IAWYC, but “Asians rule at math and science” seems to have a huge cultural basis, and it’s at least no more obvious that it has a genetic component than that racial IQ gaps do.
To someone who knows that Asian math achievement has a fully or almost fully cultural basis, the Asian math link doesn’t do work privileging the hypothesis that there might be a black/white genetic IQ difference.
However, to someone who simply sees math classes full of people with yellow skin, and doesn’t know why, it does do work privileging the hypothesis that there might be a black/white genetic IQ difference, rather that e.g. anti-black discrimination causing lower grades for blacks etc.
Of course, if you saw Asian-filled math classes, there must have already been something that made you assign some probability to the hypothesis that genes, not memes were responsible.
and it’s at least no more obvious that it has a genetic component than that racial IQ gaps do.
I don’t think it has to be more obvious or clear-cut, it moves you evidentially by simply being another instance of the same thing.
If the only racial-feature correlation in the world was that black people tested low on IQ, then the idea that genes rather than, say, discrimination were responsible would be something of a stretch.
But when you see a whole collection of racial-feature correlations, the idea that genes are responsible to some extent becomes more plausible. It is a reasonable AI/machine learning heuristic to jump from co-variation to some kind of causal link: if you see skin color (which is well known to indicate DNA-type) covary with ability at sport, ability at math, ability at IQ tests, criminality, etc, you place some weight on the hypothesis that DNA directly causally influences these things. Of course, you don’t put all of your weight on that.
Can you explain how you know Asian math acheivement is fully due to cultural bias?
Haven’t crossracial adpotion studies shown that adopted East Asian children do better than their white peers on IQ tests? I also remember hearing claims that generally Asians do beter on the visualspatial component of IQ tests than whites.
IAWYC, but “Asians rule at math and science” seems to have a huge cultural basis, and it’s at least no more obvious that it has a genetic component than that racial IQ gaps do.
To someone who knows that Asian math achievement has a fully or almost fully cultural basis, the Asian math link doesn’t do work privileging the hypothesis that there might be a black/white genetic IQ difference.
However, to someone who simply sees math classes full of people with yellow skin, and doesn’t know why, it does do work privileging the hypothesis that there might be a black/white genetic IQ difference, rather that e.g. anti-black discrimination causing lower grades for blacks etc.
Of course, if you saw Asian-filled math classes, there must have already been something that made you assign some probability to the hypothesis that genes, not memes were responsible.
I don’t think it has to be more obvious or clear-cut, it moves you evidentially by simply being another instance of the same thing.
If the only racial-feature correlation in the world was that black people tested low on IQ, then the idea that genes rather than, say, discrimination were responsible would be something of a stretch.
But when you see a whole collection of racial-feature correlations, the idea that genes are responsible to some extent becomes more plausible. It is a reasonable AI/machine learning heuristic to jump from co-variation to some kind of causal link: if you see skin color (which is well known to indicate DNA-type) covary with ability at sport, ability at math, ability at IQ tests, criminality, etc, you place some weight on the hypothesis that DNA directly causally influences these things. Of course, you don’t put all of your weight on that.
@Nick Tarleton:
Can you explain how you know Asian math acheivement is fully due to cultural bias? Haven’t crossracial adpotion studies shown that adopted East Asian children do better than their white peers on IQ tests? I also remember hearing claims that generally Asians do beter on the visualspatial component of IQ tests than whites.
Edit: Originally adressed @Roko
Nick Tarleton said it, not me ;-)
I have not seen evidence either way; my arguments given above are not dependent upon it being true or false.
I misread the first sentence. Thanks for the correction, I’ll put a @Nick Tarleton in there then.