

Race, genes and intelligence - Alex3917
http://www.slate.com/id/2178122/entry/0/
Lately I've been feeling really burnt out on social news and the blogosphere in general. The vast majority of submissions are poorly written restatements of facts I already know and arguments I've already seen. Unless someone comes up with a way to filter out non-novel ideas, I really can't see sticking with this stuff in the long term. 
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Alex3917
Lately I've been feeling really burnt out on social news and the blogosphere
in general. The vast majority of submissions are poorly written restatements
of facts I already know and arguments I've already seen. Unless someone comes
up with a way to filter out non-novel ideas, I really can't see sticking with
this stuff in the long term.

~~~
ambiversive
Take a week off, if you can. When you come back, it'll all be new and
exciting. Or maybe you'll discover drugs or sex and never come back!

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anaphoric
And what is the point of all this?

I find it amuzing when some dandruff covered geek explains this to me and then
I point them to a video of Jimi Hendrix. I don't know what Jimi would have
scored on the Stanford-Binet, but the man was a genius. Who can doubt that?

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJRWdseH1Pc&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJRWdseH1Pc&feature=related)

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-OnApUde4M>

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmPtneBibU&feature=relat...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmPtneBibU&feature=related)

Sure I have scored high on IQ tests and that, plus 2$ will buy me a cup of
coffee.

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rms
I'm willing to believe that there are genetic differences in intelligence,
some of which fall along racial lines. However, until we have a better
psychometric than IQ, the research is going to be fundamentally flawed. The
study cited here showing Africans have low IQs was bad research.

~~~
ereldon
Exactly. What most studies on racial differences prove are the preconceived
notions of the experimenters.

In fact, most scientific studies may be wrong, or at least deeply flawed:

<http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7915.html>

When one considers the hundred years of horrific racism present in white
culture, it's hardly surprising that such cultural attitudes manifest
themselves from time to time in the form of sophisticated scientific
arguments.

Whether or not there are genetic differences, doesn't the most accurate
approach -- if not the most ethical approach -- seem to be withholding all
race-based judgement for the time being?

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amichail
Note that this research is only offensive with regards to highly visible
traits such as race and gender. The reason is that this leads to
discrimination (a rational strategy in the absence of other info if the
research were to be correct).

However, it would not be offensive for scientists to say that people with a
certain DNA sequence are more intelligent -- at least not yet since
personalized DNA sequencing is not common.

So one solution to this problem would be to simply hide race and gender by
allowing people to work from home, meet online, etc. There are probably many
sorts of businesses where this would be possible.

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ivankirigin
I don't think IQ means as much as people think.

But I am a fan of making the human race better, and I don't like when you
can't discuss certain research.

In the past, I could believe the sociological reasons to not discuss things
like this. It could easily be net negative for society.

But we are getting better at manipulating genes. Soon, we'll be enhancing
people. I'd like to know which genes cause intelligence (including autism,
aspergers, and other potential drawbacks) so that we can choose to activate
them when we have the ability.

Socially distasteful research that could lead to improving all humans should
be openly explored with that goal in mind.

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amichail
Setting aside ultimate scientific truths about this matter, if you come from a
race that is not considered to be of high IQ on average yet you are highly
intelligent as an individual, then it would help to demonstrate this fact.

For example, you can take IQ tests, get an MRI scan of your brain to determine
its volume, get your DNA sequenced etc., to prove your high IQ as an
individual.

~~~
jey
Who cares? IQ isn't a good predictor of much, other than performance on other
IQ tests. It's true that there are broad correlations between IQ and paths in
life[1], but it's not like our greatest contributors to society have been the
ones with the highest IQ. I'm just going to laugh at someone someone comes to
me and says "You should hire me because I scored at +3 sigma on multiple
'intelligence' tests!".

1\. See the graph at <http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/?p=321>

~~~
JeffL
The Bell Curve cites studies that say that raw IQ is the single best predictor
of future job performance, higher than experience, interview, and everything
else.

Too bad it's illegal to give IQ tests as part of the interview process. I
think that's partially why the brain teasers have become so popular.

Though I do agree with you that you'd be right to laugh at someone who claims
you should hire him simply because of an IQ test. They should also be
motivated and interested in that line of work, otherwise I would imagine the
intelligence would be wasted.

~~~
pius
Wasn't the Bell Curve discredited years ago?

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emmett
A trait being highly heritable does not make it highly genetic. Correlation is
not causation.

<http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/520.html>

