a bias against those-not-like-me would be sufficient in this case to cause blacks a significant deficit in opportunity for employment in a historically majority white nation.
Will it? I agree that it will cause some harm, but I’m not sure about “significant”. Note that race-based discrimination is explicitly illegal and agencies such as EEOC do prosecute. Moreover, EEOC uses the concept of “disparate impact” which basically means that if you statistically discriminate regardless of your intent, you are in trouble.
Also, did a bias against those-not-like-me cause employment problems for, say, the Chinese? Why not?
You are saying black Americans have a genetic deficit in the form of lower average IQ.
I am saying people with African ancestry (regardless of their citizenship) belong to a gene pool which has average IQ lower than that of people with European ancestry. Lest you think that the whites are the pinnacle of evolution, the European gene pool has lower average IQ than, say, Han Chinese.
I don’t know if “deficit” is a useful word—there is no natural baseline and the fact that the IQ scale has the average IQ of Europeans as the “norm” (100) is just a historical accident. I think it’s more correct to just say that different gene pools have different IQ distributions.
There are two separable questions here. The first one is do you agree that people with African ancestry have lower average IQ (by about one standard deviation) than people with European ancestry? That question has nothing to do with slavery and segregation. If you do not, we hit a major disagreement right here and there’s not much point in discussing why contemporary black Americans have different outcomes than whites or Asians. If you do, we can move on to the second question: what is the relative role of various factors which determine the current state of the black Americans?
I might suggest the following approach. If you agree that the average IQ of blacks is lower, then let’s estimate the effect of that on social outcomes. It might be that this cause will explain a great deal of what we observe. If so, there’s no need to bring in the history of slavery and segregation as a major factor because there wouldn’t be much left to explain.
I’d hypothesize slavery/segregation/discrimination has been consequential to the extent that even if blacks had a higher average IQ than whites, they would still be in a similar situation.
Ashkenazi Jews have higher average IQ than whites and were segregated and discrimated against. Are they in a similar situation? Were they in a similar situation at the time when the segregation was just ending?
Besides, you’re forgetting that one can just go and measure IQ. There is a lot of data on the average IQ of racial groups in the US. Hint: American blacks do not have higher IQ.
Plainly, advanced IQ (or other genetic advantages) aren’t enough to overcome significant discrimination in all cases.
Yes, but we’re not talking about “all cases”. We are talking about the very specific case of the United States of America.
Will it? I agree that it will cause some harm, but I’m not sure about “significant”.
I’d submit it’s a matter of definition.
Note that race-based discrimination is explicitly illegal and agencies such as EEOC do prosecute. Moreover, EEOC uses the concept of “disparate impact” which basically means that if you statistically discriminate regardless of your intent, you are in trouble.
Great point. I didn’t know this. I’ll have to do more reading. Generally though, I’d concede anti-discrimination laws have an impact.
Also, did a bias against those-not-like-me cause employment problems for, say, the Chinese? Why not?
Well, the Chinese weren’t enslaved. And it’s my experience there is not nearly as much racism against Asians as against blacks in America, but that is just my anecdotal experience.
I am saying people with African ancestry (regardless of their citizenship) belong to a gene pool which has average IQ lower than that of people with European ancestry. Lest you think that the whites are the pinnacle of evolution, the European gene pool has lower average IQ than, say, Han Chinese.
I’ve looked into this only briefly, and I’ll take your word for it.
There are two separable questions here. The first one is do you agree that people with African ancestry have lower average IQ (by about one standard deviation) than people with European ancestry? That question has nothing to do with slavery and segregation. If you do not, we hit a major disagreement right here and there’s not much point in discussing why contemporary black Americans have different outcomes than whites or Asians. If you do, we can move on to the second question: what is the relative role of various factors which determine the current state of the black Americans?
It makes sense to me to separate this into two questions like you propose. As I said, I’ll defer to your research and knowledge on the first point (and suspend my skepticism in the process), and move to your second question.
As to that second question—what is the relative role of various factors which determine the current state of the black Americans—I’m interested to know what you think, given your view that people with African ancestry have lower IQs...
I might suggest the following approach. If you agree that the average IQ of blacks is lower, then let’s estimate the effect of that on social outcomes. It might be that this cause will explain a great deal of what we observe. If so, there’s no need to bring in the history of slavery and segregation as a major factor because there wouldn’t be much left to explain.
