I see IQ or 'cognitive abilities' as an umbrella term as there are many different abilities. Some are better at math, verbal, sports, music, social, etc. Any single number is a pretty useless data point.They cannot.How can current average IQs be used to justify racial discrimination when IQs are in flux anyway?
One of my kids teaches at a charter school, lousy part of town, predominantly minority children. Top of the state test scores.
I believe in what I call "intellectual elasticity" - it's up to the individual to choose to expand their intellectual capacity and efficiency, and it can be done, just as a person can increase their physical strength with training. Obviously a child doesn't have that much control over their surroundings, but in constructive (or even just decent) surroundings, ethnicity is irrelevant.
This is a cultural issue, therefore in some ways a political issue, and I'll do you the favor of not "going there" in this thread.
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I think genetics gives a range for people to start off with when it comes to cognitive abilities, and from there on where you land in the range depends on environment.
There is the obvious question that no one wants to ask, do some populations have a larger range than others or a range that is statistically higher or lower than others? And I am not going strictly by race, but by ethnicity or tribe, or even current population groups.