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Thinking positively: The genetics of high intelligence

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136 points gwern | 3 comments | 01 Nov 15 23:33 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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danieltillett ◴[02 Nov 15 09:50 UTC] No.10490915[source]▶
I would be very surprised if high intelligence was anything other than the extreme edge of a normal distribution of the human population. For it to be anything other than this it would require people of high intelligence to be a sub-population that did not breed with the rest of humanity.
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troels ◴[02 Nov 15 10:46 UTC] No.10491090[source]▶
On the other hand - Chimps are significantly less intelligent than humans. So clearly, genetics play a role.
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1. medymed ◴[02 Nov 15 13:58 UTC] No.10491808[source]▶
If raised in an affluent suburb, they might surprise you.
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2. gwern ◴[02 Nov 15 16:01 UTC] No.10492554[source]▶
Speaking of which, have you seen the _Project Nim_ documentary on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim_Chimpsky ? I would have to say that no, he did not surprise me, and the results were exactly what I would have expected after reading de Waal's _Chimpanzee Politics_.
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3. medymed ◴[03 Nov 15 02:51 UTC] No.10497105[source]▶
thats ridiculous:-)