Slate.com on race and IQ

[vhawk01]

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I always hold out hope that I can change someone's mind when I think they they aren't fully informed. As long as you can show them why their position is unsupported or incorrect. Maybe I'm just naive though . . .

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You do understand that every possible position to this debate is supported with science, yes? My position is also supported with 400 years of observational and anecdotal evidence that formed the common wisdom of its day. It will require extraordinary evidence to overturn that, at least for me. It will require only hope and good intentions for your side to feel supported.

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The following things are not in dispute in the scientific community:

- IQ doesn't measure what the general population thinks it measures. In fact, it's not clear what exactly is being measured other than performance on certain classes of problems.

- Race is an extremely fuzzy thing and the evidence that the IQ gap is genetic is not conclusive.

- It is ok to discuss these topics as long as you have good science to back up your claims. I don't think you realize how much research is currently being done on this very topic.

- Anecdotal evidence and "common wisdom" counts for very, very little in science

I know that you think "my side" is just feel-good handwaving. But there are quite powerful methodological objections that need to be dealt with before "your side" can claim to have proven anything.

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It is pretty comical that he claims there is an insurmountable PC bias that basically invalidates most of the science you are talking about, and in the same breath he relies on "400 years" of observations as if the last 400 years of human history have had less bias on this topic than the current climate.