By Field Ruwe
Zambia’s reading culture
If you want to hide something from a Zambian put it in a book. Unless they are to be tested, Zambians don’t read. They don’t read at home, on the bus, or on the plane. They suffer from bibiliophobia—a fear for books. Books remind them of the dreaded composition and comprehension. They remind them of math, physics and chemistry.
[pullquote]We are not curious enough and yet curiosity is an important trait of genius.[/pullquote]
The sight of books depresses them and yet reading is the bedrock of our intelligence; it improves memory, increases creativity, reasoning skills, and builds self-esteem. It provides a glimpse into other cultures and places. Reading boosts one’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
It is fair to say that it is the lack of reading that has contributed to Zambia’s low IQ. In Zambia today, only a handful know and understand what is going on around the world. Many, some with college degrees, cannot write a simple statement on their daily life.
The lowest IQ on the planet
Our IQ as Zambians is among the lowest of the human species, says disreputable race and intelligence British psychologist Richard Lynn a man described by many as a white supremacist and an eccentric eugenicist.
According to Lynn, Africans have an average IQ of about 70 compared to whites with 100. He claims to have conducted the study in sub-Sahara Africa and concludes that the 70 IQ was the reason for the low level of economic development in black Africa.
Back in 1916, inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ test, American psychologist Lewis Madison Terman proposed the scale for classifying IQ scores: Genius or near genius (over 140); Very superior intelligence (120-140); Superior intelligence (110-119); Normal or average intelligence (90-109); Dullness (80-89); Borderline deficiency (70-79); and Definite feeble-mindedness (under 70).
[pullquote]Many of our current leaders are entrapped in unintelligent, level 64, destructive and retrogressive politics of tyranny, tribalism, nepotism, apathy, greed, and corruption.[/pullquote]
People with a borderline deficiency will function at an equivalent age of a young teenager. They are ignorant and are easily susceptible to addictions, Attention Deficit-hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), promiscuity, and mood disorders. This is the category in which Lynn has put us. He actually gets as low as 67 to definite feeble-mindedness (retardation).
The danger is that Lynn’s study is referenced by many psychologists around the world who treat him as an authority in the science of intelligence. His credentials allow him to sit on several editorial boards including that of the journals Intelligence and Personality and Individual Differences.
In Lynn’s book Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis the average IQ of Zambian adults is at 64! According to the book 152 Zambian adults participated in the test. Some tests were visual, some verbal. Examiners concentrated on reading, vocabulary, general knowledge and arithmetic. A score of 64 means the average Zambian is in the definite feeble-mindedness category.
Out of sheer curiosity, can any Zambian who took part in any IQ test between 1970 and 2000 please come forward. We would like to know what tests they took, where and when. Was it done with the authority of our government—the Ministry of Education? Did the president know about it? Was the National Scientific Research made aware?
I have never heard of Richard Lynn or other IQ examiners come to Zambia to do their dirty work. In actual fact many researchers have repudiated Lynn’s findings in sub-Sahara Africa, and accused him of intentionally ignoring Africans with high score by using selective data. The general conclusion is that his findings are distorted and greatly flawed.
What makes people treat us like retards
The question is; what makes people like Richard Lynn treat us like we have nothing between our ears? Like we are retards on two legs? There are numerous reasons. Of course one such is that the findings are used to perpetuate racial stereotypes. They are used to justify superiority of the white race over us, black people. Many euro-centric researchers wish to maintain the IQ as the fulcrum of white supremacy.
[pullquote]The way we live, behave, interact, talk, and think; the buildings we live in, the roads we walk on, and the jobs we do; the things we like and dislike; places we visit; the way we treat one another, the way politicians treat us, and most of all our sour relationship with knowledge.[/pullquote]
Another reason, and perhaps the most important, is that we are ourselves to blame. The way we live, behave, interact, talk, and think; the buildings we live in, the roads we walk on, and the jobs we do; the things we like and dislike; places we visit; the way we treat one another, the way politicians treat us, and most of all our sour relationship with knowledge.
