The best theory on the subject is Prof. Greg Cochran's who says it evolved as consequence of strong selective pressure during the Middle Ages that forced Jews to cognitive-intensive existences. His thesis presumes that the Jews of Antiquity did not stand out by their intelligence. I can think of two counter-arguments: (1) We know that circa year 1100 Jews were expulsed from France and they were a few thousands in number and mostly usurers (financiers). Then they were expulsed from England, about 20,000 persons, also typically very rich financiers. They had come with William the Conqueror from France and after a hundred years we find that they owned most lands in England (if to believe the antisemites). Clearly, by that time Jews were already a very high IQ group. (2) Contemporary Ashkenazim are from Poland and the frontier lands of Ucraine. These are economically undeveloped regions where Jews serviced the peasant masses (pubs, small trade, etc.). These were not conditions were math intelligence could be selected for. My theory (cannot prove it) is that the founding fathers of Ashkenazi Jewry, somewhere in the Rhine Valley in the seventh or eight century, were a society of scholars. From them we have been evolving downward and we contemporary Ashkenazim are a diluted-down version of those saintly geniuses. Pic.: Entrance to the mikwe (ritual bath) of Speyer, built around the year 1100.
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One has to make a distinction between the reason for the selection for intelligence, which seems to me to be broadly correct, and the exact timing, which seems to me a detail.
I do not believe, for instance, that Ashkenazi intelligence sprang up that quickly as posited by Cochrane and Harpending; I think the Jews were, as you say, highly successful and economically differentiated before that.
However, the basic story is likely correct; a couple of fortuitous mutations in an inbred, European offshoot population of Jews, coupled with occupational restriction and stigmatization, led to more reproductive success for those with an higher IQ, followed by more resentment and isolation, more inbreeding, smarter offspring, less desire to engage in boring repetitive work or suicidal enlistment in pointless wars, etc; ie, a circular re-inforcing dynamic.
This kind of isolation would, if allowed to continue, eventually lead to what is known as sympatric speciation. Jews and others would not be able to interbreed, even if the reproductive police would let them. One could argue, for instance, that this process is already under way; how many New York Ashkenazim ladies, or even rich debutante WASPs, for that matter, would consider marriage to Kalahari Bushmen, Pygmies, or Australian Aboriginals? I do not see this sort of wedding in the society pages of the NY Times that often.
The human 'family' is already a ring species; able and willing to interbreed with closely similar people, but not at all willing at the extremes.
Anon.
On the other hand, Dutch and French settlers in South Africa took Hottentot wives, and Jewish cattle traders in the bush did not practice brahmacharya.
We humans seem to be fully interfertile. Moreover, all speciation in such a sex-obsessed anthropoid is doomed to fail.
There's also the fact that the Sephardic Jews (of Spain, by definition) were expelled from there and that they and the conversos seem to have been more successful than the "Old Christians". Spinoza was Sephardic, as was Disraeli.
The medieval English Jews did not own most of the land in England. They may have had liens on numerous properties, but that is not the same. The expulsion of 1290 came after decades of exorbitant taxation that had left the Jewish financiers in a bad state. There was also an attempt to force the Jews out of usury and tax farming and into agricultural pursuits and crafts, but it failed quickly. By 1290, the Jews who were still around to be expelled were not particularly rich at all.
The early Jewish scholars on the Rhine produced no mathematical works of significance. Significant mathematical advances have only been made by the Askhenazim in modern times, and many of the Ashkenazi mathematicians were descended from Russo-Polish stetl Jews (i.e. not only German Jews).
Verbal IQ and mathematical ability are correlated. Ashkenazim don't stand out in visuo-spatial IQ, but that does not completely limit mathematical potential. And of course, some Jews are likely to buck the trend and have high visuo-spatial IQ's as well, though it would likely be infequent.
The early Jewish scholars on the Rhine produced no mathematical works of significance.
There were few mathematical works by gentiles at that time either.
Regarding IQ developing only relatively recently, I was kind of impressed that in Matthew Jesus walks into the synagogue and browsed over the scripture scrolls, deciding which he would read from. This appears to be an unremarkable matter, even though he is a carpenter, from a carpenter family. These carpenters were literate, and this only for religious practice purposes (not needed for their work).
So the Jewish religion already required literacy back then, in a second language (Hebrew - they spoke Aramaic), of all the common people, such as carpenters. So it's plausible much respect was accorded for intelligence, quality prayer leading/torah reading/discussing and this would have been eugenic for IQ. It appears this was already in place at least by Jesus' day.
ram
"Contemporary Ashkenazim are from Poland and the frontier lands of Ucraine. These are economically undeveloped regions where Jews serviced the peasant masses (pubs, small trade, etc.). These were not conditions were math intelligence could be selected for."
