11 Comments

The Cajun name is spelled Hebert, not Herbet.

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Suggestion for follow-up: what would a humane program that addressed disparity in cognitive abilities look like, given that 20-40% is *not* heritable?

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Given the point of the post, relying on cognitive intelligence measured using standardized test scores (see https://www.nlsinfo.org/content/cohorts/nlsy79/topical-guide/education) seems unreasonable.

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I've been following you on Twitter for a while and your patient approach to data mining is greatly appreciated. Many of us are exploring the question of why the world is the way it is with an open mind and data like this is of genuine interest.

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Stimulating post, thank you! Many (e.g., Kendi) will say that measures of cognitive ability are themselves typically racist and therefore vitiate the point you've tried to make about cognitive ability and equality of outcomes. Can you expand on what these metrics are (SAT? GPA? Level of education attained?) and why we should trust them to tell us anything about individuals, rather than merely reflect our society's racism back at us?

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Wouldn't any test which shows a difference between races be a racist one? What metric would you consider a fair measure of cognitive ability? Raven's Progressive Matrices seems like a pretty good test to me, in terms of cultural neutrality.

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I'm not all that worried about tests of cognitive ability myself. I guess those who are worried that such tests are racist aren't going to be convinced by Raven's Progressive Matrices or anything else, so it's probably not even worth engaging with the question.

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It’s important to engage with the question because cognitive ability predicts life outcomes and this is all about racial disparity in life outcomes. What causes the disparity should be an important empirical topic of study so we can decide the appropriate remedy or even whether the situation can be remedied. If we choose the wrong remedy or try to remedy the unremarkable we will waste resources and exacerbate social tensions unnecessarily.

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Sorry unremediable

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They can't, you can keep using edge cases like he does (tutors for the tests) and continue to advocate for more power going to certain groups; which is the point.

The idea of the individual separate from the group is a product of the white supremacist enlightenment. You can have equity or inequity in any system.

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Yeah if we take it on faith that all races are equal in every way except appearance then logically all disparities must be due to prejudice against color. But I see no reason to accept the premise.

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