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JoshuaZ comments on [Link] Why the kids don’t know no algebra - Less Wrong Discussion

21 Post author: GLaDOS 04 July 2012 10:29AM

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Comment author: JoshuaZ 04 July 2012 02:36:41PM 2 points [-]

Yeah, the point that genetic != heritable is really important- religion is highly inherited but obviously there's no gene for being Christian. Some of this inheritance may be due to cultural or socioeconomic effects, but at this point, the data with twin studies seems to suggest that a lot of the heritable differences in intelligence are genuinely genetic.

Comment author: Vaniver 04 July 2012 08:34:29PM 6 points [-]

Yeah, the point that genetic != heritable is really important- religion is highly inherited but obviously there's no gene for being Christian.

Interestingly, how seriously people take religion appears to be genetic.

Comment author: David_Gerard 04 July 2012 07:02:51PM 3 points [-]

Yeah. Cultural problems are a tricky one. It's repeatedly shown you can get 15 IQ points from non-genetic differences. So you do need to pay attention to the apparently stupid or shiftless kids so they can in fact be at least some of all they can be. But not neglect the bright ones.

I'll note here as well: it's bloody hard work being a teacher.

(Having met the kids in my daughter's class, her teachers deserve a medal. And they're pretty nice kids.)