Eight Brains - One World
We need to get rid of unhelpful categories in how we think about ourselves and others. There are lots of academic articles and theories on the purported differences in intelligence between races. Even assuming there is an IQ difference (which I do not believe is accurate), it is not enough to explain redlining or regentrification, police killing unarmed Black men, discrimination on the job, or white supremacy.
There is an alternate perspective that is more inclusive and helpful and that we should adopt going forward: there are eight brains (or ranges) in every discernible ethnic or racial population but one interconnected world. According to modern psychology, intelligence is thought to be distributed along a spectrum with eight ranges: 0-55, 56-70, 71-85, 86-
100, 101-115, 116-130, 131-145, and 145+. Basically, the distribution of intelligence breaks down into eight brains in every group, including people of African, Asian, and Caucasian descent.
With that in mind, look at the differences in wealth, employment opportunities, health care, infrastructure, private sector development, and education that characterize modern countries on different continents. For example, unskilled laborers in Liberia, a small country in West Africa with 4.7 million people, make a minimum wage of $4 per day. The minimum wage in the District of Columbia is $13.25 per hour (or $106 per 8-hour day). The gross domestic product of Liberia in 2017 was $2.158 billion dollars. The cost to build the stealth bomber (B-2 Spirit), including project development, engineering, and testing, was $2.1 billion per aircraft. What does it mean that a wealthy country spends more on a single aircraft than a poor country generates in one year? It means that there are millions of brilliant people languishing in dire poverty all over the world. Every country and group has the intellectual talent it needs to succeed but may be short on financial resources to pay school fees, start a business, or invest in equity in successful enterprises. No race or ethnic group is dumb; they may be poor because they grew up in a place that lacked the opportunities available to developed nations.
For example, people born in rural Africa often cannot afford a basic education because there may be no free public schools as there are in the United States. Those families who are too poor to pay school fees require their children to work or leave them to their own devices to survive. The result is that their talent goes untrained and unharvested. An equitable redistribution of wealth would lead to a global economy that was vibrant, inclusive, innovative, and flexible. The entire globe would be better if every mind in every country had a chance to gain the skills and the credit or capital needed to support small businesses.
Modern technology makes much more possible for anyone with a cell phone, internet access, a laptop computer, a vehicle, and capital no matter where they fall on the intelligence spectrum. Everyone can be propelled into a higher income bracket through diligence and an efficient use of technology and resources.
We should refrain from relying on different average scores on standardized tests to group different brains together in unhelpful categories (e.g., race, ethnicity, religion, nation, or culture). Rather than judging entire populations as intellectually deficient or gifted, we need to find hard workers and idle persons in poor communities who can be the source of necessary economic and cultural development. We should expect to find geniuses and less talented people in every group and country. This perspective should inspire us to increase the yield from all eight brains around the world. After all, we are one world whether we like it or not.
Share your response to this perspective with scott@theorism.org.