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Re: What Are the Race Deniers Denying?
Stephen Barnard (steve@megafauna.com)
Thu, 10 Oct 1996 22:06:34 -0800
Laura Finsten wrote:
>
> frank@clark.net () wrote:
>
> >As for Steven Jay Gould, I'm surprised you'd bring him up, since
> >his biases are so patent. He'll write a piece picking apart some
> >nineteenth century study on the comparative brain sizes of whites
> >and blacks. He'll argue that the study does not show that whites
> >are superior to blacks, because:
> >
> >1. The data were cooked. (There is no scientist who does not cook
> >his data, even if it is just tossing out "outliers."
>
> You are whitewashing. Gould has demonstrating major doctoring of
> data and results in 19th century racial science. Tossing out
> outliers is required in some statistical analyses and is not
> "cooking the data".
>
> >2. Brain size has nothing whatever to do with IQ.
>
> There is no evidence to the contrary.
>
> >3. IQ does not measure intelligence.
>
> And many scientists would agree with Gould on this point. What
> IQ tests measure, and how useful they are cross-culturally, is
> widely debated.
>
> >4. Intelligence is a meaningless concept.
> >5. Races do not exist.
>
> He's not alone on this, either.
>
> >6. Superiority has no meaning.
>
> I think you have an agenda.
>
> "If I can't dance..... I don't want to be part of your revolution."
> Emma Goldman
I have my problems with some of Gould's positions, but I think Frank's
arguments are crypto-racist and I don't want to be associated with them
(just because I quibble with Gould over some technical issues).
Steve Barnard
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