Why is the IQ of Ashkenazi Jews so High? - twenty possible explanations
Ashkenazi Jews are smart. Shockingly brilliant, in general. Impressive in brain power. How did they get that way? Ashkenazi Jews, aka Ashkenazim, are the descendants of Jews from medieval Alsace and the Rhine Valley, and later, from throughout Eastern Europe. Originally, of course, they were from Israel. Genetic research from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine suggests that the Ashkenazi bloodline branched away from other Jewish groups there 2,500 years ago, and that 40% of them are descended from only four Jewish mothers.
Approximately 80% of the Jews in the world today are Ashkenazim, with the remainder primarily Sephardic.Researchers who study the Ashkenazim agree that the children of Abraham are on top of the IQ chart. Steven Pinker – who lectured on “Jews, Genes, and Intelligence” in 2007 - says “their average IQ has been measured at 108-115.” Richard Lynn, author of “The Intelligence of American Jews” in 2004, says it is “only” a half-standard higher: 107.5. Henry Harpending, Jason Hardy, and Gregory Cochran, University of Utah authors of the 2005 research report, “Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence,” state that their subjects, “score .75 to 1.0 standard deviations above the general European average, corresponding to an IQ of 112-115.” Charles Murray, in his 2007 essay “Jewish Genius,” says “their mean is somewhere in the range of 107-115, with 110 being a plausible compromise.”
A Jewish average IQ of 115 is 8 points higher than the
generally accepted IQ of their closest rivals—Northeast Asians—and
approximately 40% higher than the global average IQ of 79.1 calculated
by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen in IQ and Global Inequity.
Plus, contemplate this astounding tidbit: Ashkenazi
“visual-spatial” IQ scores are only mediocre; in one study their median
in this category was a below-average 98. They surmount this liability by
logging astronomic figures in “verbal IQ”, which includes verbal
reasoning, comprehension, working memory and mathematical skill; a 1958
survey of yeshiva students discovered a median verbal IQ of 125.6.
What does it mean that Ashkenazim have a high IQ, in
terms of producing “geniuses”? With their population so small - a mere
0.25 of the world total - does it make any serious difference? The
answer is YES. A “bell curve” is used to illustrate IQ percentile in a
specific group – in a “general population” where IQ average is 100 the
curve assumes these proportions:
less than 70 IQ - 2.5%
70-85 IQ - 12.5%
86-100 IQ - 35%
101-115 IQ – 35%
116-130 IQ – 12.5%
greater than 130 IQ – 2.5%
Applying the same bell curve for Ashkenazim, but with a 17-point upward lift in median IQ (using the From Chance To Choice digit) produces the IQ upgrade below:
less than 87 IQ – 2.5%
88-102 IQ – 12.5%
103-117 IQ – 35%
118-132 IQ – 35%
133-148 IQ – 12.5%
greater than 148 IQ – 2.5%
This shifting upward of the bell curve by more than a
standard deviation (15 points) means that more than five times as many
Ashkenazim are eligible for Mensa (minimum 130 IQ) and more than five
times as many have the average IQ of an Ivy League graduate.
In reality, Ashkenazim are enrolled in the Ivies by a proportion ten times greater than their numbers; for example they represent 30% of Yale students, 27% of Harvard, 23% of Brown, 32% of Columbia, and 31% of Pennsylvania.
This suggests that either the “bell’s curve” is lifted
for the Ashkenazi a bit longer at the high end or there are additional
factors that enhance their ability to succeed. Regarding the first
possibility, Charles Murray notes that “the proportion of Jews with IQs
of 140 or higher is somewhere around six times the proportion of
everyone else.” Harpending, Hardy
and Cochran sport roughly the same equation; “4 out of every 1,000 Northern European is 140+ IQ, but 23 out of every 1,000 Jew is 140+.” Murray also relays a report from sky-high up in the genius range, when he notes that a 1954 survey of New York public school children with 170+ IQs revealed that 24 of the 28 were… Jewish.
and Cochran sport roughly the same equation; “4 out of every 1,000 Northern European is 140+ IQ, but 23 out of every 1,000 Jew is 140+.” Murray also relays a report from sky-high up in the genius range, when he notes that a 1954 survey of New York public school children with 170+ IQs revealed that 24 of the 28 were… Jewish.
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| Ashkenazi Child |
In the 19th century, Mark Twain noted that:
[The Jews] are peculiarly and conspicuously the
world’s intellectual aristocracy… [Jewish] contributions to the world’s
list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance,
medicine, and abstruse learning are way out of proportion to the
weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world…
and has done it with his hands tied behind him.
Twain’s observation is not dated. Ashkenazi Jews have
continued to mentally out-compete other demographics since his
statement, often suffering horrendous consequences for their toil. Here
is a brief list of Ashkenazi accomplishments in the last 90 years.
Melodic Minds: Music has been revered
in Jewish religious traditions for 3,000 years. Klezmer “reached a very
high level of sophistication and ornamentation,” according to the Jewish
Music Institute, and Ashkenazi composers and instrumentalists
contribute hugely to Western classical music (one history site
declares, “The Jews ‘Own’ the Violin”). Have centuries of practice paid
off? Researchers today believe music training optimizes neuron
development and improves brain function in math, analysis, memory,
creativity, stress management, concentration, motivation, and science. Additional information about the benefits of musical
training can be found in the following chapters: “Early Years” and
“School Years.”
Education Emphasized, Way Back in B.C. – Jeremiah
Unterman of Jerusalem informed me that the Torah instructs every Jewish
father to teach the Torah to his children, and Marisa Landau notes on a
futurepundit.com 6/4/05 discussion that it’s forbidden by the
Jewish religion to keep child illiterate. Additionally, Landau reports
that Jewish women learned to read and write, a phenomenon that was
unique in the ancient world. Landau also mentions that it has long been a
custom among Jews to provide a full pension - for up to 10 years – to
an intelligent son-in-law who wishes to entirely devote himself to
study. The Jews, it seems, invented the notion of “scholarships.”
In the medieval era, the French monk, Peter Abelard
(1079-1142) penned this about Jewish education: “A Jew, however poor,
even if he had ten sons, would get them all to letters, not for gain as
the Christians do, but for understanding of God’s law. And not only for
his sons, but his daughters.”
Nobel Prizes: Since 1950, 29% of the
awards have gone to Ashkenazim, even though they represent only a small
fraction of humanity. Ashkenazi achievement in this arena is 117 times
greater than their population. This pace isn’t slowing down; it is
accelerating. In the 21st century, they’ve received 32% of the total,
and in 2011, five of the thirteen Nobel Prize winners were Jewish –
38.5%.
Hungary in the 1930s: Ashkenazim were
6% of the population, but they comprised 55.7% of physicians, 49.2% of
attorneys, 30.4% of engineers, and 59.4% of bank officers; plus, they
owned 49.4% of the metallurgy industry, 41.6% of machine manufacturing,
72.8% of clothing manufacturing, and, as housing owners, they received
45.1% of Budapest rental income. Jews were similarly successful in
nearby nations, like Poland and Germany.