Genetics determines

Jews constitute 0.25% of the population, they accounted for 27% of all Nobel Prizes.
Albert Einstein in his office in Princeton (USA), 1939

Study of the American geneticist Henry Hamperdinga and Gregory Kochrana, which has been more than a year excites the world scientific community, given a new impetus - a prestigious publishing house «Cambridge University Press» decided to publish their work as the Internet, and in his journal «Journal of Biosocial Science» .

The essence of the investigation concerns a very small matter: the Ashkenazi Jews, ie, the Jews of Europe, almost destroyed by the Nazis, it turns out, genetically smarter than everyone else. According to the authors of the study, the higher intelligence of Ashkenazi Jews is linked with their usual hereditary diseases - such as Tay-Sachs and Niemann-Pick.

These diseases - not the plague, but not cold, they are brand name viagra much rarer, and both are deadly. Tay-Sachs disease, kills every 25-th Ashkenazi for about Millennium, and now seems to be poutihshaya is a genetic mutation that causes children progressive disorder of the central nervous system - hardly anyone of these people live to the age of four. The sharp decline in the incidence of this plague the U.S. and Israel in recent years due primarily to the fact that young couples prefer to conduct genetic testing of the fetus and in the case of "positive" reaction of the pregnancy terminated. Niemann-Pick disease - also an inherited disease that can lead not only to the central nervous system disorders, but also to dysfunction of the liver and spleen. Too often ends lethal.
Hamperding and Kochran argue that these diseases are responsible for higher mental capacities of the Jews, since they lead, in particular, to an increase in dendritic (branched woody shoots from the nerve cells) in the brain. "It happened in the genetic evolutionary process - the authors say the study - as a result of the discrimination to which Jews were in the ghettos of medieval Europe." Moreover, they believe that only through this deadly disease and the Jews managed to survive, since the Middle Ages, they were allowed to engage only forbidden to Christians professions, such as a trader, the tax collector, pawnbroker, etc., and each of these professions demanded by human mathematical abilities and level of mental development is above average.

In fact, it is not clear where is the chicken and which the egg - it is high intelligence, attributed to the Jews, was the cause of anti-Semitic paranoia in the Middle Ages, so it may be that these deadly genetic mutations, making them smart, once again turned in the persecuted. And much of what these Lucky mutations occurred is anyone's guess ...

And this is only if Hamperding with Kochranom right. What is the big question, because almost the entire scientific establishment in the U.S. fell upon them with criticism, they had hardly dared to speak with his hypothesis. Many of their opponents considered the hypothesis of a "dangerous" and "racist", reminisced about the XVI century, when Luther asserted that Jewish doctors are so smart that prepared a poison that can kill a Christian for less than one day - if it caused a real storm of anti-Semitic.

But they are right or wrong, but the fact remains - the scientists remind us that "the history of the last two hundred years, decorated with many Jewish names of scientists, philosophers, representatives of the intellectual world, such as Oppenheimer, Einstein, Freud, Marx, Kafka, Bellow, Levi Strauss, Allen, Dylan ... ". Number, of course, not too steady, but not given, and statistics: "Despite the fact that Jews make up only 0.25% of the population, they accounted for 27% of all Nobel prizes and 50% of world chess champion." With that something like that be?

Corresponding Member of RAS, Leonid Korochkin, one of the leading Russian geneticists in this field, believes that the buzz around the research and Hamperdinga Kochrana exaggerated.

"The debate is largely far-fetched, - said Professor Korochkin told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. - Intellectual superiority - the concept is very questionable, especially if we mean any group of people.

Neater and more precise - the high intelligence of Ashkenazi caused by both genetic and social conditions. Among the many prominent Jewish scholars? Remarkably, then, fellows Jews who cherish and nurture talent and provide them with all the conditions for implementation! And where will the Nobel laureates at us in Russia, where after the October Revolution, Lenin, first sent abroad, the color of the nation, then, Stalin destroyed thousands of this same color. And now officials are doing their best to extinguish the few foci of true science, which still continues to smolder! So that the persecution does not contribute to the flowering of the mind! "

Korochkin not believe that it is genetics determines the intellectual superiority of the Ashkenazi. According to him, an increased number of dendrites in the brain has not said anything.

"Just this alone is not enough to improve the mental activity - underlines the Leonid Korochkin. - And in general the question arises: Are there any skills and talents associated with national identity? Great African poet and philosopher Leopold Senghor, who was in racism does not suspect, believed that the Creator created the races white, black and yellow in accordance with the three properties of the human psyche - rationality, intuition and emotions. These properties are inherent in all three races, but each is characterized by preferential expression of one of them. White - particularly rational, emotional, black and yellow are known by intuition. And all together due to the development of these qualities provide the best incarnation of the divine plan. You can certainly argue about the views of Senghor, but certain behavioral traits and inclinations may be associated with belonging to a particular nation. I think that no one will argue with the fact that the Italians - the world's best singers, the Brazilians - the world's best players, the Jews - the best violinists. Russian and Germans have traditionally been strong in chemistry, philosophy and aviation, the Japanese - in the applied sciences. This does not mean that other nations do not contribute significantly to these areas of human creativity. Agreement with this is not in any way racist. Racism - is the recognition of any one nation stands above all others and designed to dominate others. Such an argument is unacceptable. Before God all are equal! There is no higher and lower, good and bad races and nations. There are good and bad people. And in every nation of plenty. A study is good or bad can people of different nationalities. In our class there were two of the best student: I - Russian and my bosom friend - a Jew. And two were worse. And also - one of them Russian, the other - a Jew. "
In short, the question is not thin, and thin. And there is a good rule of thumb - if the issue is complicated and you do not know how to answer it, answer like tell you not logic and conscience. In this case, this was the maxim of which just above stated.

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