The Chosen People: A Study of Jewish Intelligence and Achievement
Even as we attain greater and greater insights into the tangled web of nature and nurture, society stubbornly refuses to concede humankind s conformity as an animal species to the ongoing process of evolution. It instead imposes a mythological worldview almost entirely divorced from science: indeed, we see no contradiction in celebrating cultural diversity while simultaneously suppressing even a mention of genetic variance. Undaunted, Richard Lynn has withThe Chosen Peopleaccomplished a yeoman s task in summing up work done thus far on Jewish intelligence. Given the disparate nature of the many studies that he cites, the relationship of intelligence to IQ is often problematic, and intelligence itself is but one piece in a complex mosaic, but this courageous and dispassionate book provides a platform for the study of a topic that is of considerable importance on the scientific plane, and for the sophisticated reader of even greater importance in the world of politics. --John Glad, author ofJewish EugenicsInThe Chosen People, Professor Lynn has shown once again his talent for combining exhaustive research with daring scholarship. He is also an engaging writer, which is a quality in short supply among those who do detailed statistical work. Like his earlier books, this monograph should be read by anyone who is interested in the relation between innate intelligence and professional and social achievements. We ignore this historically significant subject at our peril and at the cost of future generations. --Paul E. Gottfried, Elizabethtown CollegeProfessor Richard Lynn s work addresses dispassionately and objectively the question of why Jews have been so remarkably successful as intellectuals and in professional and managerial life. Using a wealth of statistics and commentary from many different countries and societies, he demonstrates their success over and over again. Because of the odious uses to which the Nazis and their ilk put eugenically-based arguments, Jews and others have often been reluctant to engage in debating this question. Professor Lynn shows that this question ought to be addressed, and that it can be addressed objectively by philo-semites favourable to the Jews as well as by anti-Semites who are hostile to them. --William D. Rubinstein, University of Aberystwyth