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[–]Zahn 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

Yes. Usually the simplest answer is the more correct answer. Or you can go through elaborate mental gymnastics, cherry picking information to arrive at your own predetermined conclusion.

https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/is-success-in-our-genes.html

And so much more. Regardless of race, you already are cognitive of the fact there are actual "dumb" people. Genetics is most everything. This is like an intelligence litmus test for you, can you figure it out?

[–]BigFatRetard 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Intelligence isn't necessarily success.

If you have a few kids from the same parent, you can have much different outcomes for each child despite ostensibly having a relatively similar genetic makeup.

Just look at the Trumps. Donald Trump became President and bangs supermodels, Fred Trump drank himself to death.

[–]Zahn 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Having similar genes doesn't mean that they express in the same way. So even two siblings will have variations because they have genes that are differently expressed and some that are recessive.

[–]BigFatRetard 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

that's true, but given the heritability of intelligence from generation to generation, I'd argue that the genetics of a brother and a sister or two brothers or two sisters is going to be much more similar than that of a white person and a completely unrelated black person, so assuming all success is genetic determinism doesn't seem to bear out. Even among people who are based on the same two parents you have huge differences.

The other thing is that I do believe that choice strongly factors into success, going back to the part I said where intelligence isn't the only factor in success. I look at my own reasonably successful life, and 2-3 choices would have a substantial impact on my level of success. Knock up a girl at 13, it all goes away. Give up on school and become a WoW addict, it all goes away. Get deep into cocaine, it all goes away. Those are choices we each need to make and while genetics may help, I don't think it's fully deterministic.