Any message I get that may be of general interest to visitors to the SQ web site is added to this section, along with my reply. This preserves the dialogue as a sort of FAQ (frequently asked questions). The period covered below is from April 1, 2006 and later. Click for 11/1/04 to 3/31/06 Q and A or earlier.

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Comments to: VanSloan@yahoo.com Information on Van Sloan http://SQ.4mg.com/vansloan.htm

Date: Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:16:25 -0700 (PDT)

From: ""Dreamer"

Subject: iq article

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Gosh I hope this does not mean you are a racist!

You do not say what instruments were used to assess IQ. Was the same instrument used for all? In the states, the Weschler is the most commonly used, with a mean of 100. It is my understanding that the Stanford-Binet is more commonly used in Europe, with a mean of 90. You have also not addressed language and cultural bias of tests. Were the tests used normed and standardized on the population on which they were administered?

I do not personally believe that IQ is inherited, at least not to a great degree. For some it appears to be an accident of genes (as shown in identical twin studies), while for others it appears to be based upon environment. Exposure to a wide range of experiences that are tested surely has a great effect on scores.

If you look at families rather than twins, a wide range of scores can appear in children with the same parents raised in the same environment. In these cases, intelligence appears to be a toss of the dice.

I can trace successful people in my family back for 400 years on my mother's side. I have grandparents and great-grandparents who were college educated. Yet, my mother is no brain-trust. Her brother was brilliant. I have above average intelligence myself, and three of my four children are brilliant. The other is average. Of my seven grandchildren, three are brilliant. Two are too young still to tell. Same genes, same environment. Toss of the dice.

I do think that living conditions effect both physical and intellectual development. When looking at Europe, we must remember that some of those who are alive today, therefore probably in the test population, spent their early years in war-torn environments with a scarcity of proper food. This is also true in Ireland, where the current, affluent youth are one generation away from being barefoot. Just looking at the average heights attained now as opposed to in the past, gives a clue to this situation. Young people in developed countries have undoubtedly attained more of their genetic growth and intellect than their parents and grand parents.

Though your information is interesting, it could also nourish racist sentiments in those leaning that direction.

I would like to see you boost your information with more details and more insight into causes for differences rather than genes.

S. Roberts New Mexico

Sloan replies: No, I am not a racisit. But I think a better public understanding of how most scholars view IQ data will help in setting policies, such as in reasonable expectations for schools. The IQ data for countries vaires in quality. You can read how the authors assembled it at http://www.rlynn.co.uk/pages/article_intelligence/7-a1.asp

You are right that the IQ of children in a family varies widely. We do not know the causes for that. The twins studies show that the effect of genetics in IQ is quite large. The only proven environmental effect on IQ is nutrition up to the age of five. Yes, I too wish there was more good data on causes of IQ differences. As it becomes availiable, I plan to add it to my website.

Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:05:41 -0700 (PDT)

From: "Cheryl Voelker"

Subject: Comment

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Dear Mr. Van Sloan,

I would just like to thank you for all the work and research that you put into your website, it has much of the information I have searching for, all contained in one place. I previously had many theories dealing with much of the items presented, and having so much data in one spot is very helpful. You certainly have given me much to take into consideration. I'm not going to get into details or explain my views, has it would take too long and would be unnecesssary, but I generally agree with your theories (although some are, however, reworkings of other lesser known theories and ideals[not that that makes them any less true!] ). I would, though, like to add that although I understand the need for all humans to be treated equally, I do not think it's right that our society uses that as a reason to suppress rational truths in relation to genetics, as our society does with many other issues. Anyways, Thanks again.

Sloan replies: Cheryl, thanks for your supportive comments. I agree it is unfortunate that political correctness and other pressures sometimes prevents findings in the social sciences from being accepted as readily as in the physical sciences. Such reluctance to accept well-documented truths can hurt in setting realistic public policies (as in education and economic growth).

Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:49:32 -0800 (PST)

From: ""jay thompson"

Subject: Your IQ & political analysis

To: VanSloan@yahoo.com

Hello, I thought it a bit interesting that you corrected a faulty analysis of IQ compared to election data. Are you implying that this is at all scientific? The IQ average of a state comes from a very large sample, but it is only a very narrow age bracket. Those in School who are being tested, most of whom probably are just a few months too young to be elegible to vote. The election was determined from a completely different sample of the population. Those who first were qualified to vote, (old enough and not a convicted felon), who second took the trouble get registered to vote, and thirdly took the trouble to go to the polls (or fill out an absentee ballat) to vote. We would assume that the smarter a person is the more likely they will take part in an election. So most of the lower inteligence scores are probably not voting sanyway.

So the sampling of the population which actually voted in the election vs. the sampling of the population which was used to compute the average IQ were almost categorically two different groups of people. So how can it have any relevence to who the various states elected?

Conclusion: Yours as well as the original comparison are both bad science.

