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Race, Headz, Crime, IQSteve Mizrach (SEEKER1@NERVM.NERDC.UFL.EDU)Sat, 22 Oct 1994 02:20:51 +0000
1. RACE. I can only echo all the statements that have been made on this point. Race is an EMIC concept, HISTORICALLY grounded from experiences from 1500 on, and is what could be called a FOLK CONCEPT -- hardly the basis on which to build scientific theories. There are human biological groupings, but they do not correspond to the folk categories of race. Race is an attempt to (poorly) taxonomize human beings physiologically on the basis of phenotypic differences (skin color, facial structure, body shape and size) rather than genotypic differences (blood groups, immunological factors, etc.) which are probably more biologically important. And as a folk concept, it has always contained implicit connotations of accompanying mental differences as well... though there is no reason why specific physiological adaptations (skin color, for example) SHOULD be accompanied by sepcific behavioral adaptations (sexual procilivity, "sociability," etc.) IF in fact such behavioral tendencies are physiologically (genetically) determined (which gets us into sociobiology, which I don't want to get into.) There is no reason NOT to think that the arbitrary division of humans into three races - Asian, Caucasian, and Negroid - is EMIC, and simply an improper basis on which to make further generalizations... especially considering the simple fact of constant human intermarriage. 1a. I still would like to see explained WHY in any organism its innate aggressiveness and sexuality MUST be inversely related to its intellectual ability and sociability. This proposition strikes me as biologically dubious. 2. HEADZ. Welcome back to 19th century anthropology! Let's break out the craniometers. I have no doubt that there is some degree of correlation between head size and brain size. But I have to agree with Allen Lutins that I seriously doubt a) that head size is a stable, heritable trait like eye color and b) that it has anything to do with intelligence. And most importantly, c) there seems to be no good biological reason why it should be in an inverse relationship to the size of the genitals. Most current research says the convolutions (folds) of the brain may be more important than its overall volume. 3. CRIME. I'm sorry, but I think a century of research has shown that "criminality" is not a heritable trait. Francis Galton may have thought crime ran in families, but I've seen no convincing data to suggest this is due to "bad seed" rather than bad raising. Sociobiologists, fire away, but I find this proposition dubious, to say the least, esp. since most of the people who advance this proposition tie it to dubious biological categories such as "race." If Rushton has found a way to isolate sociocultural variables from his criminological table, I would be interested to see that. 4. IQ. Since Charles Murray was brought up, I'll 'fess to not seeing the New Republic review issue, but what I've heard is that it was mostly congratulatory, telling Murray he was "courageous" for bringing the IQ "debate" back into the center stage. I'll also 'fess to not having read _The Bell Curve_ either. But I will address myself to one claim I saw Murray make on TV. It was plain and simple. He said, straightforwardly, that blacks on average score 15 points lower than whites on IQ tests, but was at least thoughtful to add the caveat that this MIGHT be more environment than biology. Not surprisingly, he said this can and must have public policy effects, with regard to programs in affirmative action, welfare, etc. since, he claimed (as Rushton does) that "IQ is the single best indicator for performance in academic and professional life, and thus what incomes a person earns." I do feel there is something basically biological to intelligence. It's obvious that some people's brains are not as functional as others, thus resulting in learning disabilities, retardation, dyslexia, etc. However, I think the tricky part is in establishing the upper part (superior functionality, rather than interior functionality) of the scale, rather than the lower. Mensa members claim they are more intelligent than the rest of society (Marilyn vos Savant, for example), but I've yet to see them empirically demonstrate what about their brains makes this so. I am not sure that IQ measures this innate functionality, and I am not going to resort to the typical "dogma" of "cultural bias" which IQ proponents claim is advanced by anthropologists and/or other liberals. Rather, I would suggest that most cognitive psychologists like Howard Gardner consider intelligence to involve a multiplicity of cognitive abilities (you could call them separate "intelligences" - creative, critical, associative, etc.) and for this reason find it laughable that one quantitative measure could effectively show performance in these many different cognitive domains. This to me is the main problem I have with the IQ test. It measures something - the one I took in 3rd grade told me I was "gifted," and I've never had reason to doubt that ;-) - but I don't think that something is a heritable unitary fixed quantity of "mind stuff" that we can call "intelligence." Yours, ============================================================================= ! Seeker1 [@Nervm.Nerdc.Ufl.Edu] (real info available on request) ! !----------------------------------------------------------------------------! ! CyberAnthropologist, TechnoCulturalist, Guerilla Ontologist, Chaotician ! ! Discordian Society, Counter-Illuminati Operations Branch ! ! "One measures a circle beginning anywhere." -- Charles Fort ! ============================================================================= -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- Version: 2.2 mQCPAi5EzS8AAAED/RXcR1tZKqST97Dvf9V9G6YhKqYaKHSe1DUIZbY8x3PEkHbw iniyTG1Htwcquyc+zSyPs9DxF3I1ZiFBSkV/+O0ZajJv9HGBPg7ksZLe/2344/4p y+HI8Er13fIA2Pd50tkxyD7411ZxfTQGkm6hvmjLZEPqiuDmwjW43Zo1Mhs9ABEB AAG0K1N0ZXZlIE1penJhY2ggPFNFRUtFUjFATkVSVk0uTkVSREMuVUZMLkVEVT4= =52cS -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
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