IQ is based on knowledge. Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something. It includes facts, information, descriptions, and skills most of which is attained through reading; the more we read, the more knowledgeable we become, the more intelligent, and the better the IQ.
It is the lack of reading that has left us ignorant at best. Ignorance is everywhere. Even those in the corridors of power are motivated by ignorance. They embrace ignorance and proudly take it to be knowledge. In parliament for instance, many law makers stick to their narrow impressions and views of various aspects of life even when it is clear they lack the knowledge of information in domestic and foreign affairs.
Ignorance
“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action,” dramatist and poet Johann Wolfgang once wrote. And writer Elbert Hubbard added: “The recipe for perpetual ignorance is: Be satisfied with your opinions and content with your knowledge.”
Ignorance exhibited by our leaders filters down to us and prevents us from progressing towards a society of thought. Many of our current leaders are entrapped in unintelligent, level 64, destructive and retrogressive politics of tyranny, tribalism, nepotism, apathy, greed, and corruption. They have no clue how to treat us as humans, and how to take advantage of our human capital—INTELLIGENCE.
We are all intelligent Zambians, each one of us. We have the ability to reason, plan, and solve problems that concern our wellbeing. The problem is that most of us don’t think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.
We are not curious enough and yet curiosity is an important trait of genius. Because we don’t read, we don’t ask questions and search for answers. We do not appreciate new ideas, examine them and use them to our benefit. As a result we progress at a snail’s pace and our surroundings hardly change.
[pullquote]We are all intelligent Zambians, each one of us.The problem is that most of us don’t think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience.[/pullquote]
Lynn and others know this. They have seen the way we live. Our pastime is beer-drinking, dancing, watching soccer, roasting and eating meat, gossiping, and belittling others. Our surroundings are unkempt and our buildings shabby.
Lynn and his cohorts claim that the genetic and environmental conditions contribute to our low IQ. Could it be possible, therefore, that they draw some of their conclusions from what they see when they come in contact with us?
What they see when they come to Zambia
Let’s imagine for a moment Lynn travels to Zambia. He hires a car and drives to Chibolya. What would his impression be upon seeing sick-looking alcoholics drinking Kachasu (local illicit gin) and smoking marijuana outside dilapidated colonial structures some still featuring bucket toilets?
And if from there Lynn drove on Kafue Road into George Compound, John Lang, Chawama on a rainy day and saw damaged homes, flooded alleys and septic tanks sipping with excrement, what would he record in his diary?
What would he record if he drove on Cairo Road, ChaChaCha, Freedomway, and Lumumba Road and ended up in Matero, Lilanda, and Desai Compound, and on his way back drove through Mandevu, Marapodi and Chaisa?
And if from there he drove to Mungule village on his way to Mpika and Nakonde. Surely, wouldn’t he fly back to the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland where he teaches such garbage and tell the world he is right?
He would say what he has always said, that we have the lowest of the IQs. He would say that we live the life of a white person of 1950. It was in the 1950s that some houses in the Western world had outside toilets and bathrooms like we still have in Chilenje, Chiwempala, Wusakile, Twapia, and Matero. It was then that many, like most of the current middle-class Zambians, did not have fridges, washing machines, and hot water.
[pullquote]There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action[/pullquote]
Actually, some researchers say that we live worse than the European of the ‘30s and ‘40s. It was during this period that Americans and Europeans experienced high levels of unemployment, poverty and sickness just like we do today. Major industries and mines collapsed just like ours and unemployment shot to the roof.
It was in the 1930s-40s that dictatorship became rampant because leaders like Benito Mussolini (Italy), Adolf Hitler (Germany), Joseph Stalin (USSR), and Hideki Tojo (Japan) had no democratic experience and had severe economic problems. They saw dictatorship as the only solution to prevent their fall.
