Is claiming Germans are "genetically intelligent" racists?

[Supereem]

As with any land obtained by dynastic succession the central european possessions of Spain were not really unified into an Empire.

The Germans never sailed simply because they were never united into a real nation-state to do so.

Well what was Austria? It was arguably the spot powerful European nation under the Habsburgs at various points after 1453 until the Napoleonic Wars.

 

[Supereem]

I think that I nailed it without knowing it. What makes Germans unique is their resistance to boredom.

Sucess in many areas is a function of how well you organise and implement repetitive processes and controls, as well as attention to details.

I think Anglo Saxons just don't have that patience and ethics and are better at other things, such as out of the box innovation.

Hilarious but compelling.

 

[Rod1]

Well what was Austria? It was arguably the spot powerful European nation under the Habsburgs at various points after 1453 until the Napoleonic Wars.

A landlocked nation which could never properly hold any major port.

 

[Supereem]

A landlocked nation which could never properly hold any major port.

So it comes down to geography more than any sort of weakness in their culture (like some posters have claimed).

You know I’m a critical and racist bastard, especially towards Germanics, but I don’t think they should be criticised for not having colonies as some sort of cultural weakness. If you want to laugh at their culture we have plenty of material from their 20th Century blunders.

 

[Rod1]

So it comes down to geography more than any sort of weakness in their culture (like some posters have claimed).

You know I’m a critical and racist bastard, especially towards Germanics, but I don’t think they should be criticised for not having colonies as some sort of cultural weakness. If you want to laugh at their culture we have plenty of material from their 20th Century blunders.

I would say the inability to united into a proper nation state was the reason why the Austrians never had a port to begin with.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I would say the inability to united into a proper nation state was the reason why the Austrians never had a port to begin with.

That s interesting. During the Holy Roman Empire era, many northern German cities (Hamburg, Luebeck, Bremen, etc.) were part of the "Hanse", which was some kind trade confederation. The Hanse became quite powerful, but economically and in diplomacy.

Yet it seems like a " colonial caliber" proper German marine never developed.

Perhaps they were simply too far East for that ? Almost all colonial powers had Atlantic access, except the Dutch. It would also explain why Russia and Scandinavians never had oversee colonies of any meaningful magnitude (except for Vikings of course).

 

[panamaican]

irregardless if this is true and I doubt it, is anything positive in nature regarding a stereotype or massive generalization really racist?

like if you imply that explosive guys have on average larger uh members, you are not inherently and directly implying that others are inferior. Others may take that from it, but that's not the intent. If you aren't judging, or basing your entire impression of a group based upon one specific presumably identifiable and quantifiable trait is that not the opposite of being racist?

or are people of the impression that say Asians being A) supposedly bad drivers and B) tight knit families that do well academically are both Racist stereotypes?

I don't know about racist but they would certainly be bad stereotypes largely driven by an ignorance of the population as a whole and premised on a relatively small subsection of the populations. The Asian ones held by Americans tend to stand out for anyone who has ever travelled to those nations and seen them in their entirety.

 

[VivaRevolution]

whats the other 25% because thats the deal breaker.

British.

I was born to conquer the world.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

The Asian ones held by Americans tend to stand out for anyone who has ever travelled to those nations and seen them in their entirety.

I remember a huge thread in Mayberry asking who the worst tourists are.

The Chinese won by an absolute landslide. It was hundreds and hundreds of posts from all sorts of people giving their accounts of how rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate, dirty, etc., the Chinese were. And these were people in the US, Europe, Asia itself. It was pretty remarkable, actually.

And obviously these are people who are educated and well-off since they can afford to travel internationally. The fantasy of well-behaved, obedient, unfailingly polite, highly intelligent Asians that seem to have these qualities either in their DNA or very deep in their culture, was completely shattered.

 

[IIIIIIII]

i've traveled germany several times, have german friends, and have spent a decent amount of time with germans in general. for whatever reason, the vast majority of them are incredibly smart, respectful, and seem to pick things up quickly. even among other europeans, they shine. i don't know if it's genetic. it could be part of the reason. what i do know, is that their culture is probably a determining factor, in that they tend to take great pride in their work, and don't mess about when it comes to getting things done. being orderly in their society helps as well.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

But it is a reason why the Germans were not gun-ho about sending German manned ships to make colonies. Spain took care of that. The Austrians of Austria had the Turks to worry about, and in the short term it was better to focus on European domination, especially when you have to contend with the rising French. Speaking of which, the French sold their American colonies to fund a war in Europe, which was seen as vastly more important.

The idea that Germans were too dumb or not evolved enough to set up colonies is wrong and so is the idea that "Germany" only came about in the 1850s and were too late (as if they suddenly emerged out of thin air). As far as the "Germans" (Habsburgs/Austrians/Southern Germans/whatever) were concerned the Spanish colonies would be under German control. Obviously things didn't turn out that way, but it was not because they were not advanced enough. If you want to point out why central Euros were not manning ships themselves well that is simple - they are were not and are not a seafaring people.

The English and Dutch were not great powers in the 1500/1600s but they built colonies because their maritime heritage and relative isolation from European bullshit. In fact, if the Dutch were located on a real island we would be speaking Dutch rather than English.The Italians, although seafarers, did not share that luxury because they were fist deep in European bullshit. They would have built some great new world colonies if not for the Italian Wars (it is worth nothing they controlled much of Greece and the middle east in the same way the western euros controlled their colonies in the Americas).

Hmmmm, I've thought of it that way. There may be something to it

But Rod's point about a lack of unified nation-states is also valid. I mean, for centuries it was split into dozens of little kingdoms only loosely united. I mean, look at this shit:

It's going to be hard to invest in exploration and plunder when there are so many different factions around.