Sloan replies: Jay, you are right that it probably is impossible to measure the IQ's of voters in each state. But my data for average IQ's in each state is probably reasonably accurate. Near the bottom of my http://www.sq.4mg.com/IQ-States.htm web page showing how my data was calculated, a German professor notes that a later study based on elementary school test results came up with very similar IQ's by state. Since accurate IQ type test results are not available for most adults, this is probably as accurate as we are likely to get at present. You seem to feel that no data on a subject is better than incomplete or partially inaccurate data. I disagree. South Carolina, which scored quite low in IQ, has been motivated to put more money and emphasis on a good primary education for its children. Good leaders do not wait for ideal data or perfect science to take useful action.

Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:16:18 -0800 (PST)

From: ""Ben Magnie"

Subject: about IQ

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

hi there, i happen to stumble upon a site discussing IQ which i found interesting and thought id make a little comment about. Theres a part where it discusses that IQs for the most part dont change once physical adulthood is met. The point i thought you might find interesting though is that when i was about 15 i had an IQ of 117. I've taken a few since then and its steadily gone up and is currently at 146( im 22 now). Its hard for me to explain this without sounding like im proselytizing, because i dont mean to, but the sole reason my IQ has jumped so much is becuase of a process within scientology called auditing which basically eliminates all the "guck" if you will, from your mind via handling past painful moments and so increases your awareness and incidentally IQ. i know scores of people who've raised their IQ this way as much as i have. anyways, purely from a clinical point of view i thought you'd find this interesting.personally, i've always found it interesting to see it "concluded" that IQ is so unchangable. feel free to respond if you have something you'd like to ask or say of this, or not. :)

cheers, ben magnie

Sloan replies: Ben, the IQ changes you describe do not fit with scientific studies of how constant IQ is during a person's life after the age of five. Your data makes me wonder if all the IQ tests you have taken were valid measurements. Yes, sometimes problems in a person's mental or physical health at the time of testing can depress IQ results. If there truly was a way to increase one's IQ, the SAT test preparation companies like Kaplan would be using it. Their approach to raising SAT scores emphasizes test taking techniques, not raising a student's actual IQ.

Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2007 07:27:46 -0800

From: "Tom"

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: improving one's SQ

"Reorganizing a school to promote future success of students would place greater emphasis on non-IQ skills. Some medical schools are now using SQ type surveys as part of their instructional program." (Quote from Sloan's SQ website)

The term "social intelligence" sounds kind of nice, but what does it actually mean? In practice, it means networking, workplace politics, persuasion, and manipulation. It shouldn't come as a surprise that people who are good at those skills are the most successful. It's been that way throughout history and in all fields of human endeavor.

Schools clearly can teach these skills and they will help their graduates be more successful. But is that actually desirable? Do we want a nation of graduates who are successful not because they are the best at what they do, but because they are the best at networking and politics? Do you want to be operated upon by the brilliant surgeon who works 16h/day and happens to be a jerk at a dinner party, or do you want the surgeon who got his job because he plays golf with the CEO of the hospital?

It is probably a good idea to teach the brilliant surgeon enough social skills to get by in the world as it is. However, as a long term educational vision, this approach seems flawed to me. It seems to me that the real problem is not that IQ is overvalued in entrance requirements and academic evaluations, it is that it is undervalued in real life, and that's what we need to address.

Sloan replies: Tom, you look at social skills from an interesting, different point of view. My website focuses on what leads to success for individuals and for nations. We agree that social skills is important in such success. But you then ask if the world would be better off with more networking and politics. On balance, I think it would be.

Let's look at your case of the high IQ versus the more personable doctor. Yes, people do choose the doctor with more social skills the majority of the time. They value his or her positive attitude and communication skills, particularly listening. Very smart individuals often do not have the patience or ability to explain complex matters simply. Thus a person seeking a cure or a jury listening to legal arguments is typically better served by a professional who has good social skills, not just the highest IQ. So I cannot support your theory that the world would better off if more people selected the brightest individuals to serve them.

There is one big area where your idea of selecting high IQ individuals is gaining ground. Employers are more and more seeking out the highest IQ job applicants. These hires learn their jobs faster, are better at dealing with unexpected problems, and typically are promoted faster. If they have social skills problems, training can help them improve. But no training will improve one's IQ.

You may be thinking that social skills training might emphasize technical methods like networking and playing politics. Unfortunately, I am not aware of any training program with a testable, proven record of improving general social skills. My correlation of traits with high social skills individuals (at www.sq.4mg.com/traits_2437.htm ) indicates that general happiness and having an upbeat outlook are significant. These may be fundamental in one's personality. I believe that techniques for manipulating others would be much less important in one's overall social skills ranking. Much more research is needed in this whole area. Thoughtful comments like yours are helpful!

