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It's not just a problem, it's an incredibly tragic reality that we're not socially equipped to dispassionately discuss how we should respond to it

danenania 7y ago
It’s only a problem due to obsession with the very narrow component of intelligence that IQ tests measure. If we didn’t place such an undeserved and inordinate emphasis on this single trait, it wouldn’t be an issue. High IQ may or may not correlate with success in our civilization, but considering that our civilization is highly dysfunctional and has positioned itself on the verge of numerous forms of self-destruction, how much does that really matter? There are clearly many more components than IQ-style intelligence that contribute to a good life and a stable society. Anyone who thinks that either a person’s or an ethnic group’s performance on an IQ test says anything about that person’s or group’s value to the world is an idiot regardless of what their IQ might be.
- fastball 7y ago
  Things that are not important at an individual level can absolutely be important at a societal level.
- squirrelicus 7y ago
  I agree with all the things you said. I have one commentary: The fundamental problem with racists and group identitarians in general is that the things you know about a group don't tell you anything about the individual. The promise of the West is supposed to be (and i argue still is, despite Twitter) that we judge individuals by the content of their own character and not by their group memberships.
- papln 7y ago
  I've noticed that people who invest a lot of their ego into defending the primacy of IQ tend to low on non-IQ measures of talent/potential (such as "EQ" or physical abilities), even bending into logical contortions about how people who are high achievers despite supposedly low IQ (such as the MBA and Jock stereotypes that some engineers throw around) are somehow "cheating" at life.

danenania 7y ago

It’s only a problem due to obsession with the very narrow component of intelligence that IQ tests measure. If we didn’t place such an undeserved and inordinate emphasis on this single trait, it wouldn’t be an issue. High IQ may or may not correlate with success in our civilization, but considering that our civilization is highly dysfunctional and has positioned itself on the verge of numerous forms of self-destruction, how much does that really matter? There are clearly many more components than IQ-style intelligence that contribute to a good life and a stable society. Anyone who thinks that either a person’s or an ethnic group’s performance on an IQ test says anything about that person’s or group’s value to the world is an idiot regardless of what their IQ might be.

fastball 7y ago
Things that are not important at an individual level can absolutely be important at a societal level.
squirrelicus 7y ago
I agree with all the things you said. I have one commentary: The fundamental problem with racists and group identitarians in general is that the things you know about a group don't tell you anything about the individual. The promise of the West is supposed to be (and i argue still is, despite Twitter) that we judge individuals by the content of their own character and not by their group memberships.
papln 7y ago
I've noticed that people who invest a lot of their ego into defending the primacy of IQ tend to low on non-IQ measures of talent/potential (such as "EQ" or physical abilities), even bending into logical contortions about how people who are high achievers despite supposedly low IQ (such as the MBA and Jock stereotypes that some engineers throw around) are somehow "cheating" at life.