Many good points, but. You assume that high-g was somehow in the distant past strongly correlated with high status. As far as I can tell the people in the tails of most ways of slicing ability were tolerated as useful chattel, a resource to be exploited when useful and shoved aside in the situations where the actually important dimensions (breeding, sociopathy, callousness, enjoyment of power for its own sake, all only weakly correlated with g) were the relevant ones.
It depends on how far in the past we're talking about. But if you look at specific analyses (surnames, other forms of lineage), you'll find that there are quite a few studies showing that even after significant upheaval or social turmoil, the descendants of the prior social elites tend to percolate back to the top. I wrote this essay a good while back, elsewhere, but I can find the specific papers if you so prefer!
I'm aware of these findings. But this doesn't have to be because the noble line is high-g, just that it is a Schelling point or that its other traits (tall, athletic, charismatic) are genetic and confer advantages.
Many good points, but. You assume that high-g was somehow in the distant past strongly correlated with high status. As far as I can tell the people in the tails of most ways of slicing ability were tolerated as useful chattel, a resource to be exploited when useful and shoved aside in the situations where the actually important dimensions (breeding, sociopathy, callousness, enjoyment of power for its own sake, all only weakly correlated with g) were the relevant ones.
It depends on how far in the past we're talking about. But if you look at specific analyses (surnames, other forms of lineage), you'll find that there are quite a few studies showing that even after significant upheaval or social turmoil, the descendants of the prior social elites tend to percolate back to the top. I wrote this essay a good while back, elsewhere, but I can find the specific papers if you so prefer!
I'm aware of these findings. But this doesn't have to be because the noble line is high-g, just that it is a Schelling point or that its other traits (tall, athletic, charismatic) are genetic and confer advantages.
I don't believe I've claimed otherwise. And all of those things are, to the best of my knowledge, positively correlated with g.