From: "seon Hyman" seon.hyman@pixie.co.za

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: IQ and Social Skills

Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 04:01:29 +0200

Hi, I find your web page extremely interesting Have you done any studies on the influence of physical attributes as a predictor of success I believe, this is only subjective, that people who are considered physically attractive would generally receive more favourable treatment generally with a resultant increased self esteem and probably superior social skills I would be interested in your opinion and any studies you may have conducted

Many thanks, Seon Hyman

Sloan replies: Seon, my research findings at http://www.sq.4mg.com/traits_2437.htm show that physical attractiveness has a slight positive effect on a man's Social Quotient, and for a woman less of an effect. This finding was obtained by asking high school students to rate themselves on a variety of characteristics, then correlating the match of those characteristics to their Social Quotient scores, as determined by their classmates. Much more important to being rated highly for SQ (or a person one would seek out for sales assistance in a store) are one's general happiness and having a positive, upbeat attitude. Most physical characteristics have little relation to SQ, except that long hair on a man and excess fat on a woman are undesirable.

In talking to students about the results (which varied little among communities of greatly varying social conditions), comments were made like "She thinks that she is so attractive, and doesn't have the time to listen to what others are interested in." Fortunately, it seems that one's social skills can be readily improved, while physical attractiveness and intelligence are much harder to improve. And those better social skills do translate into increased success. One firm promotes their training capabilities in this area, at https://www.talentsmart.com/media/uploads/pdfs/Learning_Emotional_Intelligence_.pdf

Sean writes again: Dear Mr. Van Sloan ,

Many thanks for your comprehensive reply to my query and do appreciate the fact that a person of your stature has replied personally Reading the information on you web site has given me an insight into something that has been a curiosity to me for some time. Given both my IQ and EQ I have underachieved and now am able to fill in the missing component which is ambition, I am intellectually ambitious rather than financially ambitious and further, whilst a professional person with a college degree, have hated the work I do and in fact every aspect of my profession. For this insight I must thank you and your tireless research

If I may impose further, I have a query as to the IQ of the average South African IQ, listed at 72, which approximates -2 standard deviations. I do not understand how it is possible to quantify the average IQ given the high percentage of illiterate people, who would not even be able to complete an IQ test. From everything I have read there is no correlation between education and IQ and an illiterate person deprived of education due to a former oppressive political regime may be highly intelligent. I would appreciate your comments and the manner in which this was quantified By deduction I gather you are associated with TalentSmart. I strongly believe that South Africa is ready and has the need for the expertise of TalentSmart with a captive market. There is a strong emphasis on psychometric test testing at the employment stage and it is my perception that thereafter little effort is expended to maximize the potential of employees. The market is extensive and would extend from government departments to the private sector with large, medium and small corporations as well as schools and colleges, in fact the possibilities seem unlimited. There is also the possibility of favorable taxation treatment and government has a strong initiative to improve and uplift previously disadvantaged people The exchange rate at approximately 7 units of our currency, the Rand , has both a positive and negative impact for TalentSmart. The initial establishment and marketing cost would extremely cost effective but any repatriation of profits would be adversely effected Should you be interested in investigating a Southern African business initiative, should you not already have a presence here, I would enthusiastically assist. Obviously there must be some financial reward for me, but it is something I feel is meaningful and evokes a passion. I believe I have been influenced by your research and see a way to combine my intellectual ambition with financial ambition Please revert to me on this matter

Kind regards SEON HYMAN

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT (SA)

Sloan replies again: Seon, your last email was most interesting. You are not alone in finding dissatisfaction in a prestige job. In New York and London, many skilled accountants, lawyers, and bankers feel the way you do. Their jobs are technically demanding, stressful, and require long hours - mainly to help the rich keep more of their money. The big pay for their work does not compensate for the feeling that what they are doing is not really worthwhile or fulfilling. You would like to help South Africans lead a better life, and I applaud your interest. Similarly, my whole Social Quotient website is designed to help discover what leads to success for individuals and nations. It has been more fulfilling than other work I have done. My site started with an approach to measuring a person's social skills that remains unique. Unlike all other psychological tests other than IQ, one cannot slant the answers to get a more desirable score. The SQ result one gets is determined solely by the marks that others give you.

The social and economic situation in South Africa make me think of similar challenges in Indonesia, which I have visited several times. Both countries are very interested in tourism to bring in revenue, and have much to offer visitors. In Indonesia, the island of Bali has been very successful in attracting tourists, while the rest of Indonesia has not. As a result, the average income in Bali is twice what the average person earns in neighboring Java. The real surprise is that the IQ and emphasis on education is much higher in Java than in any of the other Indonesian islands. Yet only Bali has that higher income than Java. Bali does have a different religion and culture that the rest of Indonesia. But I think the main reason why hotels are successful there is the natural friendliness of the people. The beaches and scenery in Java are just as good, but tourists enjoy being around the warm Balinese hotel staffs. (It is relevant that Carnival Cruise Lines has a big recruiting center in Bali, but none on neighboring islands - where they could get employees at half the cost!) I have not been able to fully understand the reasons behind the natural social skills of the Balinese. But as Talent Smart and others point out, social skills can be improved, while IQ (normally key for success) cannot. Yes, the IQ numbers for South Africa and neighboring countries are low by world standards. I am not an expert on how those national IQ numbers were determined, but the academically qualified authors seem to have analyzed all the existing data and made their best judgment comparisons. No other respected researchers have successfully shed doubt on the general accuracy of their country IQ findings.