Also, it was the French and English that took the lead in advances in the early Enlightenment and the scientific revolution. Germans came about a bit later.

 

[IIIIIIII]

They had two world wars and fought on two fronts both times so they're not as clever as all that .

germans to me also seem to be incredibly loyal when they feel a connection to someone or something, which may explain why it took the germans so long to finally realize that while hitler did do many great things in the beginning, he lead them down a path to ultimate achievement, or ultimate failure. and for them, it ended up being the latter.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

I don't know about racist but they would certainly be bad stereotypes largely driven by an ignorance of the population as a whole and premised on a relatively small subsection of the populations. The Asian ones held by Americans tend to stand out for anyone who has ever travelled to those nations and seen them in their entirety.

sure but given the context of Asian minorities in Western Nations, not in their own controlled environments, that's the information and observations they have to go off of

It's virtually impossible to go to HS in say SoCal, SFC, Seattle or parts of Hawaii and NOT notice the academic thing for instance (or attend like ANY public university in California), or the lack of divorce and single parents w/in those cultures. Or you could simply look up observable data that confirms all this....

Are you also implying that driving is BETTER in most Asian countries?

 

[lfd0311]

Name one poem written in runes from the 500s and back.

As i said, pathological need to be right.

So your position is that the Alemmani texts aren't signs of a written language because they're written in Runic text? How you can post absurdities like this constantly while pretending that anyone but you has a "pathological need to be right" is beyond me.

 

[panamaican]

sure but given the context of Asian minorities in Western Nations, not in their own controlled environments, that's the information and observations they have to go off of

It's virtually impossible to go to HS in say SoCal, SFC, Seattle or parts of Hawaii and NOT notice the academic thing for instance (or attend like ANY public university in California), or the lack of divorce and single parents w/in those cultures. Or you could simply look up observable data that confirms all this....

Are you also implying that driving is BETTER in most Asian countries?

Sure, I don't blame people for the assumptions they've made. Most Americans aren't well travelled or well read about other countries so it is what it is. It's just that they're wrong, how they got to being wrong is a secondary point.

I'm definitely not implying that driving is better in most Asian countries...because most Asian countries have shit infrastructure to begin with so I can't imagine that the driver's ed courses are top notch, lol. My personal experience is that no one can be a good driver when you're sharing the road with a bunch of things/people that aren't cars/trucks.

 

[HunterSdVa29]

Sure, I don't blame people for the assumptions they've made. Most Americans aren't well travelled or well read about other countries so it is what it is. It's just that they're wrong, how they got to being wrong is a secondary point.

I'm definitely not implying that driving is better in most Asian countries...because most Asian countries have shit infrastructure to begin with so I can't imagine that the driver's ed courses are top notch, lol. My personal experience is that no one can be a good driver when you're sharing the road with a bunch of things/people that aren't cars/trucks.

I wasn't trying to be snarky, I was legit asking as I've only been to Korea/Okinawa/Japan and IIRC you have family from like India or Sri Lanka or something like that and I assume you've been there

And your last pt is entirely accurate

 

[Rod1]

So your position is that the Alemmani texts aren't signs of a written language because they're written in Runic text? How you can post absurdities like this constantly while pretending that anyone but you has a "pathological need to be right" is beyond me.

Ah, the strawman, never seen that coming from you ever

Focus on the original argument and your original assertion.

the egyptian hieroglyphics is actually a written language. just not phonetic.

the runes were moslty borrowed from the italic and hellenic alphabets.

the egyptians are older than both itlaic and hellinic peoples.

the egyptians also wrote scolls to preserve their ideas.

the germans carved runes on stone and wood. none before the 12th century were complete works of literature of any kind but instead only simple concepts that are largely vague.

\
Dude, they were writting poetry in the 500s. You're totally incorrect.

No, they werent.

You made a claim "Germanic peoples were writing literature in the 500s" so provide evidence, accept you were wrong or ignore this thread and pretend it never happened.

Or simply go and seek therapy for that pathology of yours.

 

[helltoupee]

Where do you fall on this list, Worldofwarcraft?

Would you say you have a high IQ? Have you been tested?

 

[lfd0311]

Ah, the strawman, never seen that coming from you ever

What strawman? I'm so tired of hearing that term on sherdog, most of you dudes don't even know what it means. Me pointing out that you made a shit point isn't a "strawman", it's called debating. Actual strawmen are the bulk of your posts.

Focus on the original argument and your original assertion.

You made a claim "Germanic peoples were writing literature in the 500s" so provide evidence, accept you were wrong or ignore this thread and pretend it never happened.

Or simply go and seek therapy for that pathology of yours.

What was your original point? That no such written language existed.

 

[TheGreatA]

It's a "race conscious" remark. And obviously a very generalized statement, since there is wide variety between the intelligence of Germans. I think it dilutes the meaning to call it outright racist though. Racism in my opinion is defined by malevolence, to put down other groups while proclaiming the supremacy of one.

To say that Germans are intelligent is not racist, but merely praise, as long as the remark is not made with the intention of insulting the intelligence other ethnicities. If you said "Germans are intelligent, unlike X group, who are very stupid" then that would probably qualify as a racist statement.

As a collective group, Germans have proven to be intelligent. But that has a lot to do with factors other than any "inherited" intelligence itself. Hard work, effective systems of government, uncorrupted institutions, tough circumstances, etc. have carved them out to be a very effective unit, over the years.

That has a lot to do with the cultural values that were adopted, in favour of some others. Of course, the Germans in the past have made bad choices in these regards as well (overt militarism, blind loyalty) which they have paid for. They have put most of that in the trash-can of history, and have redeemed themselves in those regards.