[yelsgib]

"There's no reason to think that intelligence -- regardless of definition -- doesn't work the same way."

I agree if what you mean is that there's no reason to believe that there is no fixed, genetically-determined components to intelligence. I disagree if you are making any sorts of claims about what these components are (as I said, I don't even think we can make gross claims like people are born with "good memories").

I also agree with the point that cultures look for certain intellectual traits in young children. I cannot say whether these particular traits are determined genetically because it is highly possible that we learn a great deal (and abstractly) even from the first day of our lives.

The thing is that (as another poster pointed out) there IS a salient statistic (g - for general intelligence) which we can be "better" or "worse" at - but its value in a field like math which requires highly specialized mental strategies is questionable.

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I think that you should look at the example of the polgar sisters - they were raised to be grandmasters in chess and 2/3 of them did (the other one become an international master). I think this puts a bullet in at least one interpretation of your theory.

[thaumaturgy]

I now think you're allowing your own prejudices on this subject cloud what you're reading, and what you're saying in response. I think I was fairly clear in my position that genetics plays an important role in intelligence, specifically because we have no indication that the brain is exempt from the same physiological rules that the rest of the human body obeys.

| I think that you should look at the example of the polgar sisters...

I specifically covered edge cases in mentioning the impact of training on innate ability.

[yelsgib]

What does it mean that the brain "obeys the same physiological rules" that the body obeys? This point is incoherent.

My point is that yes, there is a genetic aspect to intelligence (duh), but that doesn't mean that there is a genetic component to how "fast" your brain is or how much "memory" you have. These could be emergent phenomena - not directly determinable.

Please tell me more specifically how my prejudices are clouding what I'm reading/saying. You didn't follow this point up.