Hacker News Reader

> Are you honestly suggesting there is anything other than education preventing them from it?

Yes. The aptitude of higher abstract thinking varies greatly among different people and groups.

If you are really curious, check out the IQ test about pulling info from a sports column.

After that, your question becomes similar to asking why every short person can't be taught/trained to do well on a professional basketball team.

View on HN

Elevating educational standards of society as a whole, especially the poor, has nothing to do with whether all disenfranchised groups have the native intelligence to become academics or well paid knowledge workers.

The number of active NBA players is in the hundreds and their careers are short. Education is a very effective weapon against multi generational poverty and the focus of international aid organizations for a reason. Someone from an impoverished background is much more likely to live a better life with more education than someone without.

I don't really want to divert this thread into a full discussion on the validity and value of IQ tests, but I do find the view you are espousing to be very depressing and I had hoped that they had died along with Ellis island and phrenology.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com