Not math intelligence specifically but intelligence in general. Ashkenazi Jews (unlike Asians) have their intelligence spread evenly across both the verbal and mathematical realm. I and both of my children achieved equally high scores on both the math and verbal sections of the SAT test, while most Asians (even native born American) have higher math than verbal scores. (BTW, my daughter was just accepted to both MIT and CalTech - nowadays both these schools are dominated by Asians and Jews are no more than 10% of MIT students, even less at CalTech).
Evolution occurs only under pressure - the very fact that Jews lived a marginal existence put a premium on intelligence. The Jews of Poland were "luftmeschen" (people who lived from the air). They were able to eat and survive only by means of "handlin" - trade - buying and selling. Jews would buy and sell anything - lumber, grain, horses, etc. People who lived by their wits. Farming was not open to them. The witless would not have survived or reproduced.
K
The Gypsies were/are another ethnically distinct group that has tried to make it in Europe; but not successfully (unless I am very much mistaken).
Genetics is a roulette.
Anon.
BTW, K, congratulations for your daughter.
Anon.
Caltech, MIT - what is she going to study?
I understand it is quite expensive. My daughter in the Technion costs me nothing. I dare to presume that the Technion is on the same level.
Mobility and antisemitism probably selected for it.
Antisemitism is a very old phenomenon. According to E. O. Wilson, in his book "On Human Nature", a few generations of moderate selective pressure is long enough to embed characters in the genetic code. Antisemitism is quite old, as evidenced by the writings of Tacitus and others from the Roman empire. Antisemitism (defined here as action against the most accessible members of the Jewish population) provides enough benefits to Jews that it is now instinctively elicited by Jews; especially by the Jewish leadership which is generally less accessible.
For the purpose of the statements that follow, "antisemitism" will be defined as actions against Jews that focus on the most accessible members of the Jewish population.
Since Jews are a multi-territorial nation, sporadic outbursts of antisemitism cause small selective pressures to be successively applied to the Jewish population in each ensuing emmigration event:
- By preferentially attacking the least wealthy segments of the Jewish community, antisemitism selects for mercantile skills.
- By preferentially attacking the less mobile Jews, antisemitism selects for hostility toward the territorial boundaries of other nations.
- By preferentially attacking the most locally-dependent Jews, antisemitism selects for stronger Jewish identity.
- All of the above select for higher intelligence.
Jewish "chutzpah" instinctively generates antisemitism in order to impose the prior evolutionary advantages.
The mechanisms by which instinctive generation of host-population antisemitism arose within the Jewish gene pool include the fact that:
- Naked "chutzpah" infuriates members of the host population thereby reducing their intelligence and making them emote. This renders them more exploitable even as it elicits antisemitism.
- Defection against a host population is immediately beneficial -- acquiring resources at the expense of the host nation -- and tends to elicit antisemitism as a natural by-product.
The mechanisms by which instinctive generation of host-population antisemitism arose within the Jewish gene pool include the fact that:
And hallucinations, delusions of grandeur, and low IQ are genetic characteristics of antisemites.
Yes, very expensive (around $40,000/yr) though financial aid is given to those who cannot afford it.
She has not decided on a career yet but for the time being is planning to study physics. Technion is not far off in quality - MIT has a junior year abroad program with Technion that my daughter is interested in (we'll see - it's still 3 years off).
K
K would, presumably, identify himself as of Ashkenazim origin?
Anon.
If his ancestors were from Galicia (Poland, not Spain), then he is Ashkenazi.
Just Poland?? That seems pretty restricted. What about Germany, France, Holland, Russia, etc?
Anon.
Answer the more important question, K.
Is she a seductive Jewess?
Anon.,
The Jews in Poland, Germany, Russia, Hungary, etc. were overwhelmingly Ashkenazim (although a few Sephardim settled in Poland and Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. France, England and the Netherlands are more complicated as their significant Sephardic-origin populations actually predate the Ashkenazi presence there due to medieval expulsions of the Ashkenazim or, in the case of the Netherlands, near-complete lack of Jews in medieval times.
In Hungary there was a strong Sepharadi (Spanish) community dating from the Turkish occupation (that lasted 150 years) but never made up more than 10% of the Jews. There were Sepharadim in Vienna, but they were from another group that settled in Amsterdam - those were very rich and few.
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