I think the issue is the idea that "intelligence" is this solid trait that can be meaningfully measured like height or eyesight. If you have two people, one with a higher IQ than the other, what does it mean to say that one is more intelligent than the other?
I think the issue is the idea that "intelligence" is this solid trait that can be meaningfully measured like height or eyesight. If you have two people, one with a higher IQ than the other, what does it mean to say that one is more intelligent than the other?
Was Mozart more intelligent than Picasso? Was Stephen Hawking more intelligent than Terence Tao? The answer, at least as far as I can see, is, "it depends." But we can very confidently say who was taller or stronger or any number of other characteristics. Intelligence is a different class of trait than the others we ascribe to genetics.
Sure, "intelligence" as a concept is somewhat abstract. And IQ as a predictor of "success" relies on that definition as well. But IQ itself is a measurement. And as such, it can reasonably used in correlation studies.
Few people claim strict genetic determinism. And few geneticists are willing to use the unscientific concept of race as a grouping mechanism for genetically influenced traits. But I don't think it's reasonable to deny that inheritability of skills is a thing, even if it's difficult to specifically quantify the boundaries and degree.
And that's the point of continued research on these line in genetics and brain science. The continued curiosity of the degree of inheritability and how concretely one can define an inheritable trait/skill.
Not exactly. Otherwise it would be the same measurement each time. Also, you wouldn't see phenomenon like the Flynn Effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect). IQ is really a test of ability to think in a certain way. A measure of problem solving ability, yes, but grounded in a certain view of the world.
It logically follows that this is a good predictor of career and financial success because the ability to think in ways that are advantageous in your culture will obviously improve your odds of success.
But this isn't the same as saying that intelligent people will succeed or that less intellgient people won't. Lewis Terman discoverd that in his Genetic Studies of Genius (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Studies_of_Genius#Follow-ups). And it's certainly not to say that somebody with a high IQ thinks in a way that is "better" than somebody with a lower IQ.
I'm not trying to claim that there's no heritability to IQ. Genetic or environmental. My issue is with carelessly conflating IQ and intelligence. Especially without thinking about what you mean by intelligence.
"One of the other educational dogmas of our times is the notion that standardized tests do not predict future performances for minority children, either in academic institutions or in life. Innumerable scholarly studies have devastated this claim intellectually,13 though it still survives and flourishes politically." -"Black Rednecks and White Liberals", from the section on Black Education writing about the M Street/Dunbar School before public schools were converted to neighborhood schools and 85 years of achievement vanished.
"Intelligence heritability is certainly a thing."
I think the issue is the idea that "intelligence" is this solid trait that can be meaningfully measured like height or eyesight. If you have two people, one with a higher IQ than the other, what does it mean to say that one is more intelligent than the other?
Was Mozart more intelligent than Picasso? Was Stephen Hawking more intelligent than Terence Tao? The answer, at least as far as I can see, is, "it depends." But we can very confidently say who was taller or stronger or any number of other characteristics. Intelligence is a different class of trait than the others we ascribe to genetics.
Sure, "intelligence" as a concept is somewhat abstract. And IQ as a predictor of "success" relies on that definition as well. But IQ itself is a measurement. And as such, it can reasonably used in correlation studies.
Few people claim strict genetic determinism. And few geneticists are willing to use the unscientific concept of race as a grouping mechanism for genetically influenced traits. But I don't think it's reasonable to deny that inheritability of skills is a thing, even if it's difficult to specifically quantify the boundaries and degree.
And that's the point of continued research on these line in genetics and brain science. The continued curiosity of the degree of inheritability and how concretely one can define an inheritable trait/skill.
"But IQ itself is a measurement"
Not exactly. Otherwise it would be the same measurement each time. Also, you wouldn't see phenomenon like the Flynn Effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect). IQ is really a test of ability to think in a certain way. A measure of problem solving ability, yes, but grounded in a certain view of the world.
It logically follows that this is a good predictor of career and financial success because the ability to think in ways that are advantageous in your culture will obviously improve your odds of success.
But this isn't the same as saying that intelligent people will succeed or that less intellgient people won't. Lewis Terman discoverd that in his Genetic Studies of Genius (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Studies_of_Genius#Follow-ups). And it's certainly not to say that somebody with a high IQ thinks in a way that is "better" than somebody with a lower IQ.
I'm not trying to claim that there's no heritability to IQ. Genetic or environmental. My issue is with carelessly conflating IQ and intelligence. Especially without thinking about what you mean by intelligence.
"One of the other educational dogmas of our times is the notion that standardized tests do not predict future performances for minority children, either in academic institutions or in life. Innumerable scholarly studies have devastated this claim intellectually,13 though it still survives and flourishes politically." -"Black Rednecks and White Liberals", from the section on Black Education writing about the M Street/Dunbar School before public schools were converted to neighborhood schools and 85 years of achievement vanished.