tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post507373988125744697..comments2024-03-28T03:16:14.104-04:00Comments on Noahpinion: "Race and IQ": a brain-eating memetic parasiteNoah Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-18569507106053743822017-04-19T12:32:18.334-04:002017-04-19T12:32:18.334-04:00Read up on the Flynn Effect. This is the big nail ...Read up on the Flynn Effect. This is the big nail in the race&IQ coffin. If average IQs among ethnic groups can move 1-2 standard deviations in a couple generations, there is a bleeding huge unexplained variable problem with any causality claim between ethnicity and IQ. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12591184110877822193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-71231741534656981332017-04-19T12:23:48.517-04:002017-04-19T12:23:48.517-04:00I really think there are a lot of progressives who...I really think there are a lot of progressives who buy into the idea of IQ being strongly linked to genetics but who don't buy into the rightwing politics. I honestly wish more would stand up, maybe as a society we just aren't that rational. PirateFriedmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14490889950268741305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-35416216035168219182015-03-30T11:43:19.526-04:002015-03-30T11:43:19.526-04:00Yes, you missed the other DNA discover Francis Cri...Yes, you missed the other DNA discover Francis Crick but also Sir Francis Galton who invented factor analysis and even worse his cousin whats-his-name who wrote that book about the "Preservation of Favored Races" and "The Descent of Man".<br /><br />Of course these people merely discovered evolution, discovered DNA, invented the transistor (the basis for all modern electronics) and so on.<br /><br />Any extra weight we might assign to their interpretation of the data is easily counterbalanced by a snarky, PC blot post by someone with no notable scientific achievements but impeccable alignment with the intellectual fashions of his day.<br /><br />MercyMercy Vetselhttp://jerseyretort.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-63975609635532718462015-03-26T17:23:51.312-04:002015-03-26T17:23:51.312-04:00How many of your friends have been lost to this br...How many of your friends have been lost to this brain-eating memetic parasite? If the government doesn't outlaw spreading it soon, it's going to start affecting your way of life in even more ways!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-91609023000559968242015-03-26T16:38:00.099-04:002015-03-26T16:38:00.099-04:00Good piece on discovering the first SNP's asso...Good piece on discovering the first SNP's associated with cognitive ability. It has now been established that cognitive ability is partly heritable. Steve Hsu is an Obama voter, so people here should be able to trust him.<br /><br />http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-gwas-hits-for-cognitive-ability.htmlMDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09565230383575919072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-86852393776172784672015-03-26T14:45:51.489-04:002015-03-26T14:45:51.489-04:00This is an argument about the cultural bias of IQ ...This is an argument about the cultural bias of IQ tests. Jensen addressed this in "Bias in Mental Testing," available here:<br /><br />http://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/Bias-in-Mental-Testing-Arthur-R.-Jensen.pdf<br /><br />Short answer: no.<br /><br />"My exhaustive review of the empirical research bearing on this issue leads me to the conclusion that the currently most widely used standardized tests of mental ability -IQ , scholastic aptitude, and achievement tests—are, by and large, not biased against any of the native-born English-speaking minority groups on which the amount of research evidence is sufficient for an objective determination of bias, if the tests were in fact biased. For most nonverbal standardized tests, this generalization is not limited to English speaking minorities"Ernst Stavro Blofeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02237453525690607370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-80043514020597614762015-03-26T14:13:51.673-04:002015-03-26T14:13:51.673-04:00You can't have a winning ticket in the genetic...You can't have a winning ticket in the genetic lottery. You are a winning ticket. That is merit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-77391998850942014012015-03-26T14:05:21.403-04:002015-03-26T14:05:21.403-04:00Me too...when I started to read this post I was pr...Me too...when I started to read this post I was practically ecstatic. I thought that I might be cured of all of my horrible racist opinions. Yet now I am more convinced of them than ever. They are a source of little but mental torture to me, and cut my soul in the same way as thinking about the inevitability of ageing and then death. <br /><br />I am not generally an unhappy person and am sociable and normally gregarious, but I do believe in 'Race and IQ' and it does hurt me. No thank you Noah for solidifying my position with your entirely empty argument.