Thread: Chemical brain differences between nations?

.

No, not that I am aware of or can imagine. However, there may be such difference is posters who start threads that wind up in the Trash or Pseudoscince

I certainly wouldn't expect to see any significnat differences between European countries, where the boundaries are based on arbitrary political and historical groupings.

I suppose it is possible there could be some very small differences between populations that have been separated for very long periods - africa vs polynesia for example. But I have never heard of any such differences.

The geology and hydrology of different regions of the Earth will result in the inhabitants of one region having slight variations in the chemical compositions of their bodies form those living in another region. There will be variations in the ratios of various isotopes, for example.

You could explore the genomes of Slavic and Germanic peoples and look for markers specific to each group (maybe been done?).

Both would be examples of very minor chemical differences, but all I could think of, off the top of my head.

Absolutely.
Even if we cannot measure it, it is obvious.
The smartest people on Earth are those with dark skins and African descent, as shown by the importance of extended family and tribe in their cultures. A clear sign of high intelligence.

Second smartest are Australian aboriginals who show their class by surviving in an environment where less clever people could not.

Third are Asians - inventors of gunpowder and paper.

Fourth are Indians. A very clever group of people, and the origin of that genius, Mahatma Gandhi, who showed the world the best way to political change.

At the bottom of the heap are that bunch of ratbags who evolved under the cloudy skies of Europe, and lost their healthy melanin. They show their sheer lack of smarts by being the first people to invent nuclear weapons.

That's racist!!!!

.

Originally Posted by Stanley514

Do exist some scientifically proved average differences in brain chemistry
or neurones form between people of different nations?
For example between Germanic and Slavic people?

The French and Italians drink a lot of wine.

Originally Posted by skeptic

At the bottom of the heap are that bunch of ratbags who evolved under the cloudy skies of Europe, and lost their healthy melanin. They show their sheer lack of smarts by being the first people to invent nuclear weapons.

Then again, we did so in a time of war - a sensible move, since it ended the war with probably less bloodshed than otherwise.

Originally Posted by skeptic

The smartest people on Earth are those with dark skins and African descent, as shown by the importance of extended family and tribe in their cultures. A clear sign of high intelligence.

What about the average IQ of 60-70 in most African countries?

Originally Posted by JoReba

The French and Italians drink a lot of wine.

This proves they are smarter than other Europeans.

did a quick google search on "brain chemistry", and the following topics came up : depression, bipolar disorder, likelihood of alcoholism, teen brain chemistry, but nothing on race - that means there's no research going on about brain chemistry, or it's been looked at a long time ago and proved to be a non-starter

as for slavs being somehow deficient in the brain department : why is then that Poles are so successful at finding jobs in the UK ?

I adjust my brain chemistry twice a day.

Exercises in the morning, which boost my endorphins.
Wine in the evening to.....boost my ethanol.

I think I see a trend here.


.................................

I think that anyone who considers human 'race' as a source of differences in brain chemistry needs to drink more wine.
Enough will suppress such silly thoughts.

Originally Posted by drowsy turtle

The smartest people on Earth are those with dark skins and African descent, as shown by the importance of extended family and tribe in their cultures. A clear sign of high intelligence.


What about the average IQ of 60-70 in most African countries?

Yeah - that pretty much wrecks any hope of measuring intelligence by using IQ tests carelessly.

We may have to concentrate on brain chemicals after all. The high lead levels in many American black people during childhood, for example, possibly related to leaded gasoline during the extraordinary and United States specific expansion of car use, may be of interest to those doing national averages.

.

Originally Posted by Stanley514

as for slavs being somehow deficient in the brain department : why is then that Poles are so successful at finding jobs in the UK ?

I don`t know what about Poles but Russians in Western movies and even animations are almost always depicted as inferior and their habits are exagerated as alien and inferior.Many people in Western countries believe that Russians are inferior.

I don't think that's the case. It might be a cold war throwback that Russians are depicted as inferior in the media, I don't think it's a commonly held belief.

I work with some Poles. They're more dedicated and hardowrking than most of the Brits I work with.

Originally Posted by Stanley514

as for slavs being somehow deficient in the brain department : why is then that Poles are so successful at finding jobs in the UK ?

I don`t know what about Poles but Russians in Western movies and even animations are almost always depicted as inferior and their habits are exagerated as alien and inferior.Many people in Western countries believe that Russians are inferior.

let me get this right : you get your evidence from MOVIES ? wow !

