Maybe Blacks are Just Smarter!

Nothing like a nice, controversial headline to get people reading.

With all the goings-on in the news about the scientific world getting all upset about a theory that some races might be more intelligent than others (by like, three whopping percentage points... whoopee...), may I present this story detailing the fact that "minorities" don't send their children out trick-or-treating as much as affluent whites.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21510027

Ok, so what does the story show? The reporter wants you to believe that it's the bad neighbourhoods the "minorities" live in that precludes trick-or-treating. We should all be in mourning for the fact and make it a national priority or something. But it would seem to *me* that sending child out into the dark with a group of friends to accost people door-to-door isn't smart no matter what neighbourhood you live in. Maybe the minorities are smarter in this way... ever think about that? It wouldn't be on an IQ test though.

I'm a bit bothered by a few things in the comparison of the races I'm seeing in the news.

First, that there IS a comparison. Who CARES what the white IQ is, and why does it have to be compared with black or Hispanic people? Why is somehow being white a benchmark for "everybody else?" That bothers me.

Second, where do we get this idea of the IQ test and why is it so important? You know, Patrick is in the gifted program based on his performance on the MAP test, SAGES test, and on the IQ test. To me, those are extremely silly measures of who is "gifted," and in the past it really rankled me that he would make it through all the hoops to get into the program except for the IQ test. The last time he got to the IQ test portion, we instructed him to ask a few questions about whether he should answer questions if he doesn't know the answer, etc. and then he aced the test. Did his innate intelligence change by 20 points? I don't think it did.

Third, it bothers me that a scientist's unpopular findings would make him such a target of hate. You would *think* in an ideal world that someone could come up with a stupid theory like, "white people are bad swimmers," and publish it in a journal somewhere. Well, instead of getting all huffy about it, protesting and getting the guy so harassed that he RETIRES, do you think maybe the theory could stand a little scientific inquiry? That you could test that notion and find it TRUE or FALSE?

And so what if the theory proves TRUE or FALSE? What if a certain race is three percentage points ON AVERAGE, testing lower than whites? Do we care? Should we care? Does it have anything whatsoever to do with human potential or humanity itself? I wouldn't think so.

Why is everyone so upset and flipped out about comparisons, and why are we comparing?