5 ms·
Poll: Do you believe intelligence is fixed?
- sj4nz 12y agoWhat does intelligence mean in this context?
- a3voices 12y agoYes. I'd wager Jewish infants adopted into a random family would perform better than black infants adopted into the same family, in a controlled study.
- ekm2 12y agoYou cannot draw a conclusion to an experiment you are yet to perform.At the very least, it does not count as scientific.
- a3voices 12y agoYes you can, it's called prediction.
- ekm2 12y agoIt looks more like a prophecy.
- danieltillett 12y agoThis experiment has already been performed. The results are complex and controversial.
- lake99 12y agoYou're probably right, but for the wrong reasons. Racism leads to positive and negative expectations [1]. And do explain how you'd control for expectations based on race in your study. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmalion_effect
- argc 12y agoI think the most likely possibility is that it is fixed to some extant - i.e. your genetics give you a baseline. Then, of course, your environment effects how much you grow above your baseline.
- ekm2 12y agoI used to believe the same thing too:that what is genetic is somehow fixed.But then i noticed how human action can alter genes.
- danieltillett 12y agoIt makes things much simpler and less emotional if we just substitute the word "height" for the word "intelligence" in any discussion on this topic.
- Rangi42 12y agoBrain damage can lower intelligence, and I see no reason why it could not be raised as well. Even if genes provide something "defaults" or "limits," environmental effects are still relevant.
- danieltillett 12y agoAre you really suggesting that brain damage can increase intelligence or just suggesting that intelligence can be raised? It is pretty pointless talking about if intelligence can be raised or not unless we actually define what we mean by intelligence. In the absence of a tight definition all we end up doing is arguing about what each of us thinks intelligence is.
- throwwit 12y agoAlthough rangi42 probably only meant it could be raised, there is evidence for the damage route. http://listverse.com/2013/07/23/10-fascinating-people-with-savant-syndrome/ http://listverse.com/2013/07/23/10-fascinating-people-with-s...
- nmac 12y agoIf by intelligence you mean something along the lines of information processing/synthesizing ability, then intelligence has been shown (hedging- strongly suggested) to be dynamic as the result of neuroplastic brain events. Assuming you believe some version of the brain = mind identity theory (otherwise, your intelligence may not depend on physical events and my example fails).
- jmromer 12y agoMy pre-theoretic intuition is that it's plastic up to some fixed degree determined primarily by genetics and secondarily by early life experiences. Given the degree of ignorance and uncertainty involved, though, I think a more interesting discussion centers on the risks involved with what we choose to believe: namely, what's the upside (for individuals, for societies) of assuming "intelligence is fixed" (however interpreted) or that it's not? What's the downside risk of believing the same? How are these risks and potential gains distributed across segments of the population? Lastly, how do these potential distributions square with our moral intuitions (particularly if one considers oneself a nice Rawlsian liberal committed to a maximin distribution of social benefits...).
- lettergram 12y agoI actually polled HN because tthere is a fairly large body of knowledge that points to people who believe intelligence is fixed are less successful and at higher risk of depression.
- jmromer 12y agoThat's intuitive, and a bummer. I don't think it has any bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim, though. I wonder if "soft pessimistic" (fixed limits) view creates as much depression as the "hard pessimistic" (fixed level) one (assuming the causal arrow points in that direction in the first place.)
- ASneakyFox 12y agoI don't even think intelligence itself is understood.we have very few things to compare human intelligence to. And there's many known cases of "less intelligent" species accomplishing things that "more intelligent" species cant. (Eg. Humans cant organize like ants can, though ants cant do calculus as far as we know) So without knowing how to measure intelligence or what high intelligence is. I don't think I can have an opinion on if intelligence is fixed.
- frozenport 12y agoDoes it matter? Don't forget that existence is essence!