3 ms·
It could be explained by lots of things — my point was that population differences in abilities that can be learned will obviously result if the population does
by wrs 7y ago
It could be explained by lots of things — my point was that population differences in abilities that can be learned will obviously result if the population doesn’t have a uniform opportunity to practice those abilities uniformly, so it’s hard to avoid explaining the lack of learning by the lack of abilities without becoming circular.
It’s biological fact that brains are extremely plastic, and I’m sure we all know (or are) people who have rendered “innate” talents or lack thereof irrelevant by the application of study and practice. If cultural biases limit practice in a population, that population will certainly skew lower in ability as a result.
- btilly 7y agoQuestion. What evidence would it take to convince you that there are real biological differences? In the hypothetical, yes. Absolutely. Social differences can explain a lot of what look like biological differences. The opposite is also true. Biology may cause large differences. These two explanations are also not necessarily in conflict. Biological factors may work through social dynamics. For example hormones can change our actions which affects our immediate social environment at impressionable ages. That said, evidence suggests that testosterone levels during puberty affects our spatial reasoning abilities for the rest of our lives. Given the very large difference in testosterone levels between men and women, this suggests a biological explanation of the measured gender difference.