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by oh_sigh 1647 days ago
Scientific racist is a funny term. If a scientist shows that "race" X has a different distribution of traits than "race" Y, does that mean that they are a scientific racist? Doesn't racism also have to have an associated hatred, prejudice, or antagonism against a different race? Is it scientifically racist to say that blacks get a certain blood disease more frequently than whites?

To put it another way, if a scientist does a study and shows that the Ainu people of northern Japan are statistically taller than the Mbuti people of the Congo, does that mean the scientist is a "scientific heightist"? Wouldn't they need to amend their report with something like "...and therefore, Ainu people are better than Mbuti" or something like that?
2 comments
sjtindell 1647 days ago
No. A scientific racist is a racist (someone who thinks one race is inferior to another) who uses science to back up their claim. Not sure this person is one.
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throwaway4666 1647 days ago
Scientific racists don't use such crass words like 'inferior', they'd rather say 'have a lower mean IQ and impulse control due to genetic differences'
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ralfd 1647 days ago
But does Razib Khan do that?

Anyway, David Reich argued in the NYT that there are genetic differences between populatons which do influence behaviour and mental traits. It is only a question if we want to find these (or leave the field to racists):

https://archive.md/z3TlJ

> since all traits influenced by genetics are expected to differ across populations (because the frequencies of genetic variations are rarely exactly the same across populations), the genetic influences on behavior and cognition will differ across populations, too.

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astrange 1647 days ago
Note, some people do have genetic conditions that affect their ability to take IQ tests - these include Down syndrome, phenylketonuria, even IBS if you’re giving them a test without bathroom breaks.

The point of knowing this is so you can treat it. You can raise the IQ of a phenylketonuric by not feeding them Diet Coke. It doesn’t seem like the HBD people would be happy seeing this, because they just want to prove someone is inherently superior and someone else isn’t.

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culi 1647 days ago
Scientific racism is a pseudoscience. To think that it's actually scientific is to get caught up in semantics. It is a very unscientific fringe group
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