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- #61
The National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) are a set of surveys designed to gather information at multiple points in time on the labor market activities and other significant life events of several groups of men and women. For more than 4 decades, NLS data have served as an important tool for economists, sociologists, and other researchers.
so you think the overall intentions of this survey are suspect? well you have previously stated that all stats are unacceptable unless every person in the group is polled, an impossibility.
you said-
Exact numbers do matter very much. If fact, that is the MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR.
you obviously don't work in an area that measures humans. height, weight, blood pressure, temperature; all fluctuate daily. if you had ever taken any science courses in school you would know that measurements have an error range and just because you can generate a number to five decimal places that doesnt mean it is as accurate as it is precise. that is why I say the trend is more important than the numbers. if 100 studies give 100 different correlation rates from 0.01 to 0.80 that is a large spread and the numbers are not that reliable. but if every one of the 100 studies points in the same direction then that is significant.
you said-
You are right. I think we can agree with high and low IQ's can be ASSOCIATED with positive and negative social outcomes respectively.
This is where you weaken your position or invalidate your claim, you begin to SPECULATE. Speculation is a BIG no no in logic.
Speculate - (transitive verb) to reason WITHOUT sufficient or conclusive evidence. The Free Dictionary, Webster, Cambridge Dictionary.
you say I am speculating but the studies done on general mental ability and job performance (and school performance) are undeniable and all point in the same direction. can you find a study that doesn't find that higher IQ/aptitude isn't positively related to job performance? especially as job complexity goes up?
in my OP I inferred that Africa was in trouble because there is a shortage of high IQ individuals to fill skilled and complex professions. are you arguing against this obvious statement? do you honestly think that an IQ85 individual can become a competent western trained physician? electrical engineer? air traffic controller? there are only a few percent of africans who score IQ100, at best only one in twenty. all the important jobs need more than just one in twenty. how about the teaching jobs, nursing positions, secretarial, management, millwright, etc jobs? modern civilizations need skilled workers and africa doesn't have them and can't train them.