How Sata is making a bad situation even worse
Let’s admit it. Lynn is right to a large extent. We indeed are a people at the totem pole—at the bottom of humanity and our political leaders from the president down have no clue how to get us out. They do not know how to fight Lynn and prove him wrong.
I know many of my critics will say it is a personal responsibility of every Zambian to be intelligent. While I concur, I put the blame squarely on the president. More than a year in office, he is not propelling us to an intelligent nation. He is not utilizing our greatest asset—the human brain by shaping how we think and feel about issues that matter.
Presidents play an inestimable role in changing the thinking of a people. Kaunda coined “One Zambia One Nation” and we bonded as a nation. As for Sata, he doesn’t know where to start. He does not have the intellectual acumen and the inspiration to lift us out of the nadir and turn us into an intelligent society that can face and respond to the challenges of a technological world.
[pullquote]some researchers say that we live worse than the European of the ‘30s and ‘40s.[/pullquote]
President Michael Chilufya Sata does not know how to optimize the intelligence of Zambians—period. He does not know that if he unlocks our intelligence he will be reducing poverty, hunger, and disease.
If he truly is committed to our advancement, he must change our country from a drinking nation to a reading one. This might be impossible for him to contemplate, but the secret of finding out what is at the top of the mountain is to climb it.
We must, individually and as a people, choose between fixing our IQ and being treated like unintelligent genera.
1st one to comment
This article is full of attacks on Sata & Kabimba. If Kabimba was an animal not even hyena (chimbwi) could befriend or even eat him.
Sata is allergic to corruption,
I am allergic to Kabimba.
Walasa especially the last part. But why have you the so called intelligencia of this country run away? You have no pride in your motherland. lnstead of being armchair critics, Come back we use those brains to develop this country.
When are you going back? We’ll follow you. lol
Pounds & peace, I concur with you! These are armchair critics who have run away from their families who still live in the squalor he has described in the article above. Most of these intelligencia are selfish people who would not have anything to do with uplifting the living standards of their own kinship.
People like Ruwe disgust me, as he should ask himself what has he done for Africa lately, apart from writing Psychologically demeaning articles and quoting racist buffons like Lynn?
Can someone show me which business or investment has Field Ruwe done in Zambia? Field Ruwe is a self righteous pompous arse, who was educated by Kaundas UNIP government at great, just for him to turn arround leave the country and scream abuse at the Zambians from wherever the hell he is! ARSE!
In as much as i agree with you on your comment, but am afraid you are not supposed to remove a log in another person’s eye before you remove the log in your own eye, you are also in USA so use a collective noun and not singular. say we all need to stop being armchairs and go back home and develop the area.
I hope H.E Sata reads this. I wonder if he would be willing to do an IQ test? The results would be very interesting indeed.
Did you say ‘READ’?
Can he even READ this article. Already since this is in written form, he will need a story teller to tell him about this article. Period. Sata is just ANAZA!
Zambians are very intelligent people, no doubt about that. But problem is they don’t use this gift. Especially Govt officials who prefer to use their intelligence to extract money from fellow citizens by corrupt actions. These bastards have done nothing to improve the conditions of the ordinary Zambians since 1964! Zambians in general have also failed to use their intelligence to get rid of these corrupt officers. They choose instead to wait until at least five years before they exercise their intelligence to vote corrupt people out of power. Even then, they don’t intelligently choose the right people. If you really exercised your intelligence, would you vote for somebody who promised to sort all your problems in exactly 90 days? Would this be a realistic pronouncement? Scarcely.
zambians are very intelligent species. the only problem is illiteracy level, which are high. this makes its very difficulty for them to identify credible leaders who can emancipate the country from abject poverty. decision making during elections is the major obstacle to the development of this country. worthless and dull people are elected to public office without a plan of how to develop the country. look at the crop of leaders in government today. its really sad
Mwalubemba Village. Why cant the people from that area build a proper school? What are they waiting for?
Ooooh I love love love this article.
