This is all good advice, and I certainly wouldn't disagree that a Jewish upbringing nurtures intelligence ... but it's also largely genetic, unfortunately. The Jewish people I know who didn't have a Bar Mitzvah or a proper Jewish upbringing still have insane semantic memories and high verbal IQs, with just a regular education.
I'm not Jewish, but I was very good at math as a kid. I didn't study -- I didn't have to. I aced every test anyway. I knew kids who studied their asses off and couldn't get grades like mine. A friend studied for a year for the GRE, my studying mostly consisted of quickly solving her probability questions on napkins while drunk with her at parties. I aced the math section on the GRE, she didn't. She definitely worked way harder, and she was very smart and talented.
I don't think it's kind to imply that hard work pays off the same for everyone. It's always a good thing to work hard, but unfortunately innate talent and intelligence do matter and affect outcomes. I have a cousin who picked up the stand-up bass as a teenager and won a competition six months later over kids who had played for years. It sucks, but life isn't fair.
If you accept that God "chose" the Jewish people and that there is a Great Spirit or God, it seems likely to me He chose them to protect the truth of monotheism from the polytheistic invading armies that were prevalent at the time -- and for that difficult task, traits such as a good memory, a high verbal IQ, stubbornness etc would be have vital. While Jewish culture has certainly nurtured these talents, I do believe they are also in the genome -- and if you don't buy the religious explanation, epigenetics would also explain it. Jews have had to survive a lot, and for that, intelligence is vital.
All true. There is a danger for Jews, however, that if we focus on the genetic aspect we can slide into complacency or arrogance or both. None of that is helpful to our Divine mission, so I'm quite comfortable ignoring the genetic angle.
> I don't think it's kind to imply that hard work pays off the same for everyone.
You are right that it doesn't pay off *the same*. But it still pays off to some degree no matter who you are. For example, not everyone is Arnold Schwarzenegger, but we can all improve our physical strength with some attention.
This is all good advice, and I certainly wouldn't disagree that a Jewish upbringing nurtures intelligence ... but it's also largely genetic, unfortunately. The Jewish people I know who didn't have a Bar Mitzvah or a proper Jewish upbringing still have insane semantic memories and high verbal IQs, with just a regular education.
I'm not Jewish, but I was very good at math as a kid. I didn't study -- I didn't have to. I aced every test anyway. I knew kids who studied their asses off and couldn't get grades like mine. A friend studied for a year for the GRE, my studying mostly consisted of quickly solving her probability questions on napkins while drunk with her at parties. I aced the math section on the GRE, she didn't. She definitely worked way harder, and she was very smart and talented.
I don't think it's kind to imply that hard work pays off the same for everyone. It's always a good thing to work hard, but unfortunately innate talent and intelligence do matter and affect outcomes. I have a cousin who picked up the stand-up bass as a teenager and won a competition six months later over kids who had played for years. It sucks, but life isn't fair.
If you accept that God "chose" the Jewish people and that there is a Great Spirit or God, it seems likely to me He chose them to protect the truth of monotheism from the polytheistic invading armies that were prevalent at the time -- and for that difficult task, traits such as a good memory, a high verbal IQ, stubbornness etc would be have vital. While Jewish culture has certainly nurtured these talents, I do believe they are also in the genome -- and if you don't buy the religious explanation, epigenetics would also explain it. Jews have had to survive a lot, and for that, intelligence is vital.
All true. There is a danger for Jews, however, that if we focus on the genetic aspect we can slide into complacency or arrogance or both. None of that is helpful to our Divine mission, so I'm quite comfortable ignoring the genetic angle.
> I don't think it's kind to imply that hard work pays off the same for everyone.
You are right that it doesn't pay off *the same*. But it still pays off to some degree no matter who you are. For example, not everyone is Arnold Schwarzenegger, but we can all improve our physical strength with some attention.