Africans are less intelligent than Westerners

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

No, but there are specific genetic differences between populations, which can lead to genetic differences between races when the population is comprised of one race - see: sickle-cell anemia - so writing the concept off on these grounds is specious and ultimately a negative for the conversation, because there are other, more pressing issues with Watson's point(s).

The implied causation/correlation problems are really the least of my concerns.

No, but it's the first place I'd start to write off Watson's argument. He makes a comparison between "Africans" and "black employees." Those are seperate populations which leads me to believe his comments are based on bias, not science. I cannot think an experiment that could be done that would remove the cultural factors from consideration and provide some sort of "accurate" IQ test. At least, I can't think of an ethical one.

Originally Posted by madmax

No genetic difference? Is color a genetic difference? I guess you think every race has the same athletic ability also.


Do intelligence tests exist? How do blacks score on those tests?
If I let you design an Afrocentric ebonic million man march intelligence test and Asians would still kick the chit out of blacks on the test. That is life.

There is more difference within racial groups than there are between the groups. As an example, a random black man and a random white man are more genetically similar than two random black or two random white men. Watson is a geneticist, he should know this. I do know that specific populations have shown more fast twitch vs. slow twitch muscles, but there's a lot of cultural pressure in athletics too. When all the best "insert sport here" come from a certain area of the world or population, there's pressure for athletically talented kids in that population to succeed in THAT sport.

Intelligence tests exist... they're generally designed for literate white people. I don't have any data for you, but generally minorities do poorer on IQ tests, this includes women, poor people, and non-whites.

IQ tests shouldn't be designed around specific populations, so you're missing the point.

Edit: And also, this is a man who promotes genetic screening and modifications that IMO are of a disturbing eugenics quality.