I guess one question we would need to look at tonington, is what's the key difference between intellect and cognitive ability. By focusing on the term 'intelligence' Watson automatically sets up the issue as being one where someone WILL come out lacking, rather than an issue where people come out with different strengths. I can see where that is an automatic road block to wanting to hear what the man has to say.
Africans are less intelligent than Westerners
- Thread starter Locutus
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Yeah, I hope its clear that I am with you Karrie.
Now either intellect is an innate trait or it is something you pick up along the way. If its something you just pick up along the way, then I will start explaining general relativity to you all right now.
To most people, there are clear intellectual differences between animals and humans. Which suggests a genetic link. That it may be genetic raises the possibility for geographical separation to cause different intellectual patterns.
Saying that one person is stupid however implies a vast intellectual gulf, and that isn't what one would expect. What I would expect in fact is that given a metric for intellect, various populations would be best modeled by a gaussian and that the difference in means of those populations would be measurably non zero but the variance of both distributions would overshadow the difference in means.
Now either intellect is an innate trait or it is something you pick up along the way. If its something you just pick up along the way, then I will start explaining general relativity to you all right now.
To most people, there are clear intellectual differences between animals and humans. Which suggests a genetic link. That it may be genetic raises the possibility for geographical separation to cause different intellectual patterns.Saying that one person is stupid however implies a vast intellectual gulf, and that isn't what one would expect. What I would expect in fact is that given a metric for intellect, various populations would be best modeled by a gaussian and that the difference in means of those populations would be measurably non zero but the variance of both distributions would overshadow the difference in means.
If you want a taste of relative (the show's producer's bias aside) so-called intelligence, cast a glance at the boneheads on "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" or any of it's ilk.
People (I don't care what colout they are) in general, give themselves far too much credit.
People (I don't care what colout they are) in general, give themselves far too much credit.
Absolutely. Intellect is so cultural, where as measured cognitive ability is a different beast altogether.
Jared Diamond discussed this very thing. I think it was New Guineans who he focussed on. While they used primitive stone tools, and by all 'western' standards would be deemed unintelligent, they mastered the use of new tools very quickly, in fact more quickly than us westerners who develop and use them every day.
Yeah, I hope its clear that I am with you Karrie.
Now either intellect is an innate trait or it is something you pick up along the way. If its something you just pick up along the way, then I will start explaining general relativity to you all right now.
Saying that one person is stupid however implies a vast intellectual gulf, and that isn't what one would expect. What I would expect in fact is that given a metric for intellect, various populations would be best modeled by a gaussian and that the difference in means of those populations would be measurably non zero but the variance of both distributions would overshadow the difference in means.
I don't know how you'd even go about measuring something like that though, given that it's been shown that intelligence can be enriched by environment to a degree. An understimulated child won't reach their full intellectual potential, whereas a child living in an enriched environment may meet all of theirs. So how would you factor in intellectual potential and environmental impact on it, or measure what point on the scale of potential a person is? A tricky concept.
Look at that...we've now gone from "Africans are stupid" to there are possible cognitive differences due to cultural and/or geographic differences. Which would mean race has NOTHING to do with it, and still firmly puts this "scientist" in the racist/bigot column, which taints any all of his research into this.
Now that was an excellent post!!
It is not racist to suggest that people evolving in widely varying conditions might not turn out identical. It is simple-minded to think they would. About ten years ago this man, or another very like him wrote a paper suggesting that whites were more intelligent than blacks, and that Chinese were more intelligent that whites. It seems to me that the man was saying that whites and Chinese increasingly spent more time with intelligence as an important survival trait as opposed to just being bigger and stronger. White civilization is older than black civilization and Chinese civilization is older still. It seems reasonable to me especially when there are other glaring differences that have evolved such as the undeniable lack of alcohol tolerance in First Nations people.
No, I didn't answer my own question. I pointed out what the results of some research on cultural perceptive differences have been. These aren't the same as research into racial intellectual or cognitive differences, because such research has been extremely minimal. It often raises hysteria because racist morons glom onto it and adopt it as a soapbox from which to spew idiotic remarks like 'Africans are stupid'.
That is the basic problem. Intelligence is a vague concept to measure, and various measures have been manipulated to favour men, in particular the SAT's:
Excuse me??????? I don't know where to begin on this load of clap trap. ALL of it is unadulterated bullshyte. There are African "civilisations" that are far older than ANY western. They may be a mere shadow of their former selves but are still there. The "paper" you "quote" has been discredited many times over. Lack of alcohol tollerance in First Nations? I don't even want to go there.:roll:
maybe there is a "stupid gene" after all.
intelligence is not the same as intellectual capacity.
lack of alcohol tolerance is also irrelevant.
Come on Gerry, nobody insulted anyone. The Caucasian people who built the pyramids in north Africa are related to the Europeans as far as I know. Black Africans are a race that developed later.
Are you saying that all people have the same tolerance to alcohol?
The differences are there. Why ignore them.
Try this to start your education on African civilisations.
http://touregypt.net/historicalessays/nubia.htm
and I'm still not going to go anywhere near your alcohol crap.