Re: The Bell Curve.

On Jan 5, 9:35 pm, Gary Bohn <gary.b...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Kevin Wayne Williams <kww.niho...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote innews:13o00oc62lmsfc9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:



Gary Bohn wrote:
I'm currently reading "The Bell Curve" and finding it hard going, not

How non-random is human 'pairing' and does it even approach what is
necessary to affect intelligence?

Separate from the issue of intelligence, human pairing is far from
random. Just a quick example: the USA is roughly 1/6 black. If mating
was random, then only one black person in six would marry another
another black, and five out of six marriages involving a black person
would be a mixed marriage. Does that sound anything like what you
observe to be true?

KWW

And how will this affect intelligence? Culturally based non-random
pairing doesn't affect pairing for intelligence sake unless you assume
that a given culture has a different intelligence to begin with. I don't
think that is correct.

If you are going to make this argument you have to be much clearer on
what you mean by culture. Black people look different from white
people---is that a factor in mate selection that you call cultural?
Remember, people define race strongly by appearance, so one can argue
that since people who 'look black' are stupid to begin with, and
mating with others of similar appearance selects for stupidity.

The weak point in such arguments is that one has to follow the
regression to some initial point where intelligence was selected for
independently. Why are black people stupid in the first place? And
that would require that living in Africa in small cooperative groups
did not select for intelligence as much as living in Asia in small
cooperative groups. I've yet to hear any even marginally sensible such
explanation.


I don't believe that intelligence is in any way the same as eye colour
or hair type, I suspect that whatever portion of intelligence is genetic
is far more complex and not so easily selected. I also suspect that
intelligence is something that does not react quickly to selection and
there has not been enough time or isolation of cultures for one culture
to be less intelligent than any other.

But whatever portion of intelligence is genetic might well be quite
simple. The question is how much does this affect whatever it is that
you call intelligence, which you haven't defined. And how would it
affect selection?

Also, and it may just be a nitpick, one culture can indeed be more
intelligent than another. You should look up the word and figure out
what you mean by it.

-tg

--
Gary Bohn

NOW COMPLETELY SIG FREE AND WRY!

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