What third factor producing both higher IQ and then industrialization are you suggesting?
Obviously you’re not suggesting anything as silly as the industrialization causes all observed IQ changes, because that simply doesn’t explain all examples, like East Asian countries:
A crucial question is whether IQ differences across countries are a simple case of reverse causation: Do high-income countries simply develop higher IQ’s? We address this question in a number of ways, but the most important is likely to be this simple fact: East Asian countries had high average IQ’s—at or above the European and U.S. averages—well before they entered the ranks of the high income countries. This is precisely the opposite of what one would expect if the IQ-productivity relationship were merely epiphenomenal.
East Asian countries had high average IQ’s—at or above the European and U.S. averages—well before they entered the ranks of the high income countries.
That suggests that the correlation would have been less at that earlier time, which suggests the idea that the correlation of average IQ and average income has varied over history. Perhaps it has become stronger with increasing technological level—that is, more opportunities to apply smarts?
That certainly seems possible. Imagine a would-be programming genius who is born now, versus born in the Stone Age—he could become the wealthiest human to ever live (Bill Gates) or just the best hunter in the tribe (to be optimistic...).
What third factor producing both higher IQ and then industrialization are you suggesting?
Obviously you’re not suggesting anything as silly as the industrialization causes all observed IQ changes, because that simply doesn’t explain all examples, like East Asian countries:
That suggests that the correlation would have been less at that earlier time, which suggests the idea that the correlation of average IQ and average income has varied over history. Perhaps it has become stronger with increasing technological level—that is, more opportunities to apply smarts?
That certainly seems possible. Imagine a would-be programming genius who is born now, versus born in the Stone Age—he could become the wealthiest human to ever live (Bill Gates) or just the best hunter in the tribe (to be optimistic...).