Thought experiment on link between culture and intelligence.

[Subfallen]

There is going to be an international lottery of sorts. Any country that meets the population requirements can enter. Here is how it works:

(1) Each country randomly selects 1,000,000 boys between 10 and 12 yrs old.
(2) Lottery officials administer IQ tests to the sample and take the 100 highest scorers into custody as a distinct "prize."
(3) The prizes are randomly reassigned new citizenship and residency, one prize per lottery country.

So, questions.

Do you think this is a zero-sum game? If not, what countries do you think would be +EV in this lottery and what countries would be -EV?

Would your answer change with a different age range? Say, 5-7 yrs?

[hitch1978]

Can you clear up a few things, please.

In 2), is it highest 100 worldwide, or highest 100 from each country? Also, I am confused by your terms 'custody' and 'prize' That might be a bit nitty, I genuinely don't know.
3) Are you now referring to the top 100 boys as 'prizes'? Also I don't understand how if each country is awarded 1 'prize', there can be 100 'prizes' from each Country, or in total (depending upon your answer to an above question.)?

I don't think that my queries will ultimately change much about my answers, but it would be nice to understand your post concisely first.

[Bork]

I think it's -EV, because if I was 11 and got removed from my family and tossed into Zaire or something I would be [censored] up. Overall I think the move is going to mess with the kid's psychological and intellectual development in a signifigant and negative way. Only war torn or starving countries could be +EV to enter, and if only they entered then it would be -EV.

I assume we get a randomly selected foster family host???

[hitch1978]

I think you are missing the point Bork.

I believe what OP is getting at is, "Which Country' mean average IQ rises, and which ones fall?" That is what he is reffering to as +/-EV, although I would like some clarification.

[Jamougha]

Well generally the countries with above average IQs go down and the ones with below average IQs go up. Mean world IQ is supposedly something like 90 with USA standardised as 100. World IQs according to IQ&tWoN http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations

[dknightx]

asia represent!

[drzen]

IQ tests are hideously culturally biased.

I love though the continuing theme in 2p2 that somehow intelligence itself makes a person a net contributor to society. But what good is Sklansky? If we were lining up people to be shot, he's getting a bullet long before the guy who fixes the sewers.