You mention that there is strong emphasis on psychometric test testing in South Africa. That may fit with what I have pioneered. My emphasis has been on testing that provides valid results. Other firms like Talent Smart offer training to improve people's social skills, particularly needed for low scoring individuals. I have no professional or personal relationship with Talent Smart, except that we work in the same general area of social skills. My Social Quotient surveys have been well received in all types of neighborhoods, including low income, mostly Black schools in California and New York City. One Brooklyn teacher wrote me: "I must tell you that several students used the SQ when they went for job interviews & it made a great impression (in a few cases, it may have been the deciding factor in getting the job)."

Seon, your interest in pursuing a business connection in South Africa for social skills testing is of interest to me. My system seems to work best in high school settings, where students know each other and can evaluate the personality of their classmates. And high schools also offer a natural forum for training in social skills, along with job seeking skills. A government grant to finance a pilot program for testing and perhaps training in several schools would be an effective way to start. I do not have the funds to pay for initial marketing costs. But if you have the interest, I would welcome partnership proposals from you to investigate possibilities to do schools testing in South Africa. Together, we could help your country position itself well in the booming worldwide tourist/ service jobs sector, as Bali has done. South Africa cannot do much to improve its national IQ scores and competitiveness in technology, particularly against many Asian nations. But valuable social skills are largely independent of IQ scores. South African employment, particularly in tourism, could boom. It would be exciting to help that happen. What do you think?

Sincerely, Van

www.SQ.4mg.com/vansloan.htm

PS Feel free to share this email (or parts of it) with others in South Africa

From: "jay baker" bakerjm_1@bigpond.com

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: IQ, Asian european comparison, doesnt make sense

Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:48:09 +1000

Hello there, out of curiosity, i find it quite contradictory that east asian nations apparently have higher IQ's yet european nations have been without a doubt the most successful race on the planet in terms of technology etc and space of time of which this has occured.

Ive read through a number of pieces of iq data and found German and Dutch average IQ's of 109 as well as whites,(mostly german, norwegian and dutch), compared against asians,( mostly japanese chinese and korean), with whites scoring 105 and asians scoring 104.

Also in comparing some of your SAT data i found that the verbal scores all added together equalled 3815 while math was 3888. I find this unusual because i was under the impression that whites were significantly better at verbal, not at maths.

Could this be potentially caused by the weighting systems, the same of which are used in IQ tests, where spatial and math is weighted higher than that of verbal? Why is it that males have apparently higher IQ's than females, yet females almost consistantly out-perform males in academics and hold the majority of university placements?

Taking into account certain social differences between the two, it seems odd that males would exceed females in IQ by this much. But overall my general question is " why is it that east asians apparently have higher IQs than whites when europeans are clearly more technologically adavnced?",

Is it to do with IQ test weighting?, The lack homogenity in europeans and greater variation? Or a greater value on education which has transferred itself on to IQ over time in relation to east asians? My main reasons for questioning the statistics today is that they dont seem to correlate with history.

Virtually every other IQ comparison between races and nations seems to make sense historically except this one, i understand that there are other factors but generally to an extent the results correlate.

What do you think?

Sloan replies: Jay, you ask a lot of good questions. Let me answer, as I do in my website, emphasizing what professionals generally agree about IQ. The numbers below refer to your paragraphs.

1. IQ is important, but is obviously not the only factor in the success of nations. Check out my http://www.sq.4mg.com/NationSuccess.htm - especally the leading nations throughout history. In the Middle Ages, Chinese culture was much more advanced than that of Europe. Another page ( http://www.sq.4mg.com/corrupt.htm ) presents data showing that corruption is also an important influence in economic success. Asian nations today score worse than Europe on corruption.

2. A German professor who has analyzed IQ's in various German regions (see http://www.sq.4mg.com/IQGerman.htm ) does not show any approaching the 109 you mention. That professor has recently commented favorably on my original work on IQ's for US states.

3. Yes, whites are somewhat better in verbal than in math skills, compared to world averages. The differences in SAT totals are related to the construction of subtests, and are not a valid measure of IQ skills.

4. The only weighting of IQ/ SAT tests that I am aware of is to make the overall average for males and females to be the same (normally 100). Females on average score slightly better on verbal tests, males are typically better in math. In overall IQ, males have a greater range of scores (both high and low) which likely accounts for more men winning Nobel prizes, etc. Women do better in getting in and staying in college probably due to study skills, not superior IQ.

5 - 7. (see item 1 above).

