It’s based on the idea that Keju created a long-term selective pressure for intelligence.
The exams selected for heritable cognitive traits.
Success led to positions in the imperial government, and therefore power and wealth.
Power and wealth allowed for more wives, concubines, food, resources, and many more surviving children than the average person, which was something many Chinese consciously aimed for. (Note that this is very different from today’s China or the West, where cultural drift/evolution has much reduced or completely eliminated people’s desires to translate wealth into more offspring.)
It’s based on the idea that Keju created a long-term selective pressure for intelligence.
The exams selected for heritable cognitive traits.
Success led to positions in the imperial government, and therefore power and wealth.
Power and wealth allowed for more wives, concubines, food, resources, and many more surviving children than the average person, which was something many Chinese consciously aimed for. (Note that this is very different from today’s China or the West, where cultural drift/evolution has much reduced or completely eliminated people’s desires to translate wealth into more offspring.)
If we made “spend money on kids” cool again, do you think we automatically get selection-for-intelligence for free, or is there another missing bit?
There would likely be some selection process, but that would be very slow compared to all the other factors at play.