Then our so called leaders are blowing billions of kwacha into unnecessary by-elections because of politics of the stomach of a few political prostitutes and the lack of will by the government to fight corruption. Build schools and people will vote for you and you won’t have to blow away those billions to boost your numbers in parliament to have security.
As much as your article rings true, its a bit overzealous to expect a person without former classmates to figure out how and when to turn Zambia around into a reading nation.
A great way to start would be to try reading your child a story every night before bed. There are so many great children’s books out there for all ages! Try reading them a chapter (or even part of a chapter) each night so they learn books are fun. And when they grow older, get them to read to you!
Some classics:
Where the Wild things Are
Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat (and so many other Dr. Seuss books!)
Winnie the Pooh
Peter Rabbit
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Harry Potter
Jumanji
There are a ton of great children’s books about Africa too:
Galimoto (set in Malawi)
Boundless Grace
My Father’s Shop
My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken, and Me
I Lost my Tooth in Africa
The list goes on, and on, and on!
Whose legacy would one define as having been the least helpful seeing as the current government has only been in for just over a year? How many libraries are open? The publishing industry in its traditional form is dying due to the diminishing reading culture of paper based materials but schools, colleges and families bear the responsibility of accessing and providing access to books. That said IQ is weighted against cultural entities but we need to rise to the challenge regardless. Too many sweeping generalisations in the article based on efforts of people who historically refuse to credit others with any ‘intelligence’. Pinch of salt.
I agree with you man. The writer has just summarized what the brown people say about us blacks. Then at the end he attacks Sata as the cause of the perceived low IQ of us Zambians. He has not given solution to this low IQ….
I was actually mostly amused by his use of the totem pole as a negative which mirrors the viewpoint of the ones who did not immediately recognise its cultural significance 🙂
I have my doubts about these so called IQ tests. I have had the privilege to have white and Asian classmates as early as grade 1 right through up to high school. I also got an opportunity to go to India for higher studies and I can tell you that I have performed above average and several times claimed that top spot. Yet I still consider myself an average student. What most Zambians/Africans lack is opportunities . You will agree with me that most Zambians who have gone abroad for further studies shine . How is that? Our governments have also neglected the education sector.Look at China just 30 years ago almost half the country was illiterate but today they have achieved 90%+ literacy rates.
I hope George Chella or Kennedy Sakeni can read this for shikulu.
We need intelligent leaders .
Love the article thanks. There is too much complacency with “Thats the way it is” (nimwamene cilili).
Correct… we even adored hits like “nothing wrong, that’s the way we get by…”
MWE BANTU I THOUHT THOSE SCHOOLS WERE ONLY IN WESTERN PROVINCE. PEOPLE ALWAYS COMMENT THAT WHY CANT THE WESTERN PROVINCE BUILD THIER OWN. SURPRISED WHY CANT THE KWALUBEMBA BUILD THIER OWN SCHOOLS AFTER ALL THEY HAVE ALL THE MEANS TO DO THAT AND MORE HARDWORKING AND INTELLIGENT THAN ANY OTHER TRIBE IN ZAMBIA. SHAME ON YOU BEMBAS WHEN YOU MAKE COMMENTS ABOUT NON DEVELOPMENT IN OTHER PROVINCES. LETS JUST BUILD ZAMBIA TOGETHER AND STOP THIS TRIBAL HATRED
Rubbish rants which should not be on this site….go to the watchimbwa where such rubbish is permitted.
@Truth hates. Leave the Watchdog out of this. The article he is referrring to was on this site. It was on the Pictures of the Week section. It was a series of pictures of a school in Nalolo, Western Province. You among others accused the folks in that area of not being self-reliant and just waiting for government handouts. You, sir gave quite some lecture and there was this pretence that ; that’s the worst you had seen in Zambia…….only in Western Province! So you should understand where the gentleman is coming from! Just search the LT website and see for yourself the kind of mischief you were into…..
