Comment by Spencer S (spencer-s) on [Answer] Why wasn't science invented in China? · 2022-10-19T17:55:30.910Z · LW · GW

Chinese, and Northern East Asian's in general, tend to have fewer geniuses. Europeans have a lower average IQ than NE Asian's, but the tail end on the right side of the bell curve extends further out-- Europeans have more geniuses.

Explosive technological progress is entirely dependent on having a critical mass of geniuses. It's really that simple. Below average people, average people, even very bright people, don't event technologies that create a paradigm shift(to use the cliche).

Those with an outlier IQ-- high abstract reasoning, but also high creativity, a sort of autistic, maverick attitude, are the ones who make earth shattering technologies and discoveries. The spirit of independentness may also be a factor in the gap between East and West. NE Asian's might lack psychological traits of independeness and high creativity. Ot at least they may lack them to the degree that Europeans have them.

The European gene pool seems to have reached the peak of this genius sometime in the later 19th century and has been slowly declining since then. This explains the deceleration of progress.