It’s odd that “The Bell Curve” keeps on coming around. If you examine the assumptions in the book, it’s ASSUMED that “X” percentage of reduced test scores relative to the average are due to “environmental” factors, but all the remaining percentage is due to genetics.
The issue with that was twofold, first, if you wanted to find yourself a pure pure African to do this testing with, you’d be looking pretty strictly at recent immigrants. Thus, you’d be claiming that some kind of percentage thing was in effect, or that “bad” genes drive out “good” genes – which is not born out by anything in science.
To make that even worse, recent immigrants WHO HAVE NOT BEEN EXPOSED IN YOUTH to US social conditions do better in both testing and in actual outcomes over time. So you get into a really twisty mess trying to claim genetics is the inevitable predictor of success. So twisty that it’s ridiculous to make the claim.
And the reason the claim won’t die is really simple, if you can shift blame to “they were born that way” then there’s nothing that can be done and you don’t have any obligation to spend money to improve conditions.
If you want to read the book, it’s easy to find as a pdf. As for the statements of fact above:
Bad behavior for anywhere: Hurling racist slurs and hurling debunked racist “science” are both protected by the first amendment, but not generally tolerated in polite society. Not confronting racists, is our own weakness and inaction, for evil to prevail, a good person just has to do nothing. Blaming the victim or denying racism exists gives an excuse for something which is inexcusable. Giving a platform to racists should not be tolerated by a free society which is mixed and diverse if we are also going to expect liberty.
I love Boston, but this was awful. The next day, though, he got a standing O., for what it’s worth.
And as for The Bell Curve, it was crap then and it is crap now. It is a masterpiece of rationalization – when whites are ahead of blacks on any measure, it is due to genetics. When blacks are ahead of whites on any measure, it doesn’t matter. And it starts with the fundamentally flawed assumption that IQ tests actually measure a single thing that is (1) genetic, and (2) SIMPLE genetics.
I took a class from Herrnstein in college in 1984, and I knew THEN that he was full of it.
old1953 almost 7 years ago
It’s odd that “The Bell Curve” keeps on coming around. If you examine the assumptions in the book, it’s ASSUMED that “X” percentage of reduced test scores relative to the average are due to “environmental” factors, but all the remaining percentage is due to genetics.
The issue with that was twofold, first, if you wanted to find yourself a pure pure African to do this testing with, you’d be looking pretty strictly at recent immigrants. Thus, you’d be claiming that some kind of percentage thing was in effect, or that “bad” genes drive out “good” genes – which is not born out by anything in science.
To make that even worse, recent immigrants WHO HAVE NOT BEEN EXPOSED IN YOUTH to US social conditions do better in both testing and in actual outcomes over time. So you get into a really twisty mess trying to claim genetics is the inevitable predictor of success. So twisty that it’s ridiculous to make the claim.
And the reason the claim won’t die is really simple, if you can shift blame to “they were born that way” then there’s nothing that can be done and you don’t have any obligation to spend money to improve conditions.
If you want to read the book, it’s easy to find as a pdf. As for the statements of fact above:
http://home.uchicago.edu/~arauh/Rauh2013b.pdf
http://people.umass.edu/smodel/Society_45.pdf
Masterskrain Premium Member almost 7 years ago
I spent a week in Boston one afternoon…
WestNYC Premium Member almost 7 years ago
Boston is a terrible place with horrible people.
Radish the wordsmith almost 7 years ago
I thought the cartoon described the Trump White House.
Zev almost 7 years ago
My feelings on Boston is the same as L.A. – I’m always happy to go there and two days later I’m happier to leave.
Mr. Blawt almost 7 years ago
Bad behavior for anywhere: Hurling racist slurs and hurling debunked racist “science” are both protected by the first amendment, but not generally tolerated in polite society. Not confronting racists, is our own weakness and inaction, for evil to prevail, a good person just has to do nothing. Blaming the victim or denying racism exists gives an excuse for something which is inexcusable. Giving a platform to racists should not be tolerated by a free society which is mixed and diverse if we are also going to expect liberty.
astutepanther Premium Member almost 7 years ago
What? No Curt Schilling reference?
Motivemagus almost 7 years ago
I love Boston, but this was awful. The next day, though, he got a standing O., for what it’s worth.
And as for The Bell Curve, it was crap then and it is crap now. It is a masterpiece of rationalization – when whites are ahead of blacks on any measure, it is due to genetics. When blacks are ahead of whites on any measure, it doesn’t matter. And it starts with the fundamentally flawed assumption that IQ tests actually measure a single thing that is (1) genetic, and (2) SIMPLE genetics.
I took a class from Herrnstein in college in 1984, and I knew THEN that he was full of it.