Re: Race and IQ

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:52:34 -0500,
Daniel T. <daniel_t@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
AC <mightymartianca@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Daniel T. <daniel_t@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
AC <mightymartianca@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Here's a challenge. First tell us what exactly your standard
IQ test measures.

Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among
other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve
problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn
quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book
learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts.
Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for
comprehending our surroundings -- "catching on," "making
sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do.

Intelligence, so defined, can be measured, and intelligence
tests measure it well. They are among the most accurate (in
technical terms, reliable and valid) of all psychological
tests and assessments. They do not measure creativity,
character, personality, or other important differences among
individuals, nor are they intended to.

Could you provide some citations to back up your claim that these
are, in technical terms, among the most accurate of all
psychological tests?

I did. That is a quote from a document signed by 52 internationally
known experts in the field.
(http://www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/wsj_main.html)

This is an interesting site. Here's another delightful bit from Mr. Louis
Andrews to be found in
http://www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/library/lra_ojsimpson.html

"While blacks and whites do not come from different planets, they did
develop on separate continents and have had unique environmental and
evolutionary histories over tens of thousands of years. To expect the
adaptive cultural and behavioral differences thus created to be erased
within a few decades, or even centuries, by exposure to a shared language
and culture is pure idealism. Our current racial dilemma is the necessary
fruit of decades of such dreams. The continued attempt to deny or erase our
differences is futile. It is time we put pejoratives and taboos aside in the
quest for solutions."

This is sheer nonsense. First of all, there is, genetically, no such thing
as a "black" race. The highest amount of genetic diversity is found in
Africa, far more than in the rest of the world combined, so this fine fellow
appears to be invoking the classic, and worthless idea of race that the
Victorians felt was so important.

Second of all, they did not develop in some sort of isolation. Genes have
been moving through the Old World without interruption for tens of thousands
of years. The only Old World population I know of that spent any
substantial amount of time in isolation was the Tasmanian Aborigines who
were cut off by rising sea levels some 10,000 years ago.

I'm questioning the validity of your source, and as to the Mainstream
Science on Intelligence, it's hardly universally accepted as THE mainstream
view on race and intelligence.


Here is a definition in another paper:

What is it that the IQ test measures? Ostensibly it measures
intelligence, for which we have several definitions. Even though
intelligence tests differ in their scopes, the IQ is still the
one personality trait, among more than 30 known to psychologists,
that can be measured most precisely, reliably, and repeatably.

While the word intelligence is used for all kinds of abilities in
popular language, in the field of psychology a much narrower
definition is used. Perhaps the most commonly definition used in
psychology is this:

Intelligence is the ability to act purposefully in unknown
situations.

A very much simplified definition is:

Intelligence is the ability to think logically.

That appears to be a pretty worthless definition, because intellect is
certainly more than that.


The word intelligence is often used in a very unsharp way in
casual speech, among non-psychologists, and in popular
literature. Attempts to water down the concept of intelligence
abound, a typical example being "The Mismeasure of Man" by
Stephen Jay Gould, partly because people fear to be measured and
classified, and so any watering-down is always welcome.
--(http://www.michna.com/iq.htm)

This doesn't say it's an incredibly rigorous test.


Then tell us your definition of "race" and how it relates to
actual populations throughout the world.

"research on intelligence relies on self-classification into
distinct racial categories"

I would suggest that "self-classification" is likely meaningless in
many respects. For instance, it's become common to call people of
Latin American descent (aka Latinos) a race, when in fact, we're
talking about an incredibly heterogenerous group of people with
ancestry that can be linked to African slaves, Iberian immigrants
(Spain and Portugal) and Amerindians.

Almost all Americans who identify themselves as black have white
ancestors -- the white admixture is about 20%, on average -- and
many self-designated whites, Hispanics, and others likewise have
mixed ancestry. Because research on intelligence relies on
self-classification into distinct racial categories, as does most
other social-science research, its findings likewise relate to
some unclear mixture of social and biological distinctions among
groups (no one claims otherwise).
(http://www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/wsj_main.html)

In short, the whole thing is built on an incredibly slippery foundation. If
one cannot even provide an objective, concrete notion of "race" (and talking
about Hispanics as a "race" is about as ludicrous as the notion can become,
considering the incredibly mixed history of these peoples' ancestors in the
Old and New Worlds), then I see no reason to accept any conclusion.

Now, let's deal with the actual genetic evidence, and how it relates to
intelligence among populations.

--
Aaron Clausen
mightymartianca@xxxxxxxxx

.

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