In one post, [Alexander] aligned himself with Charles Murray, who proposed a link between race and I.Q. in “The Bell Curve.” In another, he pointed out that Mr. Murray believes Black people “are genetically less intelligent than white people.”
I think Zack’s description might be too charitable to Scott. From his description I thought the reference would be strictly about poverty. But the full quote includes a lot about genetics and ability to earn money. The full quote is
The only public figure I can think of in the southeast quadrant with me is Charles Murray. Neither he nor I would dare reduce all class differences to heredity, and he in particular has some very sophisticated theories about class and culture. But he shares my skepticism that the 55 year old Kentucky trucker can be taught to code, and I don’t think he’s too sanguine about the trucker’s kids either. His solution is a basic income guarantee, and I guess that’s mine too. Not because I have great answers to all of the QZ article’s problems. But just because I don’t have any better ideas1,2.
Scott doesn’t mention race, but it’s an obvious implication[1], especially when quoting someone the NYT crowd views as anathema. I think Metz could have quoted that paragraph, and maybe given the NYT consensus view on him for anyone who didn’t know, and readers would think very poorly of Scott[2].
I bring this up for a couple of reasons:
it seems in the spirit of Zack’s post to point out when he made an error in presenting evidence.
it looks like Metz chose to play stupid symmetric warfare games, instead of the epistemically virtuous thing of sharing a direct quote. The quote should have gotten him what he wanted, so why be dishonest about it? I have some hypotheses, none of which lead me to trust Metz.
To be clear: that paragraph doesn’t make me think poorly of Scott. I personally agree with Scott that genetics influences jobs and income. I like UBI for lots of reasons, including this one. If I read that paragraph I wouldn’t find any of the views objectionable (although a little eyebrow raise that he couldn’t find an example with a less toxic reputation- but I can’t immediately think of another example that fits either).
I think Zack’s description might be too charitable to Scott. From his description I thought the reference would be strictly about poverty. But the full quote includes a lot about genetics and ability to earn money. The full quote is
Scott doesn’t mention race, but it’s an obvious implication[1], especially when quoting someone the NYT crowd views as anathema. I think Metz could have quoted that paragraph, and maybe given the NYT consensus view on him for anyone who didn’t know, and readers would think very poorly of Scott[2].
I bring this up for a couple of reasons:
it seems in the spirit of Zack’s post to point out when he made an error in presenting evidence.
it looks like Metz chose to play stupid symmetric warfare games, instead of the epistemically virtuous thing of sharing a direct quote. The quote should have gotten him what he wanted, so why be dishonest about it? I have some hypotheses, none of which lead me to trust Metz.
ETA: If you hold the very common assumption that race is a good proxy for genetics. I disagree, but that is the default view.
To be clear: that paragraph doesn’t make me think poorly of Scott. I personally agree with Scott that genetics influences jobs and income. I like UBI for lots of reasons, including this one. If I read that paragraph I wouldn’t find any of the views objectionable (although a little eyebrow raise that he couldn’t find an example with a less toxic reputation- but I can’t immediately think of another example that fits either).