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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2377 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 15, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Because the IQ stats are fake. They're obvious nonsense if you've ever left a tier 1 city and spoken to actual Chinese people in Mandarin, which I have. The vast majority of China is either Soviet dystopia or 3rd world hellhole. There's plenty of low IQ behavior on display. Going off vibes and Lived Experience™ I would wager their average IQ is around 95 or so.

If China becomes a dominant power, it will be by virtue of having a ton of warm bodies, a large overall number of >120 IQ people simply due to population size, and a very powerful government apparatus unhindered by Western moral concerns and that rules over a populace that has long been content to submit to authority as long as at least a little of the sweet corruption money trickles down. You don't need to have an average IQ of 104 to win if you have those advantages.

I've seen some IQ numbers for China that suggest it might have an IQ around 90 or so (no sources rn, sorry), which seems to make more sense than them actually currently having a 104 IQ. But judging by Taiwan, Singapore, and other East Asian nations, isn't it probably true that the mainland Chinese have the genes for a ~104 average IQ but are held back by the poor environment? If this is the case, I would think that the OP's argument still applies.

China is large and diverse. The northern coastals likely have similar IQ to the rest of north east Asia while other regions have other (lower) averages. What all this averages out to is anyone's guess but 104 is likely the upper bound given how testing has been done. Maybe it's above 100 maybe it's below, regardless there are a shitton of high IQ individuals in China.

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