Why are the Jews so successful? What is it that makes the Jews so successful, beyond proportion to their numbers? Several theories have been given to explain this. One is that since Jews are constantly being persecuted, their minds had to develop in order to survive. The comedian John Mulaney once said: “Jews don’t daydream, because folks are after them and they gotta stay sharp. You know what I mean? They have to be there. They haven’t let their minds wander since Egypt. They just stay sharp. They go, ‘Who’s that? Put that down. What’s that over there? Don’t do that.’” Since Jews are being prosecuted, they have had to remain alert and their minds developed beyond that of other cultural groups. This theory was given to answer the question of Jewish success, but has never been proven conclusively.
However, there are two principal theories that have been suggested to explain this phenomenon. One is that Jews have a higher level of intelligence and the second is that they have cultural values that stimulate success. This report will explore both of these theories.
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Charles Murray, a political scientist, also studies this and published his findings in his book The Bell Curve. In it he writes that the source for the Jews remarkable record is their higher intelligence. Numerous studies have been done that shows that higher intelligence is a determining factor in economic and intellectual success. It explains the higher proportion of Jews in fields that require higher intelligence like theoretical physics or pure
"Demonological anti-Semitism, of the virulent racial variety, was the common structure of the perpetrators' cognit...
The Bell Curve is a book originally published in 1994. It was written by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray to explain the variations of intelligence in American Society. They accomplished this by using statistical analysis, for the purpose of raising warnings regarding the consequences of the intelligence gap. This was also made to propose a national social policy with the goal of mitigating bad consequences that have been attributed to this intelligence gap. Much of the information is widely considered controversial. An example of this is the low African-American scores compared to whites and Asians, and genetic factors in intelligence abilities. The introduction of the book starts with a brief history of intelligence theory and recent developments in intelligence thought and testing. The author creates six assumptions that has to do with the validity of the “classical” cognitive testing techniques.
Brandeis’s depiction of Jewish qualities is, more than anything, a call to understand Jewish identity. As a proponent of Zionism, Brandeis recognized the importance of unity, and tried to bring Jews together in identifying their characteristics: “…qualities with which every one of us is familiar…” (Glatzer 707). In the United States, a country whose Jewish population was composed of Jews from other nations around the globe, a sense of strong identity was of singular importance. These treasured qualities of mind, body and character “…may properly be called Jewish qualities.” (Glatzer 707). Brandeis redefines the meaning of “Jew” for those who had lost themselves in immigration and overwhelming anti-Semitism.
...f society. The second point of view held that Jews were inherently bad and can never be salvaged despite any and all efforts made by Christians to assimilate them. These Christians felt that there was absolutely no possibility of Jews having and holding productive positions in society. All the aforementioned occurrences lead to the transformation of traditional Jewish communities, and paved the way for Jewish existence, as it is known today. It is apparent, even through the examination of recent history that there are reoccurring themes in Jewish history. The most profound and obvious theme is the question of whether Jews can be productive members of their country and at the same time remain loyal to their religion. This question was an issue that once again emerged in Nazi Germany, undoubtedly, and unfortunately, it is not the last time that question will be asked.
Barry Chiswick, “The Labor Market Status of American Jews: Patterns and Determinants,” in AJYB, 1985, 145.
Michiko Kakutani is correct in her argument that Malcolm Gladwell’s writing is baseless because he attempts to extrapolate selective studies and anecdotes into broad hypotheses to support his irrational claims. This is seen when Gladwell cites what Robert Merton called the “Matthew Effect” and suggests that, “Children from wealthy or middle-class backgrounds are much more likely to succeed than those from impoverished ones.” To support this claim, Gladwell chooses two isolated cases of Chris Langan’s failure and J. Robert Oppenheimer’s success in life. The only similarities between these two men are their high intelligence and genius-level IQs, but Gladwell attributes Oppenheimer’s success to his “wealthy, privileged childhood [...] that allowed him to get what he wanted from the world.” Kakutani criticizes that Gladwell only chose these two men as
Recent efforts by Jewish historians such as David Biale of Berkeley emphasize the success, achievements, and power bases that Jews did have at various points during this time period (Kung page 159.) Although it predominates its history, the Jewish heritage is not simply one of continual suffering, persecution, and subservience.
Flohr, Paul R., and Jehuda Reinharz. "2." The Jew in the modern world: a documentary history. 3 ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. Print.
Loehlin, John C., Lindzey Gardner, and J.N. Spuhler. Race Differences in Intelligence. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1975.
...est high school students in America” (Gladwell 82). It was shocking to learn that all the Nobel Prize in Medicine winners did not all come from the most prestigious schools. Also, in the third chapter I notices some aspects that were highly relatable to me. My life relates to subjects included in chapter three because I am a student. It is interesting and helpful to learn that one does not need the highest IQ to succeed in today’s world. This is how I relate to chapter three. The third chapter in Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell had striking information that stated that IQs do not always determine who will be successful, and I can relate to the information in the chapter because I am student who has thought about my IQ before.
For Christianity, the 12th century represented a century of both internal and external changes. While the crusades sought to impose a “universalized Christian faith” on those outside of the religion, the internal mechanisms of the Church began to promote reformations that encouraged a unification of the “doctrine, liturgy, piety and politics within Western Christendom”. During this century, Christians began to experience a cohesive and sacred community. Anselm of Canterbury and Peter Abelard made theological advancements that allowed for the unification of the Church – and for a drastic change in Jewish-Christian relations. Their theories of atonement began to shape the way in which Christian’s approached Jews in the questions of God. While Anselm’s satisfaction theory of atonement began to promote an appeal to reason among Christians towards Jews, Abelard’s moral influence theory of atonement had the potential on encouraging religious tolerance. Due to the political climate of this time, Anselm’s theory took hold and became the prominent theological arguments against Jews.
Through research, I will examine if there is a correlation, be it direct or indirect, between a person’s race and their educational attainment. In order to answer this question, it is important to consider other variables, such as a sex, socioeconomic status, culture, and religion. How do these variables influence a racial group’s access to education? Numerous studies have been done to answer questions like these. I am curious to find out what intrinsic characteristics of a racial/ethnic group impact their success. My research will include collection of existing data and analysis of several case studies. Some of the sociological questions that I would use to answer my hypothesis are: What are some factors that affect a person’s education level? Or how does sex affect the success of a person? Also I will explain the meaning of socioeconomic status? And is culture the foundation of educational levels? I will use these questions to help me write my research paper.
Furnham, A. 2001. Self-estimates of intelligence: culture and gender difference in self and other estimates of both general (g) and multiple intelligences. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, pp. 1381-1405.
... will of others and in harmony with the spirit prevailing in the worlds of others (The Core of the Matter: 54). Gordon argues that the Jewish people’s natural growth and self-realization has been hampered by alien and extraneous influences (Some Observations: 377). As the Jews has been pushed away from the primary creative processes, and forced to live under constant pressure and influence of foreign cultures, they have eventually lost the distinctive, external signs of identity, social structure, language and lifestyle, and become dependent on others materially and spiritually, leading them to have an inanimate existence, lacking in national creativity (Our Tasks Ahead: 381). This life has made the Jews passive and submissive; they no longer act upon or influence others, but are merely acted upon and influenced by others (The Work of Revival in the Diaspora: 78).
The dichotomy between the view that intelligence levels are affected by situational factors and the view that intelligence is genetically transmitted has dominated psychological debates on IQ throughout decades. The statements made by many commentators that intelligences depends on genetic factors has been ...