Jay answers: Thankyou very much for your answer, it clears a few things up, in relation to much of the IQ data regarding germans i found this, its the only source i could confirm as being potentially primary as it seems to have come from a newspaper, it may be of some use for your information, as much of the data available over the internet is often un sourced. I am aware through more recent research that IQ tests dont test creativity and problem solving, so creativity is probably the driving force of European technological advancement, creativity essentially is the process of abstract thought as you know. Also you have said that the chinese characters could stifle creativity, yet arnt languages the manifestations of an individuals or races general intelligence, or in other words languages materialise in the image of our own intelligence. the attachment is the iq data info, i understand it may be an outlier in statistics or possibly not, Germany and the neatherlands score at 107. the sample seems to be real and not contrived.

Sloan replies again: Jay, I think we will just have to agree to disagree on German IQ. From your comments, it would seem you did not go to Volkmar Weiss's webpage cited in my last email. He is a Member of the International Academy of Sciences and in Germany's Who's Who - and I trust his well documented research much more than an IQ number from any newspaper. Academics have thorough peer review on IQ numbers, as shown in my website at http://www.sq.4mg.com/UsingSQ4.htm#W

You are right that the connection (if any) between IQ and creativity is not well known. IQ is more than verbal skill, and the Chinese do better in the math part of IQ. I don't recall saying anything about Chinese creativity. However, the difficulty of learning Chinese characters may explain why their verbal part of IQ is lower (and their math part higher) than Europeans with similar overall IQ's.

copy to Volkmar Weiss

Weiss responds in 8/13/07 email: Of course, Germany and the Netherlands had never an IQ average of 107 or even 109. Volkmar Weiss www.volkmar-weiss.de/table.html

From: "Jim DeLap" jimala4@comcast.net

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: SOCIAL SKILLS/AMBITION??? 90% non-verbal in service smile economy?

Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:12:41 -0700

Sloan replies: Jim, I am not sure what your email question means. My research indicates that success in life (measured by money earned) is due roughtly 1/3 each to intelligence, social skills, and ambition. This likely varies with types of jobs. Managerial jobs seem to have greater dependence on social skiils as one climbs the corporate ladder. But I have not found reliable numbers beyond the 1/3 components above.

Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 11:56:20 -0700 (PDT)

From: "Parhatsathid Napatalung" parhat@yahoo.com

Subject: How Well a Child Behaves Predict Future Success

To: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com

Dear Van Sloan:

More information to say that you were right about social skills being a future predictor of success.

Ted

http://www.umich.edu/~urecord/0607/Oct30_06/12.shtml

Behavior at age 8 may be enough to predict future career success

By Diane Swanbrow, News Service

New findings from long-term studies conducted in two nations over more than 30 years show that children's social behavior as early as age 8 is a powerful predictor of how well they will do in middle age......

Sloan replies:

Dear Professor Ted,

Thank you so much for your sharp eyes in finding the article below. It provides wonderful confirmation of my research on the importance of social skills.

Recently a German professor provided confirmation of my work on IQ's in US states (see the bottom of www.sq.4mg.com/IQ-States.htm ). Hopefully, what you found below will similarly lead to a renewed interest in the teaching of social skills and in my SQ measure of those skills. It is most interesting that the study's methodology is the same as mine: each person's social skill was measured only by the ratings of peers, on very similar questions!

I've just returned to California from three delightful months in Mexico. Most Mexicans have wonderful social skills and a happy family life. Now I am ejoying some spring skiing at Lake Tahoe before taking off again in late May to Rio de Janeiro. You can see photo albums of my travels at www.vansloan.shutterfly.com

Thanks again, Van

From: "Linda Vincent" linda@3smartcubes.com

Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 05:56:38 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Re: Permission to Link Your Site - "Social Quotient"

Hi. We checked out your site 'Social Quotient' and liked the content provided on it. We have a site offering IQ tests. Since yours is a related site, we would like to put up a link to your site on this page. http://www.3smartcubes.com/pages/iq_tests.asp In return we wish that you would put a link to our site on yours. To help you in doing so we have provided the information given below:

Sloan replies: Linda, Thanks for your good words on my Social Quotient site. I have tried to give unbiased information on IQ. Did you see my http://sq.4mg.com/IQtests.htm webpage, which generally discourages online IQ tests as unreliable? If you have research that your IQ test is better than most online tests, and that your results approximate MENSA and similar standard IQ tests, I would welcome the reciprocal links you suggest. It would be good for people to have reliable, low cost, online IQ tests available. I could not find such research

From: preeth menon rehannamenon@hotmail.com

Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 06:37:21 -0800 (PST)

To: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: Re: IQ

I beleive Asian Indians are racially heterogenous and so have a large distribution of IQ for exampl mine is 138. Cn you tell me more about Asian Indian IQs

Sloan replies: Preeth, your thoughts about IQ in India are likely correct. Steve Sailer has written a good analysis of it at http://www.vdare.com/sailer/india.htm - here is an excerpt:

