Turkheimer on IQ (or rather, g) differences and why they shouldnt be researched. In short, because that may offend someone. I think he is not just wrong, he is being unethical. If the differences are really just artifact of measurements and culture, we should research them to prove the racist wrong. If they differences are real, then they, but his own arguments, malleable if we will know better about them. Genes do not express directly. They need environment. What if we really would find out that some gene, say affect the development of the brain, resulting in lower IQ of some populations? Then we could find out how they affect the brain development and maybe find a simple way to compensate. E>g. imagine that some versions of some gene produce mysterious substance X1, and other X2. X2 causes different development of brain, resulting in superior performance. If we would know that, it would be simple to give X2 pills to children not having proper genes and voila, the differences in populations g would dissappear. That Turkheimer wants to shut down such possibility is, in my opinion, unethical. cato-unbound.org/2007/11/21/eric-turkheimer/race-iq
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 09:41:15 +0000