Athenae, Immoral Values

Scientific Inquiry

On intelligence:

If you are going to lead a scientific inquiry about the relative
intelligence of racial groups (assuming all definitional problems are
solved and that “intelligence” is a single variable), then there are
three potential outcomes, generally speaking:

1.) W (whites) are more intelligent than B (blacks).

2.) W and B are equally intelligent.

3.) W are less intelligent than B.

Whenever this tired old debate is brought up, the only propositions that are ever introduced are 1 and 2. Grace never mentioned 3. Volokh never mentioned 3. Nobody I’ve ever had this debate with hasever
mentioned 3. It’s because the debate that you’re having isn’t about
science’s ability to measure racial intelligence as a genetic factor –
it’s about the defense of racial stereotypes as something you can’t
disprove and therefore shouldn’t be so damned sensitive about.

And here’s another thing, really: Conducting a scientific study is a whole different undertaking than shooting your mouth off about stupid black people at a dinner party, and I’m about done equating the two in the interests of letting racists off the hook because they use big words.

A.

7 thoughts on “Scientific Inquiry”

  1. Win ofthe day:

    The main lesson here: Don’t be racist. But if you really, really are—and really, really need to voice your racist thoughts—don’t write them in an email to a devious friend who may later sabotage you. Simply find the nearest well and shout your racist thoughts into them; get it out of your system, and continue on with your bigoted life.

    OnSunday I quotedthis too: “Stephanie graduated from Princeton in 2007 with a degree in – wait for it – sociology.” I’ve never been a regular Gawker reader but they’ve got some good writers.

  2. That’s the best goddamn breakdown of the race/intelligence bullshit I’ve ever seen.

  3. Well, clearly B>W, because it’s the W (subspecies Assholius Troglodytae Conservitus) that comes up with such moronic crap.
    That counts for a big minus, right there.

  4. Of course, this would never pass a competent thesis committee as they miss 3 big, obvious factors:
    1) What is intelligence and how does it correlate to the various intelligence tests.
    2) Both W and B aren’t discrete points, but rather distributions.
    3) The races, despite the desire of the KKK, aren’t “pure” but are mixed.

  5. @MapleStreet: that’s what gets me, too. I’ll start conceding points about race as a predictor of intelligence when the racists can give me a reliable, valid way to determine what race a particular person belongs to. Until then, Stephanie Whoever can STFU.

  6. Little Miss Stephanie also seems to have forgotten several other skin colors, eyelid configurations and cranial shapes in quest for a truth that makes her happy.
    The Nazis justified attacking the Soviet Union on the belief that Russians were subhuman. (Oops! The subhumans beat the living shit out of the Übermensch.)
    The sugar traders in 18th century England and France justified slavery by saying blacks were subhuman, and therefore had no souls. (Didn’t stop the Europeans from trying tosave their nonexistent souls, though.)
    The modern, college-educated bigot would never say such a thing out loud, but, there’s a long tradition in bigotry of thinking that others will be fooled by the same semantic tricks with which the bigot fools himself. Little Miss Stephanie proudly shows her disdain for civilization by marching resolutely into the 18th century version of it.
    At their roots, institutional racism and individual bigotry depend upon rationalizations to justify economic exploitation. Ultimately, all such rationalizations are antidemocratic in nature and are attempts to create artificial class divisions which then can be exploited economically.
    Little Miss Stephanie should know that, being a sociology major and all…

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