...You’ve stated it’s complex, but roughly, what percentage of contemporary social outcomes experienced by blacks in America are a result of genetic differences (“nature”), and what percentage are a result of environmental factors (nurture)? Of that percentage that you deem to be the result of environmental factors, what portion is a result of slavery/segregation/discrimination? Again, just looking for a rough sketch from your mind here, as I recognize you have stated it’s complex and difficult to parse.
Also, I’m wondering how the idea people with African ancestry have lower average IQ than people with European ancestry informs your politics?
Well, you can probably go about it in the following way. IQ is and was a controversial concept. One of the lines of attack against it was that it is meaningless, that the number coming out of the IQ test does not correspond to anything in real life. This is often expressed as “IQ measures the skill of taking IQ tests”.
To deal with this objection people ran a number of studies. Typically you take a set of young people and either give them a proper IQ test or rely on another test which is a decent IQ proxy—usually the SAT in the US or one of the tests that the military gives to all its drafted or enlisted men. After that you follow that set of people and collect their life outcomes, from income to criminal records. Once you’ve done that you can see whether the measured IQ actually correlates to life outcomes. And yes, it does.
I don’t have links to actual studies handy, but you can easily google them up, and you can take a look at a not-fully-rigorous description of the various tiers of IQ and what do they mean in real-life terms.
Basically what these studies give you is the cost of an IQ point, cost in terms of a lot of things—income, chance to end up in prison, longevity (high-IQ people are noticeably healthier), etc.
Given this, you can calculate the expected outcomes for the US black population. If their average IQ is 10-15 points lower, you can translate this into expected income (lower than the US mean), expected chance of a criminal conviction (higher than the US mean) and other things you’re interested in. Once you’ve done that, you can compare your expected values with ones empirically observed. Any remaining gap will be due to something other than the IQ differential.
informs your politics
On a macro level it does not. There are smart people, there are stupid people, and the correlation to some outwardly visible feature like the colour of the skin doesn’t matter much. I am not a white nationalist, I do not think the Europeans should re-colonise Africa for the natives’ own good, etc.
On a micro level it does. For example, I find affirmative action counter-productive. For another example, I don’t believe the claims that inner-city schools (read: black) lag behind suburban schools (read: not black) because of lack of funding or because of surrounding poverty. Throwing money at the problem will achieve nothing.
There are smart people, there are stupid people, and the correlation to some outwardly visible feature like the colour of the skin doesn’t matter much.
How do you mean? You’re saying you believe it to be true that, generally, people with black skin color are more likely to have a significantly lower IQ than people with white skin color… And you believe that IQ is correlated with life outcomes. How can this not matter much?
I find affirmative action counter-productive.
I also have the sense this may be true in many instances. The theory seems solid, but I’m not sure it works as intended in practice.
For another example, I don’t believe the claims that inner-city schools (read: black) lag behind suburban schools (read: not black) because of lack of funding or because of surrounding poverty.
Why do they lag behind? Is it because of the IQ difference you believe exists between black and whites?
...
You say you’re not a white nationalist...I’m curious about your reaction to those who are? In regard to segregation, for instance… You say you don’t think the Europeans should re-colonise Africa for the natives’ own good—Why not?
Is it because of the IQ difference you believe exists between black and whites?
Lumifer likely believes that IQ predicts school performance and there are many studies that back this claim. He quite specifically said that you can calculate outcomes.
However not all white/black people are the same. Statements about the average IQ are statements about averages. Not all white have the same IQ and not all black people have the same IQ. Low IQ white people have low IQ children.
In Germany a white child named “Kevin” is likely to have a lower IQ than a child named “Jakob” and if you run your implicit bias tests you find that there’s bias against the child named “Kevin”.
Stupid people are still people. They have rights. Their propensity to make stupid decisions is not sufficient to take away from them the power to make decisions.
Is it because of the IQ difference you believe exists between black and whites?
Yes.
your reaction to those who are?
Is a shrug :-) People have all kinds of political beliefs, I don’t find the white nationalists to be extraordinary.
As to re-colonising Africa, see the first paragraph :-)
Hm. These views seem very likely to lead to racism.
I’ve read Breitbart frequently since Steve Bannon was added to Trump’s campaign because I’m fascinated with how Trump (an obvious hustler/fraud/charlatan in my view) has managed to get this close to the Oval Office. It’s been illuminating (in a disturbing way) in understanding where I now believe a lot of the Trump support is coming from.
