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Discussions about IQ (which isn’t a particularly useful metric anyway, for various reasons) tend to veer into racist territory because people end up associating

Discussions about IQ (which isn’t a particularly useful metric anyway, for various reasons) tend to veer into racist territory because people end up associating wealth and success with IQ, and since a disproportionate amount of wealth in America is controlled by whites people, and since minorities are more likely to live in poverty, this causes some people to suggest that those specific minorities have lower IQs or something. Basically, it brings up old racial stereotypes of non-whites not being as intelligent as whites, which is a very old, racist canard.

jacobreise 7y ago
"because people end up associating wealth and success with IQ, and since a disproportionate amount of wealth in America is controlled by whites people, and since minorities are more likely to live in poverty, this causes some people to suggest that those specific minorities have lower IQs or something" This is really not how IQ testing is done. Rather than guessing about correlations in the environment to IQ and working backwards to come up with an estimate for IQ, generally IQ tests are administered.
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  But notoriously with cultural bias. Questions about 'which of these tea-service items goes with the other?' and so on.
  - jacobreise 7y ago
    It isn't true that IQ tests contain questions about tea-service items or yachting or other culturally biased questions. Raven's Progressive Matrices [1] is an example of a test that doesn't depend upon knowledge of tea service items. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices
    - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
      Presuming of course that test-taking, geometric drawings, mathematical concepts are not cultural either...
Zenbit_UX 7y ago
Which is why it's hard to understand how the study suggests environment plays such an insignificant role. If you're born into a very poor home, and to use your example, a poor black home in the US, I'm not convinced my IQ would overcome my environmental handicap. How many times out of 10 would you expect to make it to college and earn a high paying job while growing up black in some of the rougher city's and neighborhoods of the US?

jacobreise 7y ago

"because people end up associating wealth and success with IQ, and since a disproportionate amount of wealth in America is controlled by whites people, and since minorities are more likely to live in poverty, this causes some people to suggest that those specific minorities have lower IQs or something" This is really not how IQ testing is done. Rather than guessing about correlations in the environment to IQ and working backwards to come up with an estimate for IQ, generally IQ tests are administered.

JoeAltmaier 7y ago
But notoriously with cultural bias. Questions about 'which of these tea-service items goes with the other?' and so on.
- jacobreise 7y ago
  It isn't true that IQ tests contain questions about tea-service items or yachting or other culturally biased questions. Raven's Progressive Matrices [1] is an example of a test that doesn't depend upon knowledge of tea service items. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven%27s_Progressive_Matrices
  - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
    Presuming of course that test-taking, geometric drawings, mathematical concepts are not cultural either...

Zenbit_UX 7y ago

Which is why it's hard to understand how the study suggests environment plays such an insignificant role. If you're born into a very poor home, and to use your example, a poor black home in the US, I'm not convinced my IQ would overcome my environmental handicap. How many times out of 10 would you expect to make it to college and earn a high paying job while growing up black in some of the rougher city's and neighborhoods of the US?