| I think the argument he makes consists of several claims: 1) black people are an ethnic group or race // exact terminology and semantics is debatable 2) being black means you have a lower IQ (on average) // true in the US 3) IQ is in part genetically determined // true 4) the lower IQ of blacks is due to genetics // pure speculation, not possible to verify due to poor environment 5) having a lower IQ makes you a better slave // speculation 6) being black makes you a genetically better slave // follows from 4 and 5 It's possible that Moldbug reconsidered claim 4 due to all the attention it got. He reads HN. |
I'm pretty sure he does believe 4), but also believes that IQ is not that important and that other things (such as character) matter more.
> Once you stop believing in the mystical importance of intelligence, I think it's very easy to accept that it's unequally distributed (as athletic talent certainly is). I understand that this is very hard for our society, and especially for people like me who grew up believing that good grades were holy and professors were gods.
He doesn't make the 5) claim you attribute to him:
> I would make a terrible agricultural laborer and an awful agricultural slave. (I am also not very good at being a master, though for different reasons.) Am I praising myself for this lack of talent? Yes, it may have something to do with my high intelligence. (It also has something to do with my poor character.) Intelligence can be a liability. You don't have to be an agricultural slave to realize this -- all you need to do is go to an American high school.