About Me
- Lotus Reads
- Book fiend,culture-vulture, world traveller, daughter of the tropics now living in the Great White North.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
What the...
I thought judging people,races or nations based on IQ scores was now passé? Maybe even politically incorrect? But "The Sunday Times" reports that a new European league of IQ scores has ranked the Germans right on top with an IQ of 107, followed by the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Italy, Austria and Switzerland.
One of the explanations put forward by Prof. Richard Lynn of the University of Ulster is this:
"... populations in the colder, more challenging environments of Northern Europe had developed larger brains than those in warmer climates further south. The average brain size in Northern and Central Europe is 1,320cc and in southeast Europe it is 1,312cc. “The early human beings in northerly areas had to survive during cold winters when there were no plant foods and they were forced to hunt big game,” he said. “The main environmental influence on IQ is diet, and people in southeast Europe would have had less of the proteins, minerals and vitamins provided by meat which are essential for brain development.”
So, folks, once and for all, it is "geography" and not "genes" that contributes to the success of a nation!
Although the article is geared more towards the British reading public, it makes for quite an interesting read for all of us.
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