4 ms·

I find academic fads fascinating. "Intelligence" has become a taboo word, and so we find "cognitive ability" in its place, which is I guess a shibboleth for th

by JackFr 4y ago

I find academic fads fascinating. "Intelligence" has become a taboo word, and so we find "cognitive ability" in its place, which is I guess a shibboleth for the in-group when you mean intelligence.

contravariant 4y ago
Given how often intelligence is conflated with education or knowledge I don't think they're trying to avoid the word per se they're just trying to be explicit. They do use the term intelligence in the article itself.
- runeks 4y ago
  How do they measure "cognitive ability" in this study? If it's just IQ the then why not just write "high-IQ" and avoid the ambiguity? EDIT: See here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33855704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33855704
cinntaile 4y ago
That's not an academic fad, it's just how languages organically evolve. The connotation of words shifts over time. Retard was ok before, now people say braindead instead. Switching one "medical" condition for another doesn't really change much but here we are because one is considered more ok than the other. In the future it'll be something else again.
- svnt 4y ago
  Braindead people are the least able to defend themselves of any living humans. The fact that we use their condition as an insult is unconscionable. I don’t know if I’m being sarcastic or not anymore.
spookie 4y ago
I believe cognitive ability to be more concrete, clearer. In all honesty.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Veen 4y ago
  Why? And by "why" I mean "for what reason". And by "reason" I mean "a cause for an action or event". And by "cause" I mean "a thing that gives rise to a phenomenon". So I suppose what I am saying is: "What cause for an action or event gives rise to the phenomenon of your belief that "cognitive ability" is clearer?"
  - smt88 4y ago
    Why isn't ambiguous. Intelligence is used in multiple contexts and that makes it confusing even as a technical term. For example, in the context of national security or corporate strategy, it means "knowledge" rather than intellect.
  - dahart 4y ago
    Have you considered the possibility that “cognitive ability” is a technical term of art in this context, or an “improper noun”. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32673100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32673100 It’s always worth assuming that terminology used for a technical scientific paper was chosen carefully and may imply certain specific things that those of us not working in the same field might not know. Still, even the words themselves don’t seem to mean exactly the same thing; cognitive ability does seem more specific than intelligence (especially if you consider the common terms emotional intelligence, general intelligence, and artificial intelligence). It’s pretty easy to find evidence that cognitive ability and intelligence mean slightly different things. https://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/12/21/are-cognitive-abilities-the-same-thing-as-intelligence https://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/12/21/are-cognitive-abilit... Plus there are different aptitude tests, some named IQ Test (Stanford-Binet) and some named Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT).
  - svnt 4y ago
    The term intelligence has popular connotations that dilute its usefulness as a term of art. Once you zoom in on it, as with any abstract folk concept, you realize that there is no such thing as intelligence and because of that you cannot articulate a sensibly accurate position in a narrow field based on its use. In any sense of applied science “intelligence” is intractable. The historical equivalent definition would be maybe something like “cognitive ability for logic puzzle solving in Western culture” Or maybe you were making a joke, but this is a real problem, and “reason” has the same problem.
jackmott42 4y ago
This sort of churning around of words happens all over our culture, not just academia. Back in ~1985 when I was in school it became not ok to say retarded as that is derogatory , and there was shift to use the word "Special". Immediately then "special" become derogatory. Anyway this is normal human stuff that is always going on, its a bit silly, but its also fine. Find other battles to get irritated about that matter, is my advice.
- a_f 4y ago
  Casuallly known as the euphemism treadmill I believe
  - wanderingstan 4y ago
    Yes, coined in 1984 by Pinker: https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/05/opinion/the-game-of-the-name.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/05/opinion/the-game-of-the-n...
BMc2020 4y ago
GWB wasn't stupid, he was 'intellectually incurious'.
- t-3 4y ago
  No, he was a good actor. If you thought he was a folksy idiot, that means he got you.
  - BMc2020 4y ago
    He really committed to method acting then. So good he spent his entire life in character.
    - teddyh 4y ago
      You may have fallen for propaganda from your own team, trying to convince you that the opposing team is stupid: https://www.keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/ https://www.keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/
- lr4444lr 4y ago
  He flew interceptor aircraft in the US military, so obviously he had significant mental capacities. He also abused alcohol for a while in his early adult life, which would explain a lot of the symptoms we saw in his older years as president.
  - BMc2020 4y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_military_service_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_military_servic... Oh please. He got the spoiled rich kid treatment (son of a congressman in this case). Joining the guard was a way to get out of Vietnam. His 'champagne unit' flew obsolete fighters that were never going overseas. At a time when it was very hard for blacks to get into the guard, his unit had two. (Why? They were Dallas Cowboys). A smart man would take such a good deal and do nothing to screw up his free ride. GWB was not smart, so then...
peoplefromibiza 4y ago
there are many serial killers with very high IQ and zero ability to process logically the consequences of what they were about to do. cognitive abilities don't necessarily require intelligence, depending on which they are talking about. for example attention is a cognitive ability, many so called gifted kids lack the ability to focus and/or pay prolonged attention.
- WitCanStain 4y ago
  I'm not sure I buy the high IQ but zero logical abilitu claim. Source?
  - peoplefromibiza 4y ago
    see the literature about the most popular cases . They are all either sociopaths or psycopaths, two conditions that have in common the the inability to understand and care about the consequences of their actions.
runeks 4y ago
> "Intelligence" has become a taboo word [...] Doesn't seem to be the case. Quote from the paper: > Largely omitted from the conversation, by contrast, is cognitive ability—also called intelligence, and which reflects the individuals' maximal (rather than typical) performance when understanding and solving complex problems and ideas.
raegis 4y ago
They were using "cognitive ability" back in the 1980s when I was in high school taking the SAT.