Intelligence can confound many innocent observers. Leading others is also a recognized sign of intelligence. Building roads and bridges, universities and stadiums is proof of creativity. More over, maintaining peace is evidence of organized society. On that basis, it is difficult to single out a Zambian president as lacking in intelligence.
More diplomacy Doc 🙂 It was the author’s choice to shroud his personal gripe with subject matter that has been covered extensively by others particularly in the land where he now resides. The glaring gap left open is a definition of ‘intelligence’. The author could have nailed this point like you did but opted out. The blog reaction to placing Lynn et al in a channel 4 documentary for black history month raised much international debate a while ago and would make interesting reading for those who choose to go there. Pity the author missed it all.
He starts the article very well but towards the end he messes it up by singling out Sata as a person with a low IQ. Researchers as he would like to sound avoid being subjective in order to avoid bias. He claims that Sata does not know how to optimize the intelligence of Zambians but fails to articulate on how this can be done. So, of what benefit is this article apart from demeaning Zambians? Psychologists know how difficulty it is to define and measure intelligence across peoples. He talks about book knowledge which is called crystallised intelligence in psychology, but fails to mention fluid intelligence a natural ability which is not taught to anyone. He should learn to be balanced and objective in his articles.
I think the point is clear: it the environment, then the IQ and we know that our leadership should do something to change the environment consequently the IQ of people they lead. So, in the Zambian context, the bottom line is SATA.
@ Shufuni , the book refrence of less 70 IQ for Zambians was actually done betwwen 1964 and 1974 with scores of 77 and 64 respectively , and Zambia was higher than South Africa, Namibia,Mozambique,Kenya,Ghana,Uganda and many others … yet the countries mentioned are more developed than Zambia , and by the way SATA was no President when such a study was carried , neither was Levy , FTJ and RBB . Gloria and DR Makasa are correct , unfortunately the authour did not ask himself critical questions or investigate further he just endorsed and dumped the information on Zambians as he booklifted from Richard Lynn
Thanks very much for telling us of what the brown people say about us Zambians. It is really a good summary. However you went beyond your nice article limits when you started attributing this perceived low IQ of Zambians to Sata. How can Sata be the cause of this perceived low IQ? Man , on that one you have erred and it is reflecting your personal hatred against Sata. Why can’t you just write without any inclination for or against????
Peace and Prosperity to Mother Zambia.
I think it is his chosen writing voice. All his works consistently carry a strain of this angst which tends to weaken the overall appeal IMHO. As with any art one just needs to extract what one chooses to and leave those who agree with the rest to enjoy the silent rage 🙂
Before I finish with reading let me say these words. “yes Lynn is right we are dull people as blacks. We have failed to rule ourselves. Just look at the picture of the minster and the people around him. That piture speaks volumes, & I don’t care how much worth musenge is more than me. We blacks are not smart at all. We can not live a normal life. Look at our envionment, it’s dirty and our drinking water is dirt too. We are worse than whites I can confess. We don’t even love each other, too much selfish and can not share knowledge. Useless race
my friend! you are absolutely right, we are an embarrassment! if only we can accept what we are and do something to change.
Have you paid attention to the kind of adverts we have on TV? Silly. They are about making some funny ,embarrassing and very unintellectual jokes almost always. Look at the adverts made in South Africa by our caucasian friends. They make you think. Very creative and original. You laugh and get amazed at how someone can be so good to interpret a situation in a particualr way. It is about genius. Nowonder the creaters of those adverts get good cash. Our are about who can play the damest role. It is we are attracted by silly and dull funny things and not creative, enlightening and original things.
The Zambian politicians will do anything to stop our people become literate because they know that literate people will question the decisions they make. It is just a deliberate thing they do to deny the young to have good and quality education, whether at primary level or university level. These crop of leaders had a chance to have free education up to university level, some had the privilege of studying abroad using our resources. But look at the picture today, our brothers and sisters in the villages, it is really a shame.
That is the very reason they do not want dual citizen because intelligent Zambian abroad will compete them out of positions.
