Wanted to post this here earlier. The short-short version. Wished I could insert this in an earlier part so as not to interrupt the ongoing discussion.
<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jul 3 2008, 01:18 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jul 3 2008, 01:18 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Just a few points:
1) The point about IQ tests in US being created to show the "inferiority" of Blacks does not hold up for various reasons, the same tests also show Jews and North East Asians in US as scoring ahead of whites, now the last time I checked neither Jews nor Japanese/Chines/Koreans were acceped as either equals or superior by the KKK types.[right][snapback]83707[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Bharatavarsha, that is not what I was saying, though the IQ tests do have a very dubious origin and were intended for dubious purposes.
It's natural that different populations won't all have the same average "IQ", just like European nations as a whole are never going to best Ethiopians at stamina-running or several African nations at sprinting. Individual over-achievers there may be in different fields, but there are specific things that different populations tend to be good at.
However, IQ <i>is</i> used as a stick to beat African Americans with. They use a lot of sticks in fact, this is just one. They make it seem like it is the only thing that is most worth attaining and that all other skills are consolation prizes at best. (The nazis were into fitness first and intelligence second. But that's because they liked to present Jews as not so fit in the comparison. But if the christonazis had been picking on Africans instead they would have needed to prove their superiority in something other than physical abilities. Whereas America chose precisely the latter because they <i>were</i> dealing with Africans.)
Worse still, they can't even be trusted to collect data in a reliable manner. And they want people to take them/their data/their conclusions at their word.
One more thing:
It doesn't seem to be the case that IQ (where accurately measured) even measures all areas of human intelligence. And if it tells us very little, it conceals a lot with its silence as well.
<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jul 3 2008, 01:18 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jul 3 2008, 01:18 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Just a few points:
1) The point about IQ tests in US being created to show the "inferiority" of Blacks does not hold up for various reasons, the same tests also show Jews and North East Asians in US as scoring ahead of whites, now the last time I checked neither Jews nor Japanese/Chines/Koreans were acceped as either equals or superior by the KKK types.[right][snapback]83707[/snapback][/right]<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Bharatavarsha, that is not what I was saying, though the IQ tests do have a very dubious origin and were intended for dubious purposes.
It's natural that different populations won't all have the same average "IQ", just like European nations as a whole are never going to best Ethiopians at stamina-running or several African nations at sprinting. Individual over-achievers there may be in different fields, but there are specific things that different populations tend to be good at.
However, IQ <i>is</i> used as a stick to beat African Americans with. They use a lot of sticks in fact, this is just one. They make it seem like it is the only thing that is most worth attaining and that all other skills are consolation prizes at best. (The nazis were into fitness first and intelligence second. But that's because they liked to present Jews as not so fit in the comparison. But if the christonazis had been picking on Africans instead they would have needed to prove their superiority in something other than physical abilities. Whereas America chose precisely the latter because they <i>were</i> dealing with Africans.)
Worse still, they can't even be trusted to collect data in a reliable manner. And they want people to take them/their data/their conclusions at their word.
One more thing:
It doesn't seem to be the case that IQ (where accurately measured) even measures all areas of human intelligence. And if it tells us very little, it conceals a lot with its silence as well.