Maggie's Farm

You are not allowed to know the answer to this. Ashkenazi Jews average 1 SD - 15 points IQ higher than the rest of the populations. I have seen estimates pushing that down to 110, but still, it's there and the current evidence is that it is largely genetic. That is, all the clever ideas that people bring up as hypotheses that it's cultural have actually been thought of by other folks before and tested. When you try to measure them, they largely wash out. That doesn't stop people from insisting that it must be cultural anyway, because, well, gee, it just has to be. So they share anecdotes, in the absence of evidence. It must be the expectations, or the books, or the hard work, or the learning Hebrew, or something, anything, other than genetics. Because we don't like that answer.

Northeast Asians seem to measure in at average IQ 105. That is less solidly measured (there's a lot of the interior of China that we don't have good numbers for), but still pretty good. That might turn out to be more the coastal areas, but so far, they are still holding up.

There are suggestions that a NW European population centering on Frisia and gradually getting better over the last 8 centuries might also average over 100, but the data on that is murkier.

Please note that these are all data for populations, not individuals. Half the people are above that centerpoint and half below it in every subgroup. This knowledge gives you some predictive value of how groups will perform at some tasks. But single-number measures, even if they could be precise, are not good at predicting outcomes of individuals. Analogy: Though height is an advantage, the tallest basketball players are not always the best.

No, this is exactly what I said would not happen. What you are seeing is effect, not cause. This is commonly believed, because it accords with some important American values, but it doesn't have evidence to back it up. It is not the trying hard and being on the make that makes the difference.

Gone With the Wind. Rick in NC, and Blog Dog - then show the evidence. You will find it is not there. The possible environmental explanations - SES, books in the home, expectations, school district, parental education, exposure to languages - can all be measured, and they show very little correlation, even when taken together. The environmental explanations were present in abundance before the Renaissance - yet there is no record that the Jews were considered especially smart before the 14th C. Sephardic and Oriental Jews do not have higher IQ's, though they share most if not all of the purported environmental factors. Ashkenazi Jews do not have especially good Spatial scores.

I don't say that environment counts for nothing - I would hardly have adopted three boys if I believed that were the case - but it counts for far less in intellectual candlepower than we have been led to believe.

Here's some of my evidence. But if you try to research this, to find actual scientific evidence to prove me wrong, you will become convinced.
http://www.economist.com/node/4032638
http://www.bionity.com/en/encyclopedia/Ashkenazi_intelligence.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_nature/2007/11/jewgenics.html