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I don't agree with your comment that it is genetics I think it is more environmental. If you take two smart people. Deprive one of them from sleep, water, food

I don't agree with your comment that it is genetics I think it is more environmental. If you take two smart people. Deprive one of them from sleep, water, food and then give them an IQ test in a dimly lit room that is freezing cold but don't do this to the other person on average the person who was not subject to all that crap will do better. This is the uneven playing field that AA was supposed to correct. If these racial based IQ test took into account the socio economic status of maybe 2 generations before the actual subject and normalized for that I wonder if the difference would be as big or even there at all.

an27 9y ago
I didn't say it's certain to be 100% genetic, just that it's a serious possibility that a "significant" part of the difference can be explained that way. I'm aware of the concept of the Flynn effect, but it's not going to make me discard biology altogether. IQ is known to be largely hereditary, around 75%[0] when tested in adults. Average IQ's in Africa are between 67 and 82[1], which to me is interesting to note as it suggests that the IQ of African-Americans has increased by 3-18 points on average since they were moved to America, assuming the average African IQ has not increased since the introduction of slaves to America (otherwise the effect would be larger, but perhaps this increase happens uniformly to all groups of humans). Interracial reproduction could be one factor in this rise in IQ, as the average percentage of white DNA in African Americans is 17-18%. There are also socioeconomic factors, cultural factors, the particular African demographics of slaves imported to America, selection processes after their arrival (e.g. smart slaves reproducing more often) and selection processes after the end of slavery, to name a few possibilities. There's also the possible factor that socioeconomic factors can be embedded in your DNA, as research suggests that things that happen to you in life can affect gene expression in your offspring. I'm not disputing that nurture is a factor, but nature exists too. Biology is real, and race is not just a social construct. I suppose one would have stronger evidence that African American's genes are not a factor in their disadvantages, if one studied the correlation between IQ and percentage of white DNA in African Americans, but I'm not sure what universities would approve such a study for fear of it reaching an undesirable conclusion. Then again, this won't be relevant once we find what genes are responsible for IQ and genetic enhancement goes mainstream. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_and_intelligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_and_intelligence [2]: http://blackdemographics.com/geography/african-american-dna/ http://blackdemographics.com/geography/african-american-dna/

an27 9y ago

I didn't say it's certain to be 100% genetic, just that it's a serious possibility that a "significant" part of the difference can be explained that way. I'm aware of the concept of the Flynn effect, but it's not going to make me discard biology altogether. IQ is known to be largely hereditary, around 75%[0] when tested in adults. Average IQ's in Africa are between 67 and 82[1], which to me is interesting to note as it suggests that the IQ of African-Americans has increased by 3-18 points on average since they were moved to America, assuming the average African IQ has not increased since the introduction of slaves to America (otherwise the effect would be larger, but perhaps this increase happens uniformly to all groups of humans). Interracial reproduction could be one factor in this rise in IQ, as the average percentage of white DNA in African Americans is 17-18%. There are also socioeconomic factors, cultural factors, the particular African demographics of slaves imported to America, selection processes after their arrival (e.g. smart slaves reproducing more often) and selection processes after the end of slavery, to name a few possibilities. There's also the possible factor that socioeconomic factors can be embedded in your DNA, as research suggests that things that happen to you in life can affect gene expression in your offspring. I'm not disputing that nurture is a factor, but nature exists too. Biology is real, and race is not just a social construct. I suppose one would have stronger evidence that African American's genes are not a factor in their disadvantages, if one studied the correlation between IQ and percentage of white DNA in African Americans, but I'm not sure what universities would approve such a study for fear of it reaching an undesirable conclusion. Then again, this won't be relevant once we find what genes are responsible for IQ and genetic enhancement goes mainstream. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_and_intelligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_and_intelligence [2]: http://blackdemographics.com/geography/african-american-dna/ http://blackdemographics.com/geography/african-american-dna/