a long piece worth reading. Quoting social scientists and politicians, Zeller cites the familiar litany of reasons for persistent poverty:
Multiple teen pregnancies
Dropping out of school
Lack of economic mobility
Dependent children
Drug addiction
Single-parent households
Culture of poverty
Teen pregnancy
Inability to delay gratification
High crime rates
Poor health outcomes
Competition from more highly-educated workers displaced by a poor economy
Impoverished neighborhoods
Born into poverty
Lack of male role models
Criminal records
Failing schools
Broken families
Lack of jobs
Violence
Failure of character
Dependence on government largesse
Lack of work ethic
Missing from this Dickensian list is the most important factor: Low IQ.
In our politically correct, “everyone can be president (or veterinarian or pediatrician)” society, few are willing to point out that low intelligence is a major impediment to success.
Consider this: Twenty-five percent of our population have IQs that are slightly low (below 90) to very low. Another 25% have IQs that are slightly high (above 110) to very high. When we compare these two groups we find that those with the lower IQs are:
Two and one-half times as likely to be unemployed
Almost twice as likely to be divorced within 5 years of marriage
Eight times as likely to have children with IQs below 80
Nine times as likely to live in poverty
Fourteen times as likely to be imprisoned
Twenty-four times as likely to be chronic welfare recipients
Two hundred and twenty-five times as likely to drop out of high school
(These data are extracted from The Bell Curve, a1994 book by Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray. The book evoked a shitstorm of controversy when it was published. Few universities have chosen to place it on their required reading lists).
I’m as uncomfortable with these data as you are. Unfortunately, I think Ron White was right when he said, “You can’t fix stupid.”
Like this:
LikeLoading...
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 4th, 2012 at 1:02 PM and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
IQs and Chronic Poverty
The Huffington Post recently published an article by Tom Zeller, Jr., “For America’s Least Fortunate, the Grip of Poverty Spans Generations.” It’s a long piece worth reading. Quoting social scientists and politicians, Zeller cites the familiar litany of reasons for persistent poverty:
Missing from this Dickensian list is the most important factor: Low IQ.
In our politically correct, “everyone can be president (or veterinarian or pediatrician)” society, few are willing to point out that low intelligence is a major impediment to success.
Consider this: Twenty-five percent of our population have IQs that are slightly low (below 90) to very low. Another 25% have IQs that are slightly high (above 110) to very high. When we compare these two groups we find that those with the lower IQs are:
(These data are extracted from The Bell Curve, a 1994 book by Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray. The book evoked a shitstorm of controversy when it was published. Few universities have chosen to place it on their required reading lists).
I’m as uncomfortable with these data as you are. Unfortunately, I think Ron White was right when he said, “You can’t fix stupid.”
Like this:
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 4th, 2012 at 1:02 PM and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.