I recalled from my history class that the Georgia colony was originally founded for the "worthy" poor. So they made distinction between the kind of poor. There are some poor who deserve their lot in life and those who don't.
However, I think being poor is not alway as simple as people like to make it. Sometime, growing up poor meant adopting ideas and values that make it much harder to rise out of poverty. I recalled a book that for example said that middle class women read much more to their children and emphasize effort over "rightness", ask questions to their children about what they read. The poor were more likely to be authoritarian in character, less likely to do the kind of educational reading that a middle class woman did, and so on. The effect is so large, that it even persists over generations.
If you have poor parents that did everything in their power to educate you as an autodidact, than you and your family would rise out of poverty quick. However, it is probable that all our families face bottleneck. We aren't exactly optimized to make our children the most ambitious, smartest, and autodidact as we can.
I myself have parents that didn't exactly encourage the kind of ambitious and curiosity that I have right now. It was my own innate and the computer that I used. During the time when I still used AOL, I would look up encyclopedia article and educate myself about the various topics that interests me. Eventually I would learn programming and a fair amount about certain obscure subjects, IP and innovation theory being one of them.
Oddly enough, I recalled my past IQ to be around 90, below average. I tested myself at a few IQ site several weeks ago and it returns somewhat above average. I supposed I am not so smart as much as I am innately curious. Apart from the real and likely accurate probability that human memory are easily corrupted, my curiosity probably drive my IQ above average.
Probably just due to age curving, my IQ scores have dropped by about 30-40 points over the past 10 years on the 'normal' tests.
Oddly enough, I regain a lot of those points back if I take a 'harder' IQ test.
I don't think my IQ has done me any real good except enable some lazy habits and some pretty rapid adaptation faculties. (Hauling ass and learning on the job)
I'd rather have better habits and be better at using my time wisely, although that's steadily improving (as my IQ keeps dropping ;) )
However, I think being poor is not alway as simple as people like to make it. Sometime, growing up poor meant adopting ideas and values that make it much harder to rise out of poverty. I recalled a book that for example said that middle class women read much more to their children and emphasize effort over "rightness", ask questions to their children about what they read. The poor were more likely to be authoritarian in character, less likely to do the kind of educational reading that a middle class woman did, and so on. The effect is so large, that it even persists over generations.
If you have poor parents that did everything in their power to educate you as an autodidact, than you and your family would rise out of poverty quick. However, it is probable that all our families face bottleneck. We aren't exactly optimized to make our children the most ambitious, smartest, and autodidact as we can.
I myself have parents that didn't exactly encourage the kind of ambitious and curiosity that I have right now. It was my own innate and the computer that I used. During the time when I still used AOL, I would look up encyclopedia article and educate myself about the various topics that interests me. Eventually I would learn programming and a fair amount about certain obscure subjects, IP and innovation theory being one of them.
Oddly enough, I recalled my past IQ to be around 90, below average. I tested myself at a few IQ site several weeks ago and it returns somewhat above average. I supposed I am not so smart as much as I am innately curious. Apart from the real and likely accurate probability that human memory are easily corrupted, my curiosity probably drive my IQ above average.