Ashkenazi Jews: The Choosy Ones
Jewish moms, sit back and feel free to rejoice with rugelach and hamantaschen, for we now see that hereditary science explains the motives behind your passive marital suggestions. Or alternately, this confirms why Jews control the world, probably from an Upper West Side apartment overlooking the Park.
Albert Einstein is reputed to have said that “Things should be described as simply as possible, but no simpler.” The same principle must be invoked in explaining Einstein himself. We evaluate the hypothesis that the high intelligence test scores observed in the Ashkenazi Jewish population are a consequence of their occupation of a social niche over the last millennium that selected strongly for IQ. We summarize the evidence of high intelligence test scores in this population, approximately one standard deviation higher than the northwestern European average, and then the relevant social history. We suggest that there was an increase in the frequency of particular genes that elevated IQ as a byproduct of this selective regime, which led to an increased incidence of hereditary disorders.
There are several key observations that motivate our hypothesis. The first is that the Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average IQ of any ethnic group, combined with an unusual cognitive profile, while no similar elevation of intelligence was observed among Jews in classical times nor is one seen in Sephardic and Oriental Jews today.
The second is that the Ashkenazim experienced very low inward gene flow, which created a favorable situation for natural selection.
The third is that they experienced unusual selective pressures that were likely to have favored increased intelligence. For the most part they had jobs in which increased IQ strongly favored economic success, in contrast with other populations, who were mostly peasant farmers. They lived in circumstances in which economic success led to increased reproductive success.
Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence [Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy, Henry Harpending, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah]
Albert Einstein is reputed to have said that “Things should be described as simply as possible, but no simpler.” The same principle must be invoked in explaining Einstein himself. We evaluate the hypothesis that the high intelligence test scores observed in the Ashkenazi Jewish population are a consequence of their occupation of a social niche over the last millennium that selected strongly for IQ. We summarize the evidence of high intelligence test scores in this population, approximately one standard deviation higher than the northwestern European average, and then the relevant social history. We suggest that there was an increase in the frequency of particular genes that elevated IQ as a byproduct of this selective regime, which led to an increased incidence of hereditary disorders.
There are several key observations that motivate our hypothesis. The first is that the Ashkenazi Jews have the highest average IQ of any ethnic group, combined with an unusual cognitive profile, while no similar elevation of intelligence was observed among Jews in classical times nor is one seen in Sephardic and Oriental Jews today.
The second is that the Ashkenazim experienced very low inward gene flow, which created a favorable situation for natural selection.
The third is that they experienced unusual selective pressures that were likely to have favored increased intelligence. For the most part they had jobs in which increased IQ strongly favored economic success, in contrast with other populations, who were mostly peasant farmers. They lived in circumstances in which economic success led to increased reproductive success.
Natural History of Ashkenazi Intelligence [Gregory Cochran, Jason Hardy, Henry Harpending, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah]