@Shufuni, Zambians abroad or overseas should stay where they are and leave us with low IQs to find soultions to our problems which we will eventually . We will use whites who are coming to stay in Zambia
SPOT ON, there is a serious problem with we Zambians. Simple example is lack of sense for beauty. See the Infrastructure initiatives in the cities like Lusaka. Road network, buildings are so horrible. Tenders are given to friends with no equipment to deliver quality service?? It’s all part of IQ / common sense. Some government offices are a death Zone, so dirty and old fashioned. LET US WAKE UP AND BRING BEAUTY TO OUR COUNTRY. WE CAN DO BETTER.
Seems to me creativity was stamped out of our culture and in pursuit of ‘intelligence’ we fail to encourage what would bring ‘beauty’ to the forefront. That said London is full of ugly buildings (sorry Chris Wren but it’s true) and much of western beauty borrowed heavily from other cultures. Was the renaissance which brought them out of the dark ages not secretly achieved by the Medici family bringing in artists, sculptors, musicians from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to improve their ‘beauty’? St Paul’s still looks like a mosque to me but I have a pretty low IQ so ignore my blind view 🙂
I have to comment Field Ruwe, on this well articulated article even the inclusion of Sata for which many have rightly questioned. The article raises difficult but yet fundamental questions that we need to answer as individuals and collectively as a nation. The psychologist, Richard Lynn has hit some home truths whether or not the use of IQ tests are valid or his are distorted and greatly flawed is another subject. Nonetheless, behaviours of Zambians and indeed many contributors to online debates seem to point to some of Lynn’s observations. A worry that I often pick up (not claiming to be much different but often think it s due to exposure outside Zambia). My only reservations over IQ test is if they are done in English which is not our mother tongue, how fair can that be?
so, do you want them done in your local language in order to get a higher ranking? is that going to change the picture of that school and turn our cities clean? is that going to change the Zambian people to be more analiticall and stop voting into office people who buy them chibuku, vitenge and salt? its not the IQ test but the way we live and the decisions we make.
First, apologies..my first line was meant to read… commend and not comment.
@Bonzo
If you try and understand my contribution you will find that I am suggesting that our “thinking process” including decision making is not quite there – even (if not more) our politicians exhibit the same lacking. However, being critical in analysing the research or use of IQ test as a measure for intelligence, I have questioned whether subjecting someone to an IQ test in their second language is bound to have a negative impact on the overall results? If so, then perhaps using first language for such maybe offer more credible and fair results.
Ba Lusaka times don`t be dull and a racist at the same time. Plse be reminded that development is a process and even the so called western countries you are talking about have also passed through the same process, sometimes even worse and tougher times than us. Dont thick whites to reach the level they are today, things were easy, they went through hell and tough situation. Plse google how Britain developed economically and socailly and you will realise what i mean. Be pround of your self ba LT.
Being highly educated and having a high IQ are not the same,one can have a high IQ but with no access to education.We have not been told his school history all i know is that he is a degree holder,the fact that he got it in his elderly age proves it all that he is of high IQ.To allege that the President is the cause of low IQ among Zambians is not right and is absolutely nonsense.Prof on this one you have scored a minus 8.
Let us take a critical look at the “File” picture. Where is that village and how can we help those kids? Any contacts?
Im every country this article can be described as true. It is not true to simply say Zambians suffer from bibliophobia. Ba Ruwe tends to be very disappointing especially at the level of his education. What he has addressed here can be found even in America. For a blackman,it is said that if u want to hide anything from his, put it in a book!
firstly let me express my doubt that the school shown above is in the Area mentioned, as most of you maybe know, I’m a Soli bull, headman Mwalubemba is my stepdad, i lived in his village for 3 years, what we have there is a community school with walls, a roof and blackboards, this school runs (eight years) from first grade to fifth grade, after which students are are/were enrolled in big basic school along the great east road called Kankumba basic school. i don’t think there was ever a time when kids had to learn as shwn in the pic above, if they did then maybe it was during renovations for the school and they had no choice but to take classes outside,
Its also sad tht the auther seems to be a racist by quoting racist researchers, and full of personal hatered for Sata. peace to you…
In addition to this Ruwe being an imperialist psychological demeanor, he is a tribalist. There is no such place called Mungule between Mpika & Nakonde, what we have with a similar name is Mukungule & this place has a solid basic school built by MMD under the late Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC, MHSRIP!
