{"id":65951,"date":"2018-12-19T17:05:08","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T15:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=65951"},"modified":"2018-12-11T18:23:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T16:23:54","slug":"19-05-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=65951","title":{"rendered":"NOBEL PRIZE AND THE JEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"NOBEL PRIZE AND THE JEWS<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Mark Mietkiewicz <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Bob Dylan (Flickr photo)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A couple of years ago on the eve of the historic 2016 Nobel Prize Awards when Bob Dylan was a famous no-show (or at least a famous\u00a0late-to-show<\/strong><\/a>), I took a look at some of the many\u00a0Jewish Nobel Award winners over the years<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Dylan wasn\u2019t the sole Jewish winner that year. Or the following year. Or this year when American\u00a0Arthur Ashkin<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0will be awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics on Dec. 10 in Stockholm. In fact, Ashkin and Dylan are part of an impressively large and growing group of Jewish Nobel Prize winners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which has led many to ask, \u201cWhy the Jews?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

First the facts. The voluminous Wikipedia entry,\u00a0List of Jewish Nobel laureates<\/strong><\/a>, states that \u201cas of 2017, Nobel Prizes have been awarded to 902 individuals, of whom 203 or 22.5% were Jews, although the total Jewish population comprises less than 0.2% of the world\u2019s population. This means the percentage of Jewish Nobel laureates is at least 112.5 times or 11,250% above average.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When looking at why so many Jews have excelled at the Nobels, one must tread \u2013 and surf \u2013 very carefully. You can find yourself mired in Jewish websites, which not only take pride in these accomplishments but also take a swipe at other ethnic groups who have not fared as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there are the anti-Semitic sites which are happy to point out that not only do Jews control the banks and media, but they also have a corner on the fields of literature, chemistry, medicine, physics, economics, and even peace. And finally, there are the sites that I recommend \u2013 those that may exhibit pride (and hopefully, humility) as well as a critical understanding about the achievements of members of the Jewish community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lazar Berman of the American Enterprise Institute uses the Nobel numbers as a starting point and delves into the\u00a0nurture vs. nature debate<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and traces Jewish (Ashkenazi and Sephardi) achievements since the Middle Ages. He focuses on IQ as a predictor \u201cof success in academic subjects and most jobs\u201d and points to studies in which Ashkenazi Jews score significantly higher than surrounding populations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs for why Jews would have a high mean IQ, it is likely a combination of factors,\u201d writes Berman. \u201cWith contemporary Jews growing up in fairly typical middle class American homes, the hereditary hypothesis must play a significant role. The limits of professional opportunity for Jews, and pressure to survive and prosper\u2014not through might but through intelligence and innovation\u2014may well have selected for certain traits. \u2026 European universities barred Jews for centuries, so Jews steered away from classics and literature and toward science, done largely outside the traditional universities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Uzi Arad<\/strong><\/a>, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Institute in Herzliya, Israel, \u201cthe reason for the disproportionate number of Jewish winners is the premium Jews have placed on learning and scholarship. The tradition of reflection and scholarship has sharpened the inquisitive Jewish mind. It takes an inquisitive, non-conformist mind to break into new areas and make discoveries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Charles Murray<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0writes in his article in\u00a0Commentary<\/em>, \u201cJewish Genius: Jews are extravagantly overrepresented in every field of intellectual accomplishment. Why?\u201d The self-proclaimed \u201cScots-Irish Gentile from Iowa\u201d responds that \u201csomething in the genes explains elevated Jewish IQ,\u201d and he then points to the Nobel statistics to demonstrate how Jews have excelled disproportionately in the arts and sciences since the 18th<\/sup>\u00a0century. Murray examines historical factors like \u201coccupational selection\u201d, the importance of literacy among Jews and heredity. And he sets off a heated debate.<\/span><\/p>\n

One writer\u00a0takes Murray to task<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0for using the Nobel Prize as a gauge for intelligence. \u201cConsider that women comprise some 50 percent of the world\u2019s population, but fewer than five percent of Nobel Prize winners (one of Mr. Murray\u2019s favourite metrics). Sweden, with only one tenth of a percent of the world\u2019s population, has contributed approximately five percent of Nobel laureates. Are Swedes therefore smarter than women?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Bar-Ilan University\u2019s\u00a0Noah Efron<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0thinks that the glory days of Jews and the Nobels are behind them. \u201cNobel Prizes are a lagging indicator. Given years after the achievements they celebrate, often to long-retired scientists, they reflect a state of affairs that existed 30, 40, and sometimes 50 years ago. They are a browning snapshot of bygone days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe percentages of Jews among new American PhDs in the sciences has declined greatly over the past generation. The passions that drew Jews to sciences in such great numbers have dissipated. There is no good reason to expect that the remarkable contributions of Jews to science will continue for generations to come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Israeli\u00a0Aaron Ciechanover<\/strong><\/a>, the 2005 Nobel Prize co-winner for chemistry, does not appear to share Efron\u2019s concern \u2013 at least for his fellow citizens. \u201cThe human brain is the only natural resource that Israel possesses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems like the stellar track record of Jews at the Nobels has not gone to the heads of all recipients \u2013 or at least to the heads of their spouses. In 1966, S.Y. Agnon became the first Israeli and the fifth Jew to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (shared that year with co-religionist Nelly Sachs of Sweden.) As noted in\u00a0Jewish Action magazine<\/strong><\/a>, Agnon was \u201cmoved by the sight of the Israeli flag in Stockholm and asked his wife, Esther, \u2018Did you ever dream you would see the Israeli flag flying over the palace in my honour?\u2019 Her laconic reply: \u2018I usually do not dream about flags!\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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NOBEL PRIZE AND THE JEWS Mark Mietkiewicz Bob Dylan (Flickr photo) A couple of years ago on the eve of the historic 2016 Nobel Prize Awards when Bob Dylan was a famous no-show (or at least a famous\u00a0late-to-show), I took a look at some of the many\u00a0Jewish Nobel Award winners over the years. Dylan wasn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=65951"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65970,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65951\/revisions\/65970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=65951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=65951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=65951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}