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-56211056488326893152015-03-26T13:07:40.659-04:002015-03-26T13:07:40.659-04:00"I find it very hard to believe that differen..."I find it very hard to believe that differences in IQ explain e.g. the different levels of economic and scientific development in different parts of the world."<br /><br />Then, I suggest you read, read, read some evolutionary biology (no sarcasm intended).<br /><br />Most people, grad students included, do not understand more of evolution than "survival of the fittest," and when you press them on even that, it's clear they don't know what "fit" means in an evolutionary sense.<br /><br />Further, they don't understand the simplest notions of selection. <br /><br />I'd start there, if I were you. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-22111089956375490012015-03-24T14:33:37.923-04:002015-03-24T14:33:37.923-04:00Inventing rap and hip hop does not count as succes...Inventing rap and hip hop does not count as success -- those things are a blight on humanity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-58158939728843471682015-03-23T19:23:54.605-04:002015-03-23T19:23:54.605-04:00I think you're wrong about "better public...I think you're wrong about "better public education". I'm a teacher, and I think school is great, but the way to make poor kids do better in school and become smarter is not to improve the schools, it is to make the kids less poor. I have taught in high po erty urban schools and now teach in a rich suburban district, and my students are learning way, way more now. It's not because I'm a better teacher than I was when I taught in Harlem; it's because my students are better. erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459764573179565354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-6905864625181781982015-03-22T10:19:19.458-04:002015-03-22T10:19:19.458-04:00National Geographic Magazine September 2001 "...National Geographic Magazine September 2001 "Changing America", By Joel L. Swerdlow<br /><br />American High School Class:<br />"I don't want to be white," says a white student from Poland. I'm in the<br />library with a cross section of students who volunteered to speak with me.<br />Others agree with the Polish-born youth, but I'm confused.<br />They explain. To call someone "white" is an insult, as are synonymous<br />terms like Wonder bread. "I don't consider myself white," says a young<br />woman from Russia. She has white skin. "Whites act white and do white stuff."<br />"What's 'white stuff?'" I ask.<br />"White kids act different. They hang out differently. Whites are privileged. They're<br />smart, do homework on time, run the student government, participate in<br />plays and musicals, sell stuff, have parents who are involved in the<br />school."<br /><br />"When you go to apply for a job," says one boy, "you have to act white."<br /><br />Most white students remain silent during these discussions. "I won't apologize for being white," says one.<br /><br />If achievement—or at least too much achievement—is<br />unfashionable and achievement, as they have defined it, is "white," then<br />"white" is not cool."<br /><br />Very sad. You can read the whole article if you Google the title. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-26977472381952069962015-03-21T17:45:51.451-04:002015-03-21T17:45:51.451-04:00Oh yes, the highly rigorous and scientific field o...Oh yes, the highly rigorous and scientific field of psychology. Although you're correct though, I meant innumerate, not necessarily untalented. They are talented polemicists, certainly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-80623534118383332712015-03-21T17:14:56.643-04:002015-03-21T17:14:56.643-04:00I think they do. I think they are the most desired...I think they do. I think they are the most desired jobs in the USA.JWOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00004178958481335795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-59858455063733628372015-03-20T15:25:18.312-04:002015-03-20T15:25:18.312-04:00Of course the Race and IQ guys think that Noah'...Of course the Race and IQ guys think that Noah's brain has been eaten by a brain eating memetic parasite. <br /><br />What self diagnostic tests could you run to check this?<br /><br />The really successful parasites will of course stop people running the diagnostics. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-23780248431747052362015-03-20T15:06:43.918-04:002015-03-20T15:06:43.918-04:00You don't think white, asian, and hispanic kid...You don't think white, asian, and hispanic kids fantasize about being pro athletes or rock stars?