Quote:
"Yes, I would say Europeans are more intelligent than Aboriginals. Not genetically, but there is good evidence that living in the kind of environments that we do increases our intelligence (as measured by IQ)."
Wow! That's pretty racist.
It sounds like what you are trying to say is this: "Modern Europeans score better on European standardized testing than peoples who are culturally isolated."
I don't think anyone is gonna disagree with that, just like a Frenchman will score better than a Russian on a test given in French.
But that certainly doesn't make one group "more intelligent" than the other.
The reason at Europeans have enjoyed a great deal of technological success has MUCH MUCH more to do with availablity of resources and consistancy of climate.
Much of the technology of early European society would work as well in England as it would in Germany. The livestock is essentially the same, as are the planting and harvesting seasons, the weather conditions, etc. If someone invents something there, it can easily be exported to or imported from one location to the next.
However, in "vertically alligned" areas, Africa for example, what works for the people of Egypt is of little use to the people of the Congo or Kenya. They can't trade their technology because a camel saddle doesn't help a jungle dweller just like a fish trap won't help you kill a lion.