Hive mind : how your nation's IQ matters so much more than your own /

Hive mind : how your nation's IQ matters so much more than your own /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Jones, Garett, author.
Imprint:Stanford, California : Stanford Economics and Finance, [2016]
©2016
Description:1 online resource (xiii, 205 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:
Intelligence levels -- Economic aspects.
Intelligence levels -- Political aspects.
Intelligence levels -- Economic aspects.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11405056
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780804797054
0804797056
9780804785969
0804785961
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-190) and index.
English.
Print version record.
Summary:Over the last few decades, economists and psychologists have quietly documented the many ways in which a person's IQ matters. But, research suggests that a nation's IQ matters so much more. As Garett Jones argues in Hive Mind, modest differences in national IQ can explain most cross-country inequalities. Whereas IQ scores do a moderately good job of predicting individual wages, information processing power, and brain size, a country's average score is a much stronger bellwether of its overall prosperity. Drawing on an expansive array of research from psychology, economics, management, and political science, Jones argues that intelligence and cognitive skill are significantly more important on a national level than on an individual one because they have'positive spillovers.'On average, people who do better on standardized tests are more patient, more cooperative, and have better memories. As a result, these qualities--and others necessary to take on the complexity of a modern economy--become more prevalent in a society as national test scores rise. What's more, when we are surrounded by slightly more patient, informed, and cooperative neighbors we take on these qualities a bit more ourselves. In other words, the worker bees in every nation create a'hive mind'with a power all its own. Once the hive is established, each individual has only a tiny impact on his or her own life. Jones makes the case that, through better nutrition and schooling, we can raise IQ, thereby fostering higher savings rates, more productive teams, and more effective bureaucracies. After demonstrating how test scores that matter little for individuals can mean a world of difference for nations, the book leaves readers with policy-oriented conclusions and hopeful speculation: Whether we lift up the bottom through changing the nature of work, institutional improvements, or freer immigration, it is possible that this period of massive global inequality will be a short season by the standards of human history if we raise our global IQ.
Other form:Print version: Jones, Garett. Hive mind. Stanford, California : Stanford Economics and Finance, [2016] 9780804785969
Review by Choice Review

According to Jones (economics, George Mason Univ.), IQ--be it of an individual or the average of a nation's population--as measured on standard tests is a statistic most indicative of performance. He supports this contention with statistical evidence garnered from a wide variety of studies (he spares the reader the technical details associated with statistical analysis). Whereas individuals' IQs are less strongly related to their performance, the relationship between national averages of IQ and performance indicators such as gross domestic product is robust. But the beneficial indicators are not limited to economic statistics; they include better public health, higher levels of education and skills, patience, prudence and a willingness to save for the future, greater cooperation, and stable and soundly based political institutions. Jones points out that the myriad benefits associated with higher averages of national IQ do not demonstrate causation. He notes for example the Flynn effect, the observation of rising IQs over time. IQ levels are subject to change, and Jones concludes his book with the challenge to discover underlying factors that enhance a wide range of cognitive skills. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Edward Leonard Whalen, Clarke College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review

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