From: CurtAdams@aol.com
Date: Tue Oct 01 2002 - 08:15:23 MDT
In a message dated 9/30/02 23:05:54, spike66@attbi.com writes:
>I have been pondering something
>which Dr. Sowell comments on: the low IQ seen in isolated
>white communities. After having seen that firsthand,
>I am convinced it isn't just my imagination or some
>stereotype. It is very real.
>
>My question then is "what is the mechanism
>that could cause low IQ in these isolated communties?"
>I suggested one: those with brains or ambition leave
>town, and the breeding is left to the stay-at-homes.
I would expect it had far more to do with environment.
Isolated environments aren't very stimulating, and there's
not much to make people get smart. People emigrate
for a variety of reasons - ambition *and* desparation,
most of which aren't linked to intelligence. Of course,
you're right inn that the bright ones of any given
generation will be mostly gone by 25, but they'll get
replaced by others for some time.
>Do we need any other explanation beyond this one?
>Could inbreeding play a role? Would that in general
>reduce the *average* IQ of an isolated community?
Yes, but the effect would be really small. First cousin
marriages have a negligeable impact on most parameters
and it would take several centuries of absolute genetic
isolation for a village of 100 to reach that level of
inbreeding.
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