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This sounds like frenology all over again. There are many ways to teach children, and children are different. No need to give up or never try due to some linear

by loopz 6y ago

This sounds like frenology all over again. There are many ways to teach children, and children are different. No need to give up or never try due to some linear stats. As society we must afford to think outside the box. I don't view such worldviews as racist, just pseudointellectualism.

core-questions 6y ago
> This sounds like frenology all over again. Phrenology, and no, it's not at all the same. Phrenologists believed that you could determine aspects of a person's propensity towards behavior by measuring their head; psychometricians believe we can determine how intelligent someone is by using an intelligence test. If you really think these two things are at all comparable, it's hard to believe you're posting in good faith. Truly, you're doing yourself a disservice, and you're showing ignorance and disrespect toward the many social scientists, psychologists, and statisticians who have researched psychometrics and the study of general intelligence for over a century. > There are many ways to teach children, and children are different. No need to give up or never try due to some linear stats. Where is this implied in what I posted? I absolutely believe in making sure that people have access to great mathematics education; further, I don't think we should even use aggregate statistics to in any way limit the opportunities we extend to every member of society to climb that ladder if it is their calling. The problem is that there are people who expect that the constituency of mathematicians is going to be a 1:1 representative sample of the population. In fact, that's probably still "too white" for many, since that would result in 60%+ white people. In reality, the group is, will, and will always be composed of those who are able to ascend to a level of mathematical greatness that you and I and most other folks wouldn't even dream of. Any attempt to change that forcibly along the lines of racial equity is going to result in something that will make Maoist killings of intellectuals look positively honest and forthright in comparison.
- loopz 6y ago
  Good points. For educators what should matter most is how to teach most effectively to different children. This requires thinking out of the box, but is hard to scale.

by loopz 6y ago

core-questions 6y ago

> This sounds like frenology all over again. Phrenology, and no, it's not at all the same. Phrenologists believed that you could determine aspects of a person's propensity towards behavior by measuring their head; psychometricians believe we can determine how intelligent someone is by using an intelligence test. If you really think these two things are at all comparable, it's hard to believe you're posting in good faith. Truly, you're doing yourself a disservice, and you're showing ignorance and disrespect toward the many social scientists, psychologists, and statisticians who have researched psychometrics and the study of general intelligence for over a century. > There are many ways to teach children, and children are different. No need to give up or never try due to some linear stats. Where is this implied in what I posted? I absolutely believe in making sure that people have access to great mathematics education; further, I don't think we should even use aggregate statistics to in any way limit the opportunities we extend to every member of society to climb that ladder if it is their calling. The problem is that there are people who expect that the constituency of mathematicians is going to be a 1:1 representative sample of the population. In fact, that's probably still "too white" for many, since that would result in 60%+ white people. In reality, the group is, will, and will always be composed of those who are able to ascend to a level of mathematical greatness that you and I and most other folks wouldn't even dream of. Any attempt to change that forcibly along the lines of racial equity is going to result in something that will make Maoist killings of intellectuals look positively honest and forthright in comparison.

loopz 6y ago
Good points. For educators what should matter most is how to teach most effectively to different children. This requires thinking out of the box, but is hard to scale.