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Yeah some racists thought black people are stupid because of brain size. Has less than nothing to do with modern IQ tests. I’m not following your argument that

by ryan93 5y ago

Yeah some racists thought black people are stupid because of brain size. Has less than nothing to do with modern IQ tests. I’m not following your argument that the racist behavior of people in the general study of intelligence invalidate all study of it forever.

runarberg 5y ago
I drew the parallels because we know the brain size studies were pseudo science with an agenda to prove a ludicrous statement. IQs are still up for debate, but we do know that modern IQ tests have their foundations in the eugenics movement. And they certainly had the same agenda as the brain size hacks, so I don’t think the parallels are unfair. There has been a high profile literature as early as the 1990s (The Bell Curve) which tries to use the IQ to prove this nonsense. So even if the brain size hacks are all gone, and the eugenics movement died with WW2, there are still people with an agenda where a nuanced free immutable “intelligence” is their goal.
- ryan93 5y ago
  Saying the “foundations” isn’t an argument. Many geneticists used to be hard core eugenicists doesn’t invalidate the whole field or it’s developments. The validity of modern iq exams has been studied by hundreds or thousands of modern non racist psychologists and the evidence is public info
  - runarberg 5y ago
    The evidence is still disputed, and the validity is encoded in the tests. Modern IQ tests are adjusted to be robust across multiple trials, that doesn’t prove that intelligence is immutable by a long shot, it is merely a self fulfilling prophecy. Books such as The Bell Curve are not in and of them self racist. This book in particular makes zero racist claims. However it relies on deeply racist studies as its premise, so if you want to conclude anything from it, that conclusion is racist. I don’t think every proponent of IQ is racist, however there is a lot of racism embedded in the research, sometimes directly, but most often by association.

by ryan93 5y ago

runarberg 5y ago

I drew the parallels because we know the brain size studies were pseudo science with an agenda to prove a ludicrous statement. IQs are still up for debate, but we do know that modern IQ tests have their foundations in the eugenics movement. And they certainly had the same agenda as the brain size hacks, so I don’t think the parallels are unfair. There has been a high profile literature as early as the 1990s (The Bell Curve) which tries to use the IQ to prove this nonsense. So even if the brain size hacks are all gone, and the eugenics movement died with WW2, there are still people with an agenda where a nuanced free immutable “intelligence” is their goal.

ryan93 5y ago
Saying the “foundations” isn’t an argument. Many geneticists used to be hard core eugenicists doesn’t invalidate the whole field or it’s developments. The validity of modern iq exams has been studied by hundreds or thousands of modern non racist psychologists and the evidence is public info
- runarberg 5y ago
  The evidence is still disputed, and the validity is encoded in the tests. Modern IQ tests are adjusted to be robust across multiple trials, that doesn’t prove that intelligence is immutable by a long shot, it is merely a self fulfilling prophecy. Books such as The Bell Curve are not in and of them self racist. This book in particular makes zero racist claims. However it relies on deeply racist studies as its premise, so if you want to conclude anything from it, that conclusion is racist. I don’t think every proponent of IQ is racist, however there is a lot of racism embedded in the research, sometimes directly, but most often by association.