One fun way to scandalize most decent people is to tell them half the people in the world are below average in IQ. Americans hate the idea of IQ and fixed biological traits. The reason for this is free will is tightly wound into the American creed. We have rights and we are judged by how we exercise those rights. The multi-billion dollar self-help industry exists,m because Americans are sure you can improve on what God gave you. It is a central part of the American myth that we can be anything we choose to be.
It is also what drives so much of social science and government policy. No amount of evidence to the contrary will convince us that you can’t get better and smarter. It’s why the phrase “Flynn Effect” has become an involuntary response from liberals whenever the subject of IQ is raised. Whenever the topic of IQ comes up on-line, the comments will have people swearing the Flynn Effect means IQ is malleable. That means the reason little Matumbo is dumb is not nature, but an insufficiently funded school system.
The fact is, though, IQ is real. Most of every population falls into the category of average IQ for that population. Then there are some that are dimwits and others with above average and even genius level IQ. Every population of humans has an average IQ, just as they have an average height. Europeans tend to be smarter than other populations, on average. This is one reason why Europeans raced ahead of the rest of the world starting in the 15th century. Not the only reason, but an important one.
European societies have a relatively large number of above average IQ people compared to other populations. This advantage did not count for a lot until technology permitted enough extra to support a leisure class. Once Europeans societies were able to afford a leisure class, the smart fraction was able to accelerate the progress down the road to modernity. On the other hand, the societies lacking the human capital to create a leisure class, also lacked a large enough smart fraction to overcome scarcity.
This is and interesting paper on how technology is changing our labor markets. The fact is, technology works great for smart people. It offers all sorts of new ways to make a living and make life easier. Even credentialization has not limited this. Every business has a need for smart people. I know lots of people who have changed careers a few times, because the demand for their smarts changed. The demand for IQ is constant. Even those with professional degrees have adapted in a similar fashion.
For the people on the left side of the bell curve, it is a different story. Their skills are narrow and they acquire new skills slowly. Technology is often making their skills obsolete. That’s one reason why we see stagnant wages and unusually high unemployment rates among the unskilled and semi-skilled. It’s not the only reason, but technology also makes it easier to plug on foreign low-skilled labor, thus making open borders more attractive. Many fall into a condition of chronic under employment.
The question is what to do about it.
