tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post1358232824948424302..comments2023-09-24T07:53:50.826-05:00Comments on The Atheist Experience™: An ig-Nobel fellow, but one to be censured, not censoredUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-74393766292041697242007-11-05T13:27:00.000-06:002007-11-05T13:27:00.000-06:00I am, of course, highly skeptical the whole concep...I am, of course, highly skeptical the whole concept of the "IQ" — attaching a number to how smart a person presumably is — in the first place.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-58996643119338644852007-11-04T20:37:00.000-06:002007-11-04T20:37:00.000-06:00The thrust of the counter arguments would lead one...The thrust of the counter arguments would lead one to also state that claiming that Caucasians are taller than Asians makes one an "avowed racist."<BR/><BR/>Qualify up front: Martin is right, it's very complicated and there are no demographically equal racial groups to test anyway so no IQ statistics can draw real conclusions. Further: I don't give a rodentia rectum if one or one group is a bit brighter or bit slower. It's immaterial to human life. I've known plenty of upper management I doubt have the IQ of the average plumber. I've known one or two geniuses who were lying, drug abusing, sacks of crap.<BR/><BR/>That said, taking US/UK/EU as the norm, IQs are much lower (up to 35%) in nations with black populations (and while we're on the topic, they're 10% higher in many Asian nations). My personal reaction is, so what? I don't think, however, any reaction to speaking data aloud should be: You're unfit for work regarding the gathering and analysis of data.<BR/><BR/>We don't all have to be exactly the same to get along fine. Forcing everyone to pretend we are exactly the same is counter-productive and just plain goofy.Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12657832248837398845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-39056113588417004352007-10-19T11:42:00.000-05:002007-10-19T11:42:00.000-05:00Makarios: Not really. Intelligence is a much more ...Makarios: Not really. Intelligence is a much more complex issue than that. <A HREF="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/10/its_always_much_more_complicat.php" REL="nofollow">This Pharyngula post</A> links to a couple of good (but long and involved) articles on the subject. Dawkins also discusses the issue in <I>The Exended Phenotype</I>.<BR/><BR/>Carlie: Agreed. I think Cold Spring was entirely within their rights to dump him, and PZ's actually wrong on this one. No one has to employ anyone they don't like or whom they feel doesn't represent them honorably. I'd call their firing him an act of censure, not censorship.Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17933545393470431585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-69108904719220612812007-10-19T09:44:00.000-05:002007-10-19T09:44:00.000-05:00Ya but what do you think about his evolutionary hy...Ya but what do you think about his evolutionary hypotheses that it’s absurd to think that all people everywhere around the globe evolved at the same rate or in the same way? Doesn’t that make sense? <BR/><BR/>I think that he’s absolutely wrong about there being an intellectual deficit. But according to evolutionary theory SHOULDN’T he be correct?Thesauroshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13305052511095551483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-35748549760164042192007-10-19T08:32:00.000-05:002007-10-19T08:32:00.000-05:00But there's a difference between being allowed to ...But there's a difference between being allowed to air your views, and not having anyone call you on them. If Cold Spring Harbor doesn't want to have an avowed racist in a prominent position, they don't have to. Especially as they were quite central to the eugenics movement through the 1930s, they would be particularly sensitive to these kinds of issues. Being allowed to air your views doesn't mean that you won't get backlash from it. If you make your views public, you have to accept the consequences of others possibly not agreeing with you, and not wanting to associate with you.chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07716628521872882440noreply@blogger.com