OT patim. You've put your finger on one of the greatest problems facing our country. If we continue to diverge in terms of income and success on racial and ethnic lines, with blacks, Mexican Americans, and American Indians lagging behind and yet becoming an even greater % of our population, we will be in real trouble.
The problem is that while the facts show this divergence, because of our ingrained and well intentioned reluctance to assign any of it to racial differences, we generally look only to external influences rather than racial differences for an explanation. For example, if you look at African Americans, we have no difficulty with the fact that they overcame blatant racism in athletics, music and the arts. In fact, if you are reluctant to see the native gifts that many African Americans possess in those endeavors, you might well have to ask yourself if you are possibly racist. If we reverse the question and ask why African Americans, on average, have not been as successful in education and science and other fields, any suggestion of racial differences is generally met with abhorrence, with the exception of the reaction of those who enjoy the thought of racial superiority; their own, of course.
So what does this have to do with the issues you raise? It has to do with the concept of looking at racial differences in physical and mental abilities. If we refuse to consider the possibilty that there are genetic tendencies among races just as there are among families, then we are restricted to the search for explanations in terms of cultural differences, racial barriers, and societal stereotyping that is self fulfilling. My point is that we need to look at all possibilities and that to do so is not racist.
If you are familiar with "right brained" thinking vs "left brained" thinking, you are aware that in today's technological and scientific society left brained thinkers are rewarded. This was probably not the case for many of the past thousands of years. Our most successful ancestors were hunters and gatherers who were more likely strong right brained thinkers. It may be that among African Americans and American Indians the strongest right brained thinkers were the more successful and survived, and that those tendencies still remain strong in them. Right brained thinkers are generally more intuitive, artistic and spontaneous; valuable traits which rarely convert to strong economic success today but which would better keep you alive in many situations which commonly existed in the past.
These strong abilities are poorly measured through IQ tests. In fact, Kodiak bull makes an excellent point with regard to the question of intelligence. We can not really measure it with IQ tests. Average IQ often hides true genius since exceptional talent in one area is often diluted with low talent in another, and very smart people, who may think slower than duller people who are paced to think faster, are often overwhelmed by the time constraints. More importantly, we cannot even agree on a definition for intelligence that makes sense, much less test for it. The truest measure of intelligence that I know is the ability to DO things, not simply answer questions. Many people who score highly on IQ tests are not capable of building, creating or teaching things, even though they can retain knowlege and