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0 pointstptacek15y ago0 comments

No it doesn't. It suggests the fact that one component of racial gaps in education may be immutable, and that when we identify the extent of that immutable genetic gap, we may be able to avoid wasting effort trying to eliminate it directly.

I don't accept for a moment the notion that "blacks" are "less intelligent" than "whites", or even that we can with any useful precision define what these terms are, but the way you've summarized the points seems to illustrate well the reason people have such a hard time discussing this issue.

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3 comments · 1 top-level

yummyfajitas15y ago· 2 in thread

I'm responding to a hypothetical:

"After all, what if it was provable that a racial group was less intelligent than other groups? How could one reasonably and humanely find that information actionable?"

I didn't feel the need to carefully explain the exact policy implications of this fact since the hypothetical didn't give enough info to work from. I also don't feel the need to couch a conversation on this topic in terms of "I'm not racist" "scare" "quotes" and genuflections towards diversity since I think most HN readers can distinguish a positive claim from a normative one.

tptacekOP15y ago

I don't think you're a racist but I disagree with your conclusion and further think you took it to an extreme that inhibits reasonable discussion. Apparently in the hypothetical.

Our politics clearly couldn't be more different, but I didn't set out to offend you. I'm sorry.

yummyfajitas15y ago

I probably overreacted, sorry about that.

For what it's worth, you are absolutely right that my hypothetical claim is stronger than most reasonable claims I'd make in reality. I wasn't aiming for completeness, merely trying to illustrate the fact that there are ways one can find such information reasonably actionable.

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