by JackFr 4y ago

I find academic fads fascinating. "Intelligence" has become a taboo word, and so we find "cognitive ability" in its place, which is I guess a shibboleth for the in-group when you mean intelligence.

contravariant 4y ago

Given how often intelligence is conflated with education or knowledge I don't think they're trying to avoid the word per se they're just trying to be explicit. They do use the term intelligence in the article itself.

runeks 4y ago
How do they measure "cognitive ability" in this study? If it's just IQ the then why not just write "high-IQ" and avoid the ambiguity? EDIT: See here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33855704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33855704

cinntaile 4y ago

That's not an academic fad, it's just how languages organically evolve. The connotation of words shifts over time. Retard was ok before, now people say braindead instead. Switching one "medical" condition for another doesn't really change much but here we are because one is considered more ok than the other. In the future it'll be something else again.

svnt 4y ago
Braindead people are the least able to defend themselves of any living humans. The fact that we use their condition as an insult is unconscionable. I don’t know if I’m being sarcastic or not anymore.

spookie 4y ago

I believe cognitive ability to be more concrete, clearer. In all honesty.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Veen 4y ago
Why? And by "why" I mean "for what reason". And by "reason" I mean "a cause for an action or event". And by "cause" I mean "a thing that gives rise to a phenomenon". So I suppose what I am saying is: "What cause for an action or event gives rise to the phenomenon of your belief that "cognitive ability" is clearer?"
- smt88 4y ago
  Why isn't ambiguous. Intelligence is used in multiple contexts and that makes it confusing even as a technical term. For example, in the context of national security or corporate strategy, it means "knowledge" rather than intellect.
- dahart 4y ago
  Have you considered the possibility that “cognitive ability” is a technical term of art in this context, or an “improper noun”. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32673100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32673100 It’s always worth assuming that terminology used for a technical scientific paper was chosen carefully and may imply certain specific things that those of us not working in the same field might not know. Still, even the words themselves don’t seem to mean exactly the same thing; cognitive ability does seem more specific than intelligence (especially if you consider the common terms emotional intelligence, general intelligence, and artificial intelligence). It’s pretty easy to find evidence that cognitive ability and intelligence mean slightly different things. https://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/12/21/are-cognitive-abilities-the-same-thing-as-intelligence https://sharpbrains.com/blog/2006/12/21/are-cognitive-abilit... Plus there are different aptitude tests, some named IQ Test (Stanford-Binet) and some named Cognitive Ability Test (CogAT).
- svnt 4y ago
  The term intelligence has popular connotations that dilute its usefulness as a term of art. Once you zoom in on it, as with any abstract folk concept, you realize that there is no such thing as intelligence and because of that you cannot articulate a sensibly accurate position in a narrow field based on its use. In any sense of applied science “intelligence” is intractable. The historical equivalent definition would be maybe something like “cognitive ability for logic puzzle solving in Western culture” Or maybe you were making a joke, but this is a real problem, and “reason” has the same problem.

jackmott42 4y ago

This sort of churning around of words happens all over our culture, not just academia. Back in ~1985 when I was in school it became not ok to say retarded as that is derogatory , and there was shift to use the word "Special". Immediately then "special" become derogatory. Anyway this is normal human stuff that is always going on, its a bit silly, but its also fine. Find other battles to get irritated about that matter, is my advice.

a_f 4y ago
Casuallly known as the euphemism treadmill I believe
- wanderingstan 4y ago
  Yes, coined in 1984 by Pinker: https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/05/opinion/the-game-of-the-name.html https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/05/opinion/the-game-of-the-n...

BMc2020 4y ago

GWB wasn't stupid, he was 'intellectually incurious'.

t-3 4y ago
No, he was a good actor. If you thought he was a folksy idiot, that means he got you.
- BMc2020 4y ago
  He really committed to method acting then. So good he spent his entire life in character.
  - teddyh 4y ago
    You may have fallen for propaganda from your own team, trying to convince you that the opposing team is stupid: https://www.keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/ https://www.keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/
lr4444lr 4y ago
He flew interceptor aircraft in the US military, so obviously he had significant mental capacities. He also abused alcohol for a while in his early adult life, which would explain a lot of the symptoms we saw in his older years as president.
- BMc2020 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_military_service_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush_military_servic... Oh please. He got the spoiled rich kid treatment (son of a congressman in this case). Joining the guard was a way to get out of Vietnam. His 'champagne unit' flew obsolete fighters that were never going overseas. At a time when it was very hard for blacks to get into the guard, his unit had two. (Why? They were Dallas Cowboys). A smart man would take such a good deal and do nothing to screw up his free ride. GWB was not smart, so then...

peoplefromibiza 4y ago

there are many serial killers with very high IQ and zero ability to process logically the consequences of what they were about to do. cognitive abilities don't necessarily require intelligence, depending on which they are talking about. for example attention is a cognitive ability, many so called gifted kids lack the ability to focus and/or pay prolonged attention.

WitCanStain 4y ago
I'm not sure I buy the high IQ but zero logical abilitu claim. Source?
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago
  see the literature about the most popular cases . They are all either sociopaths or psycopaths, two conditions that have in common the the inability to understand and care about the consequences of their actions.

runeks 4y ago

> "Intelligence" has become a taboo word [...] Doesn't seem to be the case. Quote from the paper: > Largely omitted from the conversation, by contrast, is cognitive ability—also called intelligence, and which reflects the individuals' maximal (rather than typical) performance when understanding and solving complex problems and ideas.

raegis 4y ago

They were using "cognitive ability" back in the 1980s when I was in high school taking the SAT.