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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
But what benefit is a diverse school to the wealthy? How did my presence benefit the rich kids?[/quote]

Rich kids who went to school with non-rich kids, in my belief (but I don't have data for this), are less likely to assume that:

1. Everybody (or at least everybody who matters) has all the advantages they have;
2. They are not actually rich, because there are people who are richer than they are;
3. Rich people are rich because they are more hard-working and intelligent than non-rich people;
4. Poor people are smelly, lazy, and distasteful.

People who do not assume these things are better human beings than people who do assume these things. And if being a better human being isn't a benefit, what is?[/quote]

Rich people are more intelligent and hard-working than non-rich people in this area.   Sorry you haven't figured that out yet.[/quote]

I don't believe that affluent people are harder working than poorer people.  [b]I do think they have skills which the job market values more highly[/b]. I also think that generally these marketable skills correlate with intelligence.  So, you're probably half right.[/quote]

I disagree.  Several years ago, I managed a staff of about 20 people.  I hired.  And I found that some affluent people were far more difficult to manage because they refused to pitch in and help as a team effort.  They considered some work below them, and they did not take direction well.  Again, I say SOME affluent people, not all.  The less affluent people I had on staff had a more limited vocabulary, but they took direction better, were eager to learn, and were more cooperative in the sense that they were willing to do tasks that weren't part of their main job description when those tasks needed to be done.

The second part of what you say is also wrong.  I don't think affluence = intelligence.  Higher SES kids might score better on tests, but it is not because they are more intelligent.  It is usually because they are exposed to more stuff that is relevant to the tests (i.e. their families use a larger vocabulary, et cetera).  But that is not the same as intelligence.

[/quote]

I've managed people and have seen almost no correlation between how "affluent" they were and their job performance.  But the thing is, these people had already been screened for the right degree and experienced, done well on an interview etc.  In other words the market has already "valued" their skill set, so any differences were among individuals.  I work in a technical fields and it's almost completely a meritocracy until you start moving up on the management side.

In general, studies show that IQ correlates with income (not wealth so much, because that can be passed down for many generations).  Unless you believe that IQ isn't heritable at all, then it's hard to make the argument that there isn't some connection between affluent parents and smart kids.  Again, this isn't a hard and fast rule, but there is a relationship.[/quote]

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