Re: Created Equal?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf () sethf com>
Date: November 19, 2007 3:39:55 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com, dewayne () warpspeed com, mac () wireless com
Subject: Re: [IP] Created Equal?

[For IP]
        Here's the most recent refutation of pseudo-scientific racism
I happened to see (my emphasis below, quoting the end of a very long
and elaborate mathematical demolition of race-baiters):

http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/523.html
g, a Statistical Myth (Cosma Shalizi)

"In primitive societies, or so Malinowski taught, myths serve as the
legitimating charters of practices and institutions. Just so here: the
myth of g legitimates a vast enterprise of intelligence testing and
theorizing. There should be no dispute that, when we lack specialized
and valid instruments, general IQ tests can be better than nothing.
Claims that they are anything more than such stop-gaps - that
they are triumphs of psychological science, illuminating the workings
of the mind; keys to the fates of individuals and peoples; sources of
HARSH TRUTHS WHICH ONLY A COURAGEOUS FEW HAVE THE STRENGTH TO BEAR;
etc., etc., - such claims are at present ENTIRELY UNJUSTIFIED, though
not, perhaps, unmotivated. They are supported only by the myth, and
acceptance of the myth itself rests on what I can only call an
astonishing methodological backwardness."

See also: http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/520.html
Yet More on the Heritability and Malleability of IQ
"I would then ... suggest that you read, say, Dobzhansky on the
distinction between "human equality" and "genetic identity", and ask
why it is so important to you that IQ be heritable and unchangeable."

        I'd say the better analogy is to the "teach the controversy"
tactic of Creationists, where arguments which have been refuted over
and over, for decades, are presented as achieving quasi-martyrdom and
thus deserving of attention merely on that basis.

        To counter the obvious replies, I propose an immediate research
program to see if Republicans have hard hearts. We know restrictions
on blood flow can cause mental effects, and there's even medical
literature from heart bypass operations regarding a cognitive
condition called "Pump Head". Anyone who opposes my investigations
into hard-heartedness as a cause of Republicanism must not be able
to handle the harsh truths of science, and be trying to suppress the
politically explosive implications (note this research probably
*will* find a link between arteriosclerosis and being a Republican,
given the income correlations to both).

--
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  http://sethf.com
Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/
Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php


-------------------------------------------
Archives: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: http://v2.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com