Mr. Ruwe, instead of writing these articles from afar why don’t you write about the poverty in Harlem of New York. And the nuclear family culture of the caucasian west, that has made some of us encounter countless smelly, angry & old people on metros? Poverty exists even among the richest of this earth in New York, Paris & London and some of the poor are their because of different circumstances and not entirely because of low IQ.
Starting point the author is a failed journalist and entrepreneur back in Zambia. He uses the findings of a person known to be discredited all over the world and viewed as white supremacy. If you think and reason enough IQ test would only work when test is conducted in the same area where people have same social and economical access. Do not generalise the IQ result. If a person is tested in his own area with same social and economical environment to others and scores less then it might rise a concern. Conclusion the author suffers from injustice he believes has been afflicated by the Govn’t.
True that!!
The article is good in its form but lacks the critical analysis. Ruwe is a professor and a researcher but is articles even a degree holder will look at both sides of the coin what did the past govt did to improve the education and health sectors? The look at what can be done by the current govt or failures that has been made in a year. My view on this article is an article written with biasness and does not address based issues but an attack on the govt. USA maybe mr Ruwe does not follow the rankings in terms of science, maths, reading and other areas of education. Use is ranked far than anyone can think of. So living in denial like Ruwe as a biggest self deceiving. What Zambia want is people who will come up with solutions to to the problems and not Ruwe.
Has Richard Lynn himself ever taken an IQ test in a foreign language, say in ‘Kikaonde’ or Greek, and done well? If so then I will believe all this nonsense about IQ tests being the STANDARD YARD STICK for measuring intelligence.
This somehow harkens back to the days of slavery when racist slave holders wanted to justify the bondage of Black people by using bogus scientific and whatever else to demonstrate how Blacks were sub-human and deserved to be slaves as a favor!
Yes, some of these problems are of our own making as nation and we know we can do better. But Ruwe should also know better not to quote people widely discredited as having racist blinders on in their research. Richard Lynn?!!
“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action”
Very true!!!!
Relying on a study which was done in 1916, America?! A time when blacks had no rights in America, they could not even enter college or vote. When you are doing a research on something you are supposed to have a control, If the blacks of 1916 America had the same rights as the whites and there was no segregation in schools, I doubt the results would be like Ruwe claims. 1916 is the time of oppression of blacks in America, the KKK was it’s peak and reports like Lynn are biased because the whites of America did not what to be seen to be equal to their former slaves. They came up with stories about IQ’s and missing bones in blacks a compared to whites. In the 1920’s they deliberately started infecting blacks with syphilis pretending they are giving them immunization injections.
Ruwe should do a little research before making conclusions based on a wrong time and environment, if the government was against them and was deliberately killing them , do you think education was even on top of thier priority? They had to survive first before they thought of anything. Ruwe has just shown why African statistics done by Africans always have question marks. He has taken Ku Klux Klan writings and NAZI race ideology and try to pass it off on a Zambian scene, why not just say it blank that you hate being black!! Someone lied to KK that 1-in-4 Zambian is HIV positive until he was corrected by people who had the right information. Ruwe’s articles are shallow they lack the depth of research of a PhD scholar. As a researcher, you are not supposed to biased but truthful.
so we dont act or do things like white people, dosnt mean we are dull, we hav our own way of showing our intelligence and development is a process, it wont hapen overnight.. those developed countries were way way ahead of us b4 we even got our independence… we cant compete with that, we dont want to. like any other country in the world, we have our faults and some level of ignorance, what we should do is work on it not throw stones.
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