Britain: Middle-class children have better genes, says former schools chief

The UK Daily Mail ^ | 05/12/09 | Daily Mail

[Bob017]

Yeah, so on questions like reverse digit span the gap apparently increases.

I’m currently reading a book that arrived from Amazon last week, called ‘Conversations with Arthur R Jensen’. It’s based on a series of interviews with Skeptic editor Frank Miele who cross examines Jensen on his motives, and a huge range of arguments against ‘Jensenism’.

I’ve found it fascinating to get an idea of what this controversial character is like. Interestingly, the figure who seems to have had most influence on him is Gandhi (he wrote a book length manuscript about him as a teenager).

I guess the important thing when discussing differences in group averages is that they don’t imply much about individuals. That’s a point I think a lot of people overlook.

[GOPGuide]

People overlook what hereditarians are talking about because it’s hard to concentrate on the subject of discussion when everyone is screaming “HITLER!” at you for bringing up average group differences.

[Bob017]

Haha, that’s very true. It’s a subject where people try to poison the well. And it’s been very effective in shutting down discussion and research generally.

Another interesting book is the one by Snyderman & Rothman called ‘The IQ Controversy’. It’s about 20 years old, but is an interesting look at media bias. They surveyed over 600 members of the Behavioural Genetics Association & American Psychologists Association on their views on intelligence. The majority felt that IQ was measurable, tests could be adjusted for cultural biases, was significantly hereditary in terms of individuals and group differences were due to both hereditary and environmental factors (ie. Jensen’s view).

However, the media consistently portrayed testing as biased and useless (basically the views promoted by Kamin & SJ Gould).