Science: Japan Leads on IQ

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THOSE who use IQ data to demonstrate the innate superiority of the white race must have received a jolt last week with the publication in the science magazine 'Nature' of an article showing that the average IQ of young Japanese is, at 111, some 9 points higher than the average American or Western European IQ.

According to Richard Lunn, Japanese IQ has risen dramatically this century, and by some 7 points in the course of one generation. Since even 6-year olds show the increase, it cannot, Lunn claims, be due to education.

But, as an accompanying commentary by Nature staff writer Alun Anderson points out, Japanese society has been turned upside down in the last 50 years; in the period between 1930 and 1960, 40% of the population moved from the country to the cities.

The [one word illegible on the scan] accompanying proletarianisation of isolated peasant communities, rapid economic growth, and consequent improvements in nutrition, health, welfare and education, and growing influence of a Western culture, have all probably contributed to the improvement in IQ score (on American-designed tests), in growth and life expectancy.

So, no surprises really, except for those who consider that IQ is mostly determined by genetic factors.

Why Japanese IQ should be higher than American or European IQ remains a mystery, and whether it means that Japanese are more intelligent (whatever that means) or simply better at IQ tests is highly questionable.

What this data does not support is the author's contention that the Japanese IQ advantage has been a significant factor in Japan's post-war economic growth. That really is putting the cart before the horse.