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-15892370196943218802015-03-20T12:21:17.299-04:002015-03-20T12:21:17.299-04:00The funny thing is, people who promote this idea a...The funny thing is, people who promote this idea about R&IQ usually do it as part of a right-wing political philosophy. But I think that *IF* R&IQ were true, most people would reach the opposite conclusion - if our IQ is limited by our genetics, then we don't live in any semblance of a meritocracy - power and money are flowing towards the winners of the genetic lottery, and therefore it makes sense to have big social safety nets and redistribution of wealth downward - because you're not actually taking money from the Hard-Working Individualists who Earned It, you're taking it from the winners of the genetic lottery.Robert Evansnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-72620246007557652912015-03-20T11:42:25.008-04:002015-03-20T11:42:25.008-04:00If the racial differences in average income are du...If the racial differences in average income are due to racism, poorer environments or poorer nutrition rather than values differences (I do not think IQ is very important) how did black Americans come to dominate the most desirable jobs in the USA? Those being NCAA and Professional Basketball and football players?<br /><br />Blacks do great in the USA. They just seem to value things differently. they seem to succeed where they want to. <br /><br />Black Americans invented blues, rock & roll, jazz, hip hop and rap. They add great grace to our sports and entertainment. Most are not poor and most black crime is perpetrated against blacks. They join he military, police and do nursing. They are a great contributors to the USA overall. So lets just let each individual live as they like. JWOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00004178958481335795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-58639513129213854432015-03-20T10:45:41.326-04:002015-03-20T10:45:41.326-04:00See here for my thoughts on the case of Jews: http...See here for my thoughts on the case of Jews: http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.jp/2013/08/how-successful-are-jews-really.htmlNoah Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-82646328075862245112015-03-20T08:47:54.067-04:002015-03-20T08:47:54.067-04:00I'm french, and we have had an extensive histo...I'm french, and we have had an extensive history of internal migrations (from far away places, and generally to Paris).<br /><br />There's an expression used at my place to describe those who have never moved (from their country place) to the city: "culs de plomb" (asses of lead). <br />It is not a sympathetic expression... Tchafnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-1834840273983684722015-03-20T08:44:24.239-04:002015-03-20T08:44:24.239-04:00How do you define "racial group"?How do you define "racial group"?Tchafnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-92180991464288680692015-03-20T06:02:02.433-04:002015-03-20T06:02:02.433-04:00Nope. Though it does explain overperformance of In...Nope. Though it does explain overperformance of Indians in the U.S. relative to their counterparts in India and overperformance of Nigerians in the U.S. relative to their counterparts in Nigeria. pithomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13997094225496018110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-3512260188281120712015-03-20T05:26:44.702-04:002015-03-20T05:26:44.702-04:00Your hypothesis is that there is no difference bet...Your hypothesis is that there is no difference between the average phenotypic traits of the ethnic groups from which these immigrants come, or that these different averages have no impact in the phenotypic traits from their diasporas? Do you really think that ashkenazi Jews didn't overperform in old Europe? Or that the average coastal Chinese isn't better at IQ tests and shorter than the average European? Are you trolling? Or are you just (costly, as it makes your reasoning seem less cogent) adherence to the Blue tribe? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-78402196379488289952015-03-20T05:16:40.760-04:002015-03-20T05:16:40.760-04:00Selective immigration doesn't explain why some...<i>Selective immigration doesn't explain why some genetically distinguished groups outperform (ou underperform) wherever they go: the Chinese on the Pacific rim, the ashkenazi Jews, the West European immigrants).</i><br /><br />Sure it does.Noah Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-17173160791332684382015-03-20T03:19:11.320-04:002015-03-20T03:19:11.320-04:00Selective immigration doesn't explain why some...Selective immigration doesn't explain why some genetically distinguished groups outperform (ou underperform) wherever they go: the Chinese on the Pacific rim, the ashkenazi Jews, the West European immigrants). Also, race and ethnicity are relevant in discerning the cause of the relative performance of these groups. If it isn't genetically mediated, then it can be attributed to institutional racism. How does this theory work for some persecuted minorities like the Jews in most of the world and east Asians in the southeast Asia? Not very well: they thrive nonetheless, at least until the next progrom or racially motivated riot. Try harder, Noah. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com