I’m confident a portion of his support is just Red-Team-no-matter-what Repubs. And some are one issue Pro-Life Christians. And some are fiscal conservatives who are sincerely just concerned about the debt and spending. And some are blue collar workers in areas (Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.) where the global economy/technology caused manufacturing to dry up decades ago and they are mad as hell about the facts of the world and will just keep voting to change something, anything until they day they die...
But there is also this (disturbingly large) element of the movement that think non-white people are less than white people. Like, this group of Trump supporters are literally white supremacists—they believe white people are better suited for civilization. And, of course, no one can say that and politically get away with it in 2016, so they use all sorts of dog whistle-y language to imply it—including the main Trumpian slogan, “Make America Great Again™”
Under a common definition of racism as belief in meaningful differences between races, these views are racism. So?
I mean “racism” in a way that is significantly consequential for those who are discriminated against. An active racism.
If there truly are meaningful genetic differences between races, then so be it. But that seems to be the justification for the portion of “white supremacist” Trump supporters I mentioned above. It’s an angry racism that seems likely to be problematic.
Will it? I agree that it will cause some harm, but I’m not sure about “significant”. Note that race-based discrimination is explicitly illegal and agencies such as EEOC do prosecute. Moreover, EEOC uses the concept of “disparate impact” which basically means that if you statistically discriminate regardless of your intent, you are in trouble.
Also, did a bias against those-not-like-me cause employment problems for, say, the Chinese? Why not?
I am saying people with African ancestry (regardless of their citizenship) belong to a gene pool which has average IQ lower than that of people with European ancestry. Lest you think that the whites are the pinnacle of evolution, the European gene pool has lower average IQ than, say, Han Chinese.
I don’t know if “deficit” is a useful word—there is no natural baseline and the fact that the IQ scale has the average IQ of Europeans as the “norm” (100) is just a historical accident. I think it’s more correct to just say that different gene pools have different IQ distributions.
There are two separable questions here. The first one is do you agree that people with African ancestry have lower average IQ (by about one standard deviation) than people with European ancestry? That question has nothing to do with slavery and segregation. If you do not, we hit a major disagreement right here and there’s not much point in discussing why contemporary black Americans have different outcomes than whites or Asians. If you do, we can move on to the second question: what is the relative role of various factors which determine the current state of the black Americans?
I might suggest the following approach. If you agree that the average IQ of blacks is lower, then let’s estimate the effect of that on social outcomes. It might be that this cause will explain a great deal of what we observe. If so, there’s no need to bring in the history of slavery and segregation as a major factor because there wouldn’t be much left to explain.
Ashkenazi Jews have higher average IQ than whites and were segregated and discrimated against. Are they in a similar situation? Were they in a similar situation at the time when the segregation was just ending?
Besides, you’re forgetting that one can just go and measure IQ. There is a lot of data on the average IQ of racial groups in the US. Hint: American blacks do not have higher IQ.
Yes, but we’re not talking about “all cases”. We are talking about the very specific case of the United States of America.
Um, things have changed. Already.
I’d submit it’s a matter of definition.
Great point. I didn’t know this. I’ll have to do more reading. Generally though, I’d concede anti-discrimination laws have an impact.
Well, the Chinese weren’t enslaved. And it’s my experience there is not nearly as much racism against Asians as against blacks in America, but that is just my anecdotal experience.
I’ve looked into this only briefly, and I’ll take your word for it.
It makes sense to me to separate this into two questions like you propose. As I said, I’ll defer to your research and knowledge on the first point (and suspend my skepticism in the process), and move to your second question.
As to that second question—what is the relative role of various factors which determine the current state of the black Americans—I’m interested to know what you think, given your view that people with African ancestry have lower IQs...
...You’ve stated it’s complex, but roughly, what percentage of contemporary social outcomes experienced by blacks in America are a result of genetic differences (“nature”), and what percentage are a result of environmental factors (nurture)? Of that percentage that you deem to be the result of environmental factors, what portion is a result of slavery/segregation/discrimination? Again, just looking for a rough sketch from your mind here, as I recognize you have stated it’s complex and difficult to parse.
Also, I’m wondering how the idea people with African ancestry have lower average IQ than people with European ancestry informs your politics?
Well, you can probably go about it in the following way. IQ is and was a controversial concept. One of the lines of attack against it was that it is meaningless, that the number coming out of the IQ test does not correspond to anything in real life. This is often expressed as “IQ measures the skill of taking IQ tests”.
