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Comment by threeseed | Hacker News Reader

I am sure most agree that genetics is integral to educational success. But so what ?

Is the aim then to measure IQ in kindergarden and then decide at that point whether that person should be afforded the privilege of going to university ? And what happens if the tests are flawed (like almost all are) are we then going to accept an entire generation of disadvantaged children ? And surely everyone has worked with people who aren't book smart but are brilliant in their respective fields.

If recent history has taught us anything is that humans are the sum of many, many parts. And the minute you start narrowly categorising them you do them and humanity a massive disservice.

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I couldn't agree more, you should not put people into boxes, especially not according to artificial measures like IQ tests.

What you should do is design the education system in a way such that more variance is possible, so that especially gifted students get the stimulation they need. In the paper the argument is put forward, that a "good school" improves the average performance of students, but also increases the variance between performances.

But how do you decide which students are gifted without some way to measure general intellectual aptitude which is the purpose of an IQ test.

Ideally you don't decide anything. You just give them the tools, and see what they do with it.

But how do you know what to teach and grade students on?

I could imagine that something not unsimilar to how optimization algorithms work. You start with all student doing the same material, and then you supply the students with the amount and kind of material that suits them. Ideally, you don't grade at all.

How do you decide which material suits which students the best? What they enjoy the most?

If you have a class of 20 , how can you teach 20 different curriculum?

That's where computerised tools come in. You can give the students tasks to do, the computer supervises how these tasks are completed, and suggests new tasks to do depending on how previous tasks were handled. The task of the teacher would then be that of a supervisor rather than that of an instructor.

Delayed gratification is the single most important measurable personality trait that determines success later in life. IQ is less important than delayed gratification. High IQ and other traits are just potential for success. Delayed gratification is what turns these traits into success.

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