The average IQ of India and China is crucial to the future of the world. But the question is far from settled. Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen's IQ and the Wealth of Nations found three IQ studies of China, which averaged out to 100 on a scale where the U.S. average is 98. As I've tried to emphasize, single-country averages from that important book should be taken with a grain of salt, but regional averages are more reliable. The more advanced and better-documented countries bordering China feature even higher average IQs. So the future looks bright for China. In contrast, Lynn and Vanhanen found four studies of Indian IQ that average out to only 81. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the variance in IQ is greater in India than in China. There may be more geniuses in India than in China but the average level of competence seems lower. However, putting together a nationally-representative sample is harder in India than anywhere else on Earth. The caste system, by discouraging intermarriage, has in effect subdivided the Indian people into an incredible number of micro-races. In India, according to Cavalli-Sforza, "The total number of endogamous communities today is around 43,000…" So I would keep an open mind on just what the IQ of India is. And, of course, better nutrition, health care, education, and more outbreeding could all work to raise it.

From: "Michael A McDaniel/AC/VCU" mamcdani@vcu.edu

To: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com

Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 08:02:37 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Re: Fw: Estimating IQ averages in US States

Mr. Sloan,

Given your interest in state IQ, I thought I would alert you to this blogger who is having fun with state IQ estimates. http://anepigone.blogspot.com/2006/11/interesting-bits-on-state-iq-estimates.html

Best wishes, Mike

Michael A. McDaniel, Professor - Human Resources and Organizational Behavior

Department of Management, Virginia Commonwealth University

Sloan replies: Mike, Thanks for the alert. But I'm more intersted in what serious observers (like yourself and Volkmar Weiss) have to say.

You might be interested in one unexpected finding I came across this summer, in Indonesia. Since it is from unexpected results that science often advances, I wonder what you two might think. Here is a definite case where IQ and income are not in step:

Subject: question on IQ and politics

To: vansloan@yahoo.com

Has there been more in depth research done on this and if so do you know where I could find some literature on it? The numbers are fun, but I would really like to read more on it. Thank you., Nick

Sloan replies: Nick, I too would like to find good research on IQ and politics. What I have on my site is the best information I know about - including the IQ of the various US states.

One new political aspect of IQ I have recently discovered is in Indonesia . The country's vice president notes that Java students have always scored higher on standard tests than students in neighboring islands. This is surprising for two reasons:

copy to: Volkmar Weiss - which is answered below

Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2006 09:46:53 -0800 (PST)

From: Volmar Weiss" Volkmar-Weiss@t-online.de

To: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: Bali - Java income difference

Java has a substantial Chinese minority with a much higher IQ mean and a higher income than the native people. Volkmar

Sloan replies: Yes Volkmar, the Chinese in Java likely are a reason for that island's higher school scores. But that still leaves the mystery of why the non-Chinese in Java earn so much less than their Balinese peers. I suspect that Balinese friendliness is a big reason behind their much higher incomes. That friendliness draws major resorts to Bali, which raises overall wages there. Another example is that Carnival Cruise Lines has a big recruiting center in Bali, but none in Java - where they could hire workers for half the pay. Since social skills can be improved, the Bali model may be a lesson to other low wage areas around the world - particularly where the average IQ is below 90. Thailand similarly seems to benefit from being the "land of smiles." Van

From: Volkmar Weiss" Volkmar-Weiss@t-online.de

Date: 11/26/2006 03:01 PM

To mamcdani@vcu.edu, s.kanazaw@lse.ac.uk

cc "Dr. Heiner Rindermann" Heiner.Rindermann@GSE-W.Uni-Magdeburg.DE, "Siegfried Lehrl" Siegfried.Lehrl@psych.imed.uni-erlangen.de, Detterman@cwru.edu

Subject Estimating IQ averages in US States

Dear Dr. McDaniel:

Dear Dr. Kanazawa:

Since years you can find on my homepage www.volkmar-weiss.de/table.html a link to http://sq.4mg.com/IQ-States.htm, leading to IQ averages in US States, best estimate from actual SAT and ACT scores by Van Sloan. These scores are nearly identical with the NAEP derived scores by McDaniel.

I am very astonished that neither you nor the editor of "Intelligence" were aware of this link. Within the next hour I will load the arithmetic mean of the data by Van Sloane and McDaniel to my webpage mentioned above.

Sincerely yours

PD Dr. Dr. habil. Volkmar Weiss

Leipzig, Germany

www.volkmar-weiss.de/publ-e.html

From: Michael A McDaniel/AC/VCU

To: Volkmar Weiss

Cc: Detterman@cwru.edu ; Dr. Heiner Rindermann ; Siegfried Lehrl ; s.kanazaw@lse.ac.uk

Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2006 9:46 PM

Subject: Re: Estimating IQ averages in US States

Dr. Weiss,

Thank you for informing me of this link. If you had your data in a peer reviewed journal, it would be more widely known. The peer review of your findings would also permit one to place more confidence in the estimates.

