Re: IQ AND RACE. The taboo subject.
Ian T Brown (ibrown@willamette.edu)
11 Feb 1995 16:58:46 -0800
In article <mbanetD3sMyp.4My@netcom.com>,
David Waters <mbanet@netcom.com> wrote:
>Stephen Lajoie (lajoie@eskimo.com) wrote:
>: Later on, I stated that many professors are muzzled by political
>: pressure to not state the obvious; that race and IQ are correlated. I
>: knew very well that many professors will tell you they are not related in
>: public, and but admit that there is a correlation in private when they
>: felt it was safe. They fear for their jobs.
Oh, my psychology prof admits it quite freely, along with the fact that
there is a high correlation between the stickiness of roads and high beer
consumption. My textbook mentions the apparent correlation in the
chapter dealing with the unreliability of apparent correlations. The
political pressure is not to hide the fact that the two appear to be
related, but to make a balanced assessment of how significant the
relationship is.
>Ask these professors to identify the SPECIFIC genetic sequence(s) in
>African Americans that actually leads to lesser intelligence. In other
>words, one should be able to look at DNA (only) and determine which
>sequence was produced by the more intelligent person(s). Such a test
>should easily be performed between any two (or more) people. Why isn't
>it? Because it doesn't exist!!! Therefore, these so-called professors are
>speaking from speculation (whether public or private) and not acceptable
>evidence based on actual genetic study!!!
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sure it is. Well, no, I'll take that back. It's based on race and IQ
study, not genetic study. But (playing the devils advocate) genetic study
does not require that we know the "SPECIFIC genetic sequence(s)" which
would explain a trait. Actually, it would be kind of silly to expect
anyone to be able to point out the specific genetic sequence for most
things that are genetic traits, given that only a small fraction of the
human genome has been mapped, and that correlating a given trait with a
genetic sequence is long and painstaking work. I doubt that you could
identify the "SPECIFIC genetic sequence(s) that contribute to, say,
nearsightedness. Yet I don't see you claiming that nearsightedness isn't
genetically influenced.
>There's also the problem of explaining/predicting those of us (AfAms) who
>have (much) higher than average IQs versus those (AfAms) who don't. Is
>this because some of us have a gene(s) that promote higher intelligence
>or do we lack the gene(s) that decreases intelligence? How about those
>"whites" who have substandard IQ scores...do they "suffer" for the same
>reasons? Is there a separate (but equal ;-) smart/dumb gene for each race?
No, there isn't a separate smart/dumb gene for each race. They are the
same genes in all races. There is tremendous variation within
populations, and the coincidence that the "smart" genes are found more in
Asian-Americans than in African-Americans doesn't mean that it isn't
found in African-Americans. Just that it is found in African-Americans
less often (statistically) than in Asian-Americans.
>Besides, if there *was* such a (reliable) test, then the intelligence of
>*ANY* two children (not just AfAm) could be predicted by examining DNA
>alone. Do you want your children to be placed in predetermined
>education/training programs based on what their DNA (alone) says??? I
>don't think you do!
Of course not. Environment obviously also plays a significant role in
intelligence, and intelligence is not the most important factor in this
world. The correlation between IQ and race is really unimportant, and
it's silly to say that people should be judged by their genes.
>Now can you carry that thought a little further to
>comprehend the problems caused when (certain) people ASSUME that there
>is a genetic reason to discriminate?
Good point. Also why I think that TBC should be treated as a curious
acedemic exercise in juggling of numbers, rather than a serious influence
on policy. There have been studies that correlate intelligence with
left-handedness far more strongly than TBC correlates intelligence with
race, and I don't see people assuming that right-handers should be
discriminated against.
>Do you remember the teacher who did the "Brown Eye/Blue Eye" experiment?
>Does *she* qualify in your list of professors???
I don't believe there have been any studies that correlated IQ to eye
color. Interesting idea, though.
--
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind, or not to have a mind is being
very wasteful." -- Dan Quayle
"Book 'em, Dannoe." -- Jack Lord
|