Well, as far as chemical differences are concerned, I don't think that they exist. But we also have to prove, why people from different nations think differently. In my opinion, it has more to do with how a child is groomed. In medical terms, it would mean that it depends on how the development of various regions of brain is proceeded. In each country, a child faces different conditions and thus his cerebral development proceeds in a different way.
I think it is the most appropriate explanation of why people from different nations think differently.

This could result in generalizations of different nationalities

Originally Posted by drowsy turtle

What about the average IQ of 60-70 in most African countries?

You ever hear of the Flynn Effect?
Flynn effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IQ's increase over time with increased exposure to western technological civilisation. There are many hypotheses to explain this, but Flynn himself thought it was a difference in what people thought about. A person raised on a farm would be very concerned with animal welfare and the like, rather than numbers and geometry and word meanings, which is more what IQ tests deal with. Thus the farmer would be mentally very advanced in the areas he is interested in, but do badly on an IQ test, that deals more with numbers etc.

An African might be a total genius at tracking antelope, and yet get a low IQ score. Which is meaningless, because that African may well have a genius level brain.

Originally Posted by skeptic

Absolutely.
Even if we cannot measure it, it is obvious.
The smartest people on Earth are those with dark skins and African descent, as shown by the importance of extended family and tribe in their cultures. A clear sign of high intelligence.

That's the one trait that most holds Africa back, more than any other. It's called "tribalism". That's the polite term for it. Extreme Nepotism carried out on a grand scale would be a better description. Family ties are held to be more important than individual merit, and horribly incompetent people are routinely given jobs they shouldn't have on the mere basis of being related.

When a dictator from a given tribe rises up, he's expected to consolidate his power and then treat everyone who isn't from his tribe as if their lives and welfare are totally unimportant, taking all their resources and redistributing them back to his own tribe. That's the part that usually gets ignored when discussing a monster like Mugabe. He's quite generous toward his own tribe.

Originally Posted by Stanley514

Currently,many in the Western countries believe that Slavs and Russians
in particular are genetically inferior.I would be glad to know if they succeeded
to find in average russian brains something that would make it inferior?
I guess by now such brain analysis could be conducted on very high level.
Each neuron and chemical composition of the brains could be thoroughly
analyzed.Or such researches are still kept secret?

The Nazis thought so too.

Personally I think Russia's problem is it's just over militarized. Too much focus on mindless violence, including too much of the national effort/GDP spent on defense, will tend to bring down the average level of education. And what probably adds to it is the philosophy of their military training. For example: traditionally soldiers were not taught to read maps, because it was believed that lacking this knowledge would lower the probability of deserting or "fragging" a senior officer if they didn't want to follow his orders. If you can't read a map, then how would get back home?

It's stuff like that ingrained in their culture that holds them back. However, when you look at Russia's borders, it's hard to imagine their society could be structured any other way. They're surrounded on all sides by potentially hostile nations eager to take their best (southern) lands from them.

That's the one trait that most holds Africa back, more than any other.

More than any other? I don't think so.

There are patronage and warlord and nepotistic/racial and (semi)feudal features in all societies. And such processes and attitudes dominate in many countries or areas within them.

Unless you're counting the Middle East and much of Europe as well as Asia and parts of the Americas in your definition of "Africa" I think your argument fails. In some of these countries the tribal or nepotistic or semi-feudal alliances and allegiances are subsumed under other political party or business or criminal organisational structures - but they're there. Even sports teams can act as a focal point for racial/religious/tribal strife. Why do you think Fiji has so much trouble achieving and maintaining a fair and democratic structure?

This notion needs a lot more work.

I wonder how many of the participants in this thread are aware that its true nature is an attempt to justify racism?

I made a very facetious post in which I stated that whiteys are the most stupid, and several people actually took me seriously.

So let me put it straight up.
1. There are no measurable brain chemistry differences between nations.
2. IQ testing is culturally based and is totally inappropriate for comparing different populations with widely varying cultures.
3. All humans, regardless of geographic origin, have large, and well developed brains, and levels of intelligence falling within the normal distribution curve for all peoples, though cultural differences may mask that essential truth.

In other words, the OP is a load of crap, and racist crap at that. Intelligence is a universal trait for Homo sapiens, though it expresses itself in whatever local way is most geared to survival. Sometimes that is in being a great hunter, or a great farmer, or a great mathematician. But all peoples are, within measurable limits, equally smart.

Thank you skeptic.

I was hoping that someone who's better than I am at stating the bleeding obvious would do so.

But all peoples are, within measurable limits, equally smart.

Just like difference between the sexes, differences within groups are much, much larger than differences between groups.