By tracing citations on my recent article, I have come across a few other websites and blogs that offer IQ listings by state. Here are two:

http://anepigone.blogspot.com The November blog entries list a variety of estimates by race. The blogger is purportedly using the NAEP data.

http://vdare.com/sailer/061022_iq.htm This article discusses my estimates and provide information on past estimates (none of them yours).

Best wishes,

Mike

Michael A. McDaniel

Professor - Human Resources and Organizational Behavior

Department of Management

Virginia Commonwealth University

From "Volkmar Weiss" Volkmar-Weiss@t-online.de

Date: 11/26/2006 04:36 PM

To "Michael A McDaniel/AC/VCU" mamcdani@vcu.edu

Subject: Re: Estimating IQ averages in US States

Dear Mike,

these were not my findings, only linking my homepage to Van Sloans webpage is my contribution.

You should be glad, you and Van Sloare are confirming each other . Kanazawa calculations are biased in a nonsensical way, and if were aware of Van Sloane before writing your comment on Kanazawa you could have said it more frankly.

I have published more than 180 papers and, now, I am only modestly interested in the opinion of a broader public.

Volkmar

From: Michael A McDaniel/AC/VCU

To: Volkmar Weiss

Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 1:42 AM

Subject: Re: Estimating IQ averages in US States

Volkmar,

Check the links on your page. I could find no information of how the IQ estimates were calculated. Also I do not know who Van Sloan is or why I should trust his numbers. Given this lack of documentation, why would you expect anyone to cite this information in a journal article or rely on it for research?

Mike

Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2006 13:24:28 -0800 (PST)

From: Volkmar Weiss" Volkmar-Weiss@t-online.de

Subject: Fw: Estimating IQ averages in US States

To: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com

CC: MAMcDani@vcu.edu

(Weiss forwarded the above emails to Sloan)

Sloan replies: Hello Volkmar,

The page on my website that shows how the state IQ's were calculated is http://www.sq.4mg.com/IQ-States.htm /P>

The IQ's were developed out of SAT and ACT test scores in each state. The page above and its links (mostly below the chart) show in detail where all the data came from. Information on my degrees and experience are at http://www.sq.4mg.com/vansloan.htm#z

I am sending Mike McDaniel a copy of this email as a response to his concerns. His email indicated that my findings on state IQ's were cited in a journal article. I would welcome knowing which journal. If possible, I would also welcome an email copy of the article, or at least the paragraph in which my work is cited. To my knowledge, my state IQ numbers are the only ones available for which there is solid data backup.

Thanks for forwarding your information to me. Hope this helps!

Van Sloan

From: Michael A McDaniel/AC/VCU

To: Van Sloan

Cc: Volkmar Weiss

Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 12:47 AM

Subject: Re: Fw: Estimating IQ averages in US States

Mr. Sloan,

I attach a copy of my paper on estimating state IQs. According to Professor Weiss our estimates are very close. I was not aware of your web site when I did my article. The estimated state IQ is predictive of gross state product, government effectiveness, crime and health. You can download another paper of mine critiquing Kanazawa's estimates of state IQ based on SATs. He ignored the ACT data and got odd results. The web site is: http://www.people.vcu.edu/~mamcdani/CV_and_Research_Publications.htm If you do any additional work on estimating IQ, please share it with me so I will know about it.

Best wishes, Mike McDaniel

Volkmar Weiss wrote:

Dear colleagues:

I am very glad to see that you have made contact. Your results are confirming each other in a very remarkable way, and this is in science always an extraordinary event.

My only merit in this is to have made a link to Van Sloans webpage about a year ago. I would never made this link if I had not found Van Sloanes data reasonable. Sometimes an outsider, but with a firm academic background, does a better work than a peer referenced journal, in this case I mean Kanazawa and his referees. Kananzawas paper should not have been printed.

In the meantime you can find the arithmetic means of your data on my homepage, see www.volkmar-weiss.de/table.html

I wish you much further success! Your results, deducing IQ values from educational tests with math, reading etc. confirm the importance and meaning of general intelligence in an excellent way, this is the general message of your work and of confirming each other.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Volkmar

From Weiss' site -

IQ averages in US States (in the following the arithmetic means of these estimates from SAT and ACT scores by Van Sloan and the NAEP derived scores published by M. A. McDaniel: Intelligence 34 (2006) p. 612, corrected by minus 3 to an average of IQ 97:

Massachusetts IQ 101, New Hampshire IQ 101,

Connecticut IQ 100, Iowa IQ 100, Kansas IQ 100, Minnesota IQ 100, North Dacota IQ 100, Montana IQ 100, Vermont IQ 100, Wisconsin IQ 100,

Wyoming IQ 99 ,Nebraska IQ 99, New Jersey IQ 99, Ohio IQ 99, Colorado IQ 99, Oregon IQ 99. Maine IQ 99, Washington IQ 99,South Dacota IQ 99,

