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See, here's the rub: if you believe we are all uniquely created in God's image, how intelligent, beautiful, strong someone is has no bearing on that person's inherent worth as a human being. Thus, we are all equal.
For many folks on the Left, they're either atheists, agnostics or only nominally religious people, who rely on naturalistic, materialist explanations. If you don't really believe that we are created in God's image, then things like intelligence, beauty, education levels, et cetera, do factor in to whether someone is "equal." Ask someone who fits into this belief system, who also argues that all are equal, to explain how they know that. Invariably they will reach a roadblock, at which point he/she will have to resort to saying "it just is" or that he/she "just feels it to be true." It's a problem...a big problem...for them.
By the way, Christians adopt twice as many kids as the general population. I would argue this is tied precisely to what I described above. Living in rural areas all my life, where religiosity is more common, I have seen many, many Christian families that have adopted nonwhite children, often from other countries and kids with special needs. That's because they believe no one is better than anyone else when it comes to their inherent worth as human beings. I think you will not find that nearly as common among the types who adhere to the belief system above. Ironic. It's not difficult to find conservative Christians who adopt such children. Meanwhile, white liberals who say all the right things often live the whitest existences you can imagine. They make sure to send their kids to the whitest, highest-achieving schools, they live in lily-white neighborhoods among other people of high means, they work in overwhelmingly white offices. The few who do go to church, attend churches that are the whitest churches you will encounter (meanwhile, you will find all sorts of racial/ethnic diversity at those dastardly fundamentalist/evangelical churches).
You might consider giving up religion and the Fairytale of eternal life. It clouds, no check that, it corrupts your thinking totally.
Why? Why should we all have political equality? What's your moral basis for claiming that we all "deserve this?" Why is your life as valuable as his?
I believe a functioning democracy requires a basic level of political equality - or rights under the constitution/laws if you will.
Former president Obama is rich and well-connected. I am not.
When he votes his vote should count as one, as should mine.
If both Obama and I get caught committing the same crime under similar circumstances, we should get similar consequences.
We should both have the same access for our kids into public schools.
Etc....
Of course there can be reasonable extenuating circumstances. Hypothetically, if I have 20/20 vision and Obama has poor vision...it is reasonable to require him to wear corrective lenses for his own safety and the safety of others when he is using his drivers license. I would still say that is equality, because if my eyes were to go south as I age, then I would also be forced to wear corrective lenses when I drive. It is reasonable discrimination.
I attended an event where the superintendent of schools spoke to the community. He was talking about the differences between various ethnic groups in academic test results. He told the audience that he firmly believed that in 20 years that there would be no difference in academic performance and test scores between Black, White, Asian and Hispanic students. Then someone asked if there would any difference in test scores between rich and poor students. He doubled down and said that in twenty years that gap would be eliminated too.
Everyone clapped and looked so proud of themselves for being in a society where this could happen.
Do YOU think there will be a time in your life where all races and income levels will be equal in academic performance?
Blacks had been told that they were inferior at skilled athletics[/b] and that has been shattered. Plenty of blacks across the world and the US perform at high intellectual levels. All races have geniuses.
Yes.
Only a science denier thinks IQ doesn't have a connection to genetics.
High IQ brains have structural differences compared to normal brains. These differences are genetic.
Of course there are other influences on IQ like culture (not all are equal), nutrition, whether or not you were exposed to violence as a kid, etc... It is estimated that about 80% of an adult's IQ is genetic.
On the bold - blacks have never been told we were inferior in athletics from a performance perspective related to athleticism. We have always been deemed "bigger, stronger, more athletic, etc.," however, athletes in the past were told they did not have the "mind/intelligence" to be leaders in athletics (like quarter backs in football for instance). There is a difference. Blacks in America have always been told we are of inferior intellect/intelligence than whites and other non-black people.
I also agree all ethnic groups have geniuses and high intellect.
I also did state in my post that there are genetic traits to personality - of which intelligence is included (and a majority, as you mentioned of personality traits are related to genetics); however, as I've noted before "intelligence" is not something that can or has been explicitly defined for genetic study in one particular way unlike other personality traits that actually have been associated on a much higher basis with genes (like neuroticism or being introverted/extroverted, etc.). Also studies today often focus on standardized tests and not on IQ tests or IQ scores like you all seem to believe they do. Due to IQ tests taking a long time to administer and requiring a psychologist, genetic studies of intelligence are often based on standardized test, which are not IQ tests and are much more heavily impacted by environmental conditions versus IQ.
I've mentioned before that I actually do volunteer my DNA for genetic research via a few different universities. One of those studies of which I am involved and which is published on a site called DNA Land shows that they are studying over 50 specific genes in relation to intelligence (based on their interpretation of the definition of "intelligence") in combination with other personality traits like those mentioned above. Their results show that those genes do not have any impact on IQ scores at the moment and is based upon some research that was done on a European population (see link below). The researches stated explicitly:
Quote:
In a significant advance in the study of mental ability, a team of European and American scientists announced on Monday that they had identified 52 genes linked to intelligence in nearly 80,000 people. These genes do not determine intelligence, however. Their combined influence is minuscule, the researchers said, suggesting that thousands more are likely to be involved and still await discovery. Just as important, intelligence is profoundly shaped by the environment.
