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0 pointsjkr12414y ago0 comments

"The worst things humans have ever done to each other have all centered around the notion of 'meaningful group variations within the human species'."

That is an extremely strong statement to make without justification. It sounds like a forbidden knowledge-type of argument. Science should decide if there are statistically significant intergroup variations. But right now, that is strictly verboten by the type of arguments you just gave me. This strikes me as an echo of the resistance to understanding human evolution, but by a group that considers itself to be rational and scientific. It seems some people literally have taken the notion of universal human equality as a revealed truth in the religious sense. These people are hostile to inquiry into the matter because it would literally upset their entire worldview.

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queensnake14y ago

To be fair, if the gates of acceptance of HBD (human biodiversity) were thrown open, people fear there would be a lot more social friction. And I think you're right about the worldview bit, too - people not being seen as quite equal would be a major change. Gah, I wish HBDers would discuss the repercussions of acceptance of HBD instead of just sniping from the sidelines (not meaning you, now), as the mainstream won't accept it until they're comfortable with the consequences.

MartinCron14y ago

That's why I said that without hard science it's a scary and dangerous place.

With hard science, you can do things like determine that some ethnic groups are more likely to develop particular kinds of illnesses or respond differently to some kinds of medications. That's great!

But looking at the status quo and saying "I guess women just aren't any good at this whole programming business" isn't hard science, it's ex-post-facto rationalization.

philwills14y ago

No, it's just saying that in the absence of any such evidence it's sensible to adopt the null hypothesis that there's no intrinsic difference and that you'd need very high level of confidence in such research before making policy based on it.

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