New York IQ 98, Pennsylvania IQ 98, Maryland IQ 98, Missouri IQ 98,Oklahoma IQ 98,Utah IQ 98, Michigan IQ 98,Virginia IQ 98,Idaho IQ 98, Illinois IQ 98, Indiana IQ 98,

Rhode Island IQ 97, West Virginia IQ 97, , Delaware IQ 97, Alaska IQ 97, Arizona IQ 96, Nevada IQ 96, Texas IQ 96,North Carolina IQ 96

Florida IQ 95, Tennessee IQ 95, , Kentucky IQ 95, Arkansas IQ 95, California IQ 95, Georgia IQ 95, Hawaii IQ 95,

Alabama IQ 94

South Carolina IQ 93,New Mexico IQ 93,Louisiana IQ 93,

Mississippi IQ 91

Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2006 06:33:47 -0800 (PST)

From: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com

Subject: Re: Fw: Estimating IQ averages in US States

To: "Volkmar Weiss" Volkmar-Weiss@t-online.de

CC: MAMcDani@vcu.edu

Dear Volkmar,

Thank you so much for your kind words and for bringing several of us in contact. We are a minority. It is unfortunate that serious study of population IQ remains politically incorrect in much of academia and the press.

I support your averaging of McDaniel's and my data as the current best estimate of IQ's in US states. But I think further refinements could be made. For example, several states with large Spanish speaking populations (California, Florida, New Mexico) calculate to lower IQ scores than what might be expected. One must wonder if the lower NAEP test scores in those states reflect a limited student familiarity with English, rather than lower IQ's.

Second, net in and out migration could be a factor affecting the accuracy of using elementary school test scores. Many US plains states youngsters move to the coasts for jobs when they become adults. Those coastal states generally have higher average home prices, reflecting their high wage (and high IQ) jobs. Most of the public's fascination in state IQ's relates to the adult population, particularly as voters.

My interests now are moving away from IQ to studying other reasons for individual and national succsss. It is frustrating that so little can be done to improve IQ, especially after the age of five. And although my website gets good comments for handling ethnic questions on IQ, I am not as strong as Charles Murray in handling skepticism on it, even with family. My http://www.sq.4mg.com/SQ-NextSteps.htm webpage describes my current efforts to develop measurement of social skills. They also relate to success and can be improved, unlike IQ This research has a side benefit in taking me to friendly, beautiful spots like Bali. And it gves me the opportunity to pioneer in an area badly needing numerical analyis rather than its current Emotional Intelligence generalizations.

Thanks again,

Van Sloan

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:24:42 -0700 (PDT)

From: "Parhatsathid Napatalung" parhat@yahoo.com

Subject: ethics around the world

To: "Van Sloan" vansloan@yahoo.com>

Van Sloan:

While I.Q. is related to economic development, the lack of ethics (for lack of a better word) is a variable that tends pull down economically also. It is no wonder that ethics is an important variable in business. But this is not the only score of course, a more wider score as you have mentioned is the friendliness score too. A company can't simply work together if your co-workers are absolutely abnoxious!

Ethics is an issue that I find to have a very good predictive variable of corruption and was important during my studies of corruption. A person without ethics could write laws till the end of time and there will always be loopholes or lapses in the word of the law.

Some parts of the world, such as Thailand, and the South East Asian Pacific rim, ethics is really not part of the cultural makeup. Most of the ethics is based on the untaught individual ethic, which works like face saving mechanism. This level of ethics is even lower still in Africa where it is almost non-existent.

For instance, in Thailand personal ethics is somewhat lacking, while business ethics is somewhat better. Japan is unique, their level of ethics is quite high (keeping their word) and it is in my personal opinion is at least higher or equally higher than U.S. Japan, therefore is unique in that aspect, while Korea, is not as high on that area.

Most ethics taught and ethics practice are two wholly different things. Ethics is taught in Buddhist precepts occurs a lot here in Thailand, but rarely is it practiced. It is only lip service and part of the social functions than it is about the philosophy.

In U.S., things that are taught are quite often implemented. In U.S. most ethics have a firm roots in religion and most of them is actually practiced, but rarely is it questioned. And in certain parts of Europe, ethics is learned somewhat with historical references as opposed to religious doctrine.

What I can say is religion, especially the U.S. religion plays a very important part on the ethics, moral and behavior of people, while most other countries, this is an exception to the rule. This I can say with certainty.

Ted

Sloan replies: Hi Ted,

My travels around the world make me realize that corruption and lax morals are much more of a problem than in the US. While we have headline stories of governmental and business lapses, these seem exceptions to me - as compared to what I see in Indonesia, for example. I wonder if the ethics taught by Christian churches influence the difference between American/ European practices vs those in other parts of the world. I do believe that those differences contribute to a lower standard of life in many parts of the world.