| I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When I was younger, I would have said that there's no such thing as innate intelligence. If I'm better than some people at math or programming, that's entirely because they didn't pay attention. Or they didn't spend the same amount of time and effort on it as I did. Or they just aren't being careful, or aren't trying to really understand. They're doing something wrong, or they just don't care enough. That's what I would have said. It's quite a comfortable view, really: Other people had their fair shot to be exactly where I am. They chose not to put in the time required, or their learning techniques were tactically sub-optimal. I was in school a bit before being nerdy was cool. Others certainly didn't show me any mercy when I was near the bottom of the pecking order in the realm of social interactions or athletics, so why should I go easy on those who are close to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to intellectual achievements or salary comparisons? We humans play games for status. If you want me to accept that I come out near the bottom of some of those games, it's only fair for me to require you to acknowledge my superiority in others. But I don't say it anymore. I've met a number of people who just don't seem to be able to think in certain ways. Who will never be able to be good programmers, no matter how much training they get or how much time they spend. There might be something innate to intelligence. It has real effects, so it should be measurable. Is it IQ? I don't know. Let's call it, I don't know, INT (after the D&D stat). What if there really is such a thing as INT? What if it really is something that people of some races, on average, have a greater amount of than people of other races? Years ago, I'd have said "Of course that isn't the case, all humans are created equal." Now I say "I don't know if this is the case. The evidence I'm familiar with is consistent with the possibility, but there are other explanations." Let's suppose it's a simple physical fact that people of a certain race are (on average) taller. And it's a simple physical fact that (on average) being tall makes you better at basketball. If you run a basketball team and you want to be successful, you will hire the best players without thinking about their race. And you will end up with a team where people of the tall race are over-represented relative to the population. Now let's turn it around. Let's suppose it's a simple physical fact that people of a certain race have (on average) higher INT. And it's a simple physical fact that (on average) higher INT makes you better at programming. If you run a tech company and you want to be successful, you will hire the best programmers without thinking about their race. And you will end up with a team where people of the higher-INT race are over-represented relative to the population. The world I observe is compatible with the explanation that people of some races have (on average) lower INT. To be sure, there are other possible explanations: It could be bad schools, bad peer groups, bad home life. It could be living in older buildings with lead and asbestos leading to health problems that affect the brain. Heck, there could be bona fide racists out there running tech companies who cackle maniacally as they throw an applicant's perfect resume in the trash simply because they're not a white male. The point is, if you want to face reality rather than live in a comfortable fantasy, you have to confront the possibility that the racists are right about one thing: It's possible that some races really do have less intelligence than others. It's just a possibility. But I haven't seen it conclusively disproven. If it's true, what should you personally do? What should we as a society do? I don't know. And it's kind of a terrifying question to ask, really. Honestly, if it's true, I don't think it would be a truth that American society could handle. We would tear ourselves apart. Maybe that's what's happening now. |