The "obsession" mentioned in the subject line is with the concern of distinguishing groups of people on the basis of their "intelligence" or IQ scores. This gets translated into assertions that certain ethnic/racial groups systematically differ and with certain groups naturally having higher IQ while other groups having naturally lower IQs (guess who should be in power and controlling the other groups?). I raise this point because such issues are serious and need critical, thoughtful analysis with some degree of intellectual humility. Of course, the best venue for doing this is on TV, as the Brits are about to do on their Channel 4; see: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220343/Channel-4-controversy-documentary-claims-race-linked-intelligence.html or http://tinyurl.com/yju7ay4
Did you know the following "facts": |It will include claims that the most intelligent people in the |world are North-East Asians from parts of China, Japan |and North and South Korea. and |The Australian Aborigines will be said to have the lowest average IQ. The sources for these "facts"? Not clear but the following provides a clue: |He interviews Richard Lynn, emeritus professor at the University |of Ulster, who has amassed data which he believes shows there |is a global league table of intelligence between the races. | |He is seen claiming that 'the top rate' are North-East Asians who |have an average IQ of 105, followed by North and Central |Europeans with a score of 100. | |He claims American Indians have an IQ of 87, and that sub-Saharan |Africans 'pretty well on either side of the equator' have IQs of |around 70. He says Aborigines have the lowest scores of around 65. | |He says: 'When sub-Saharan Africans come and live - and even |several generations of them come to live - in European or North A |merican countries, their IQs increase because of course their |environment is improved, their schooling is better and their nutrition |is better. | |'But their IQs don't rise up to the same level as Europeans.' Well, I guess that explains why some people don't want White and Black people to marry. World famous Canadian Psychologist J. Phillippe Rushton also is showcased though his comments about racial differences in penis size do not seem to raised (NOTE: is Rushton compensating for something with this concern? See his Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Philippe_Rushton Quoting: |Rolling Stone magazine (1994) quotes Rushton: "It's a trade off, |more brains or more penis. You can't have everything.") Quoting the Daily Mail article: |British-born J Philippe Rushton, a psychology professor at the |University of Western Ontario in Canada, is also interviewed. | |Professor Rushton claims the differences between black and white |and East Asian brains is due to general intelligence. | |He says black people have smaller-sized brains than white people |and are not as intelligent as white people. James Watson does not put in an appearance but is present in spirit; quoting from the article: |The 79-year-old American geneticist - who does not appear in |the show - said he was 'inherently gloomy about the prospect of |Africa' because 'all our social policies are based on the fact that |their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says |not really'. | |He added that he hoped that everyone was equal, but then alleged |that 'people who have to deal with black employees find this not true'. Of course, as unpleasant as all this is, one can say the Daily Mail's handling of the topic is quite moderate, whereas the Telegraph forthrightly pronounces: |Scientists claim black people less intelligent than whites in Channel 4 show http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6327171/Scientists-claim-black-people-less-intelligent-than-whites-in-Channel-4-show.html or http://tinyurl.com/ygbdz67 And if scientists make that claim, it has to be true, eh? -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu P.S. As a tonic for this I suggest a review of the Monty Python sketch "Upper Class Twit of the Year"; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Class_Twit_of_the_Year and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSqkdcT25ss --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
