Who is smarter, Asians or Westerners? Are there genetic explanations for racial differences in test scores? What makes some nationalities excel in engineering and others in music? Will math and science remain a largely male preserve?
From the damning research of The Bell Curve to the more recent controversy surrounding geneticist James Watson's statements — the former focused on a controversial connection between race and intelligence while the latter is a Nobel Laureate who claimed Blacks are less intelligent than whites — one factor has been consistently left out of the equation: culture.
Certain skills and traits are rooted in genetics, but intelligence isn't one of them, counters Richard E. Nisbett, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan.
In "Intelligence and How to Get It," Nisbett deflates assertions that our mental limits are hardwired at birth. While genetics may play some role in intelligence, he says, the more dominant factors are nurturing teachers and involved parents.
Sounds intuitive. But Nisbett's aim is to shoot down earlier studies that generated controversy by suggesting a stronger genetic basis to intelligence.
It's easy to see why those studies might have inflamed anger. If IQ is dictated by genes, then in theory even the best educational resources wouldn't make the person smarter. But Nisbett insists IQ is far more influenced by environment.
As proof he dissects dozens of studies that suggest that children of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds can excel under the right circumstances.
For example, he points to statistics showing that kids who grow up in poor Black communities tend to have lower IQs than their peers from richer neighborhoods. But when underprivileged kids are adopted into middle-class families, the apparent discrepancy in intelligence seems to disappear.
Nisbett also takes on common stereotypes about students in other countries, for example that all Asian kids are inherently good at math. Sure, they may outperform American kids, Nisbett says, but blame culture and environmental influences, not genetics or some other natural inborn quality.