To deal with this objection people ran a number of studies. Typically you take a set of young people and either give them a proper IQ test or rely on another test which is a decent IQ proxy—usually the SAT in the US or one of the tests that the military gives to all its drafted or enlisted men. After that you follow that set of people and collect their life outcomes, from income to criminal records. Once you’ve done that you can see whether the measured IQ actually correlates to life outcomes. And yes, it does.
I don’t have links to actual studies handy, but you can easily google them up, and you can take a look at a not-fully-rigorous description of the various tiers of IQ and what do they mean in real-life terms.
Basically what these studies give you is the cost of an IQ point, cost in terms of a lot of things—income, chance to end up in prison, longevity (high-IQ people are noticeably healthier), etc.
Given this, you can calculate the expected outcomes for the US black population. If their average IQ is 10-15 points lower, you can translate this into expected income (lower than the US mean), expected chance of a criminal conviction (higher than the US mean) and other things you’re interested in. Once you’ve done that, you can compare your expected values with ones empirically observed. Any remaining gap will be due to something other than the IQ differential.
On a macro level it does not. There are smart people, there are stupid people, and the correlation to some outwardly visible feature like the colour of the skin doesn’t matter much. I am not a white nationalist, I do not think the Europeans should re-colonise Africa for the natives’ own good, etc.
On a micro level it does. For example, I find affirmative action counter-productive. For another example, I don’t believe the claims that inner-city schools (read: black) lag behind suburban schools (read: not black) because of lack of funding or because of surrounding poverty. Throwing money at the problem will achieve nothing.
How do you mean? You’re saying you believe it to be true that, generally, people with black skin color are more likely to have a significantly lower IQ than people with white skin color… And you believe that IQ is correlated with life outcomes. How can this not matter much?
I also have the sense this may be true in many instances. The theory seems solid, but I’m not sure it works as intended in practice.
Why do they lag behind? Is it because of the IQ difference you believe exists between black and whites?
...
You say you’re not a white nationalist...I’m curious about your reaction to those who are? In regard to segregation, for instance… You say you don’t think the Europeans should re-colonise Africa for the natives’ own good—Why not?
Lumifer likely believes that IQ predicts school performance and there are many studies that back this claim. He quite specifically said that you can calculate outcomes.
However not all white/black people are the same. Statements about the average IQ are statements about averages. Not all white have the same IQ and not all black people have the same IQ. Low IQ white people have low IQ children.
In Germany a white child named “Kevin” is likely to have a lower IQ than a child named “Jakob” and if you run your implicit bias tests you find that there’s bias against the child named “Kevin”.
Stupid people are still people. They have rights. Their propensity to make stupid decisions is not sufficient to take away from them the power to make decisions.
Yes.
Is a shrug :-) People have all kinds of political beliefs, I don’t find the white nationalists to be extraordinary.
As to re-colonising Africa, see the first paragraph :-)
Hm. These views seem very likely to lead to racism.
I’ve read Breitbart frequently since Steve Bannon was added to Trump’s campaign because I’m fascinated with how Trump (an obvious hustler/fraud/charlatan in my view) has managed to get this close to the Oval Office. It’s been illuminating (in a disturbing way) in understanding where I now believe a lot of the Trump support is coming from.
I’m confident a portion of his support is just Red-Team-no-matter-what Repubs. And some are one issue Pro-Life Christians. And some are fiscal conservatives who are sincerely just concerned about the debt and spending. And some are blue collar workers in areas (Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.) where the global economy/technology caused manufacturing to dry up decades ago and they are mad as hell about the facts of the world and will just keep voting to change something, anything until they day they die...
But there is also this (disturbingly large) element of the movement that think non-white people are less than white people. Like, this group of Trump supporters are literally white supremacists—they believe white people are better suited for civilization. And, of course, no one can say that and politically get away with it in 2016, so they use all sorts of dog whistle-y language to imply it—including the main Trumpian slogan, “Make America Great Again™”
LOL. “Could lead to dancing”.
Under a common definition of racism as belief in meaningful differences between races, these views are racism. So?
I mean “racism” in a way that is significantly consequential for those who are discriminated against. An active racism.
If there truly are meaningful genetic differences between races, then so be it. But that seems to be the justification for the portion of “white supremacist” Trump supporters I mentioned above. It’s an angry racism that seems likely to be problematic.
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.