Researchers routinely state the above in these studies, especially the blue. They state they've identified genes then provide information on how they both are and/or are not shown in influencing intelligence or IQ scores. All of them admit that environment is a determining factor in test scores and cognitive ability along with personality traits including introversion/extroversion, neuroticism, resiliency, etc.
For some reason it seems the public (especially on this forum) ignore all the blue and want to highlight the black like it is set in stone that intelligence in regards to IQ tests are based on genes when the actual researchers explicitly state they are not.
In research, you must have a definition for the items you are studying and intelligence is not definitively defined worldwide as the same thing. Also, there have been no definitive genes associated with intelligence and high IQ scores (again, see link these genes have not been shown to correllate with a higher IQ score). I always suggest people who are interested to be more open minded on the subject and review a wider amount of information on the subject especially the actual gene studies being conducted by college/university researchers - many of them publish these things on their web pages. I continuously read about this topic because of my involvement in these sorts of studies based on DNA uploads to universities. I 've volunteered my DNA to a handful of research institutions that study a lot of different conditions and characteristics, and I'll be honest and state I do so because there is often a lack of black American people who volunteer (black people are often suspicious of "research" due to our past history in this regard).
FWIW University of Michigan also has a DNA study that is free and they'll do a DNA test for you if you are interested via their "Genes for Good" program. Some people don't like it since it is based off of the Facebook app but it is similar to the DNA land studies (DNA Land has their own website to upload to and it is similar to U of M). Michigan I do not have an "intelligence" part yet though that they advertise (they may be studying it without speaking about it though). DNA land has published their preliminary information regarding their gene research into intelligence.
I'll also note again that IQ tests do not study a generic sort of intellectual abilities. They are studying specific skills - usually verbal reasoning, memory, and pattern recognition. So any genes associated with an IQ test would be for specific skills and not intellect as a whole or the ability to learn as a whole.
Most of you seem to not have any sort of idea what an IQ test is measuring.
I've mentioned before I have a very good memory myself, and IMO that is the reason why I as a toddler scored high on IQ assessments. I also have always been a reader and could speak before I could walk. Memory and verbal abilities are two of the items scored in IQ. I do feel that my memory especially is a genetic trait. Everyone on my dad's side of the family in particular that I know well, we all have very good memories. Interestingly, my husband's family they have horrible memories; however I'd still consider them intelligent people. One of my kids has ADHD (this is common in my husband's family) and his primary symptom is a poor short term memory. Interestingly he was deemed as "gifted" as a 3rd grader. He used accommodations in school to help with his memory issues and has always been a voracious reader as well. He'll just forget a book after he reads it (sometimes in a week) so he has to take extensive notes on things he reads. Him being forgetful to you may mean he is of low intelligence. He has never been IQ tested but would more than likely score low because of poor memory. My younger child is like myself and has a very long memory to where she remembers things I told her when she was 2 years old (she is 10) and will remind me of them and also is a voracious reader. She doesn't need any accommodations at school. She'd probably do better on an IQ test versus her brother. But in many ways he is much smarter than her (especially in math and engineering).
I find it interesting that my daughter (and I am a female) has a really good memory like myself. My dad and 3 of his 4 sisters do as well. It makes me believe that his mother (X gene) and her family are the keys of sorts to my and my daughter's memory skills.
My MIL has decent memory skills but my husband's father - his nick name because he was so forgetful was "bird brain" (LOL), so I think that his poor memory comes from his father's line (Y gene) and not his mothers. But this is just my own anecdotal observation based on our family.
My mom's memory is decent, but not as great as my dad. My dad also is very good at math and skills that are helpful for engineering, and my son is as well. Since being involved in these sorts of studies, it's interesting to look at the personality characteristics of people and specific skills they have in your own family.
I also am "mapping" my own genes and my dad's and my mother's father with my genealogical research. It's interesting to see which portion of my own genome comes from my specific ancestral lines. So the idea of denying science based on not agreeing with lay persons on a forum is kind of silly to me. I'm probably way more into this subject than most of you are and I continously learn about the subject just because I am a person who likes to learn and not stay stuck in an idea - I like to challenge myself with an opposing view or just a new perspective. It is interesting to me that so many people are hesitant in doing that it makes me wonder if many of you have a narrow minded instead of an open minded genetic trait and wonder how that impacts your own intellect/personality/behavior.
The Democrats call themselves the party of science, yet spend a lot of time denying science in multiple cases including the genetic component of intelligence.
Other societies before us, like India and Great Britain, realized that a caste-like structure of society is the default because humans differ in intelligence and ability.
I think it’s going to take Americans some time to accept that social hierarchies are simply the natural order of things, whether we like it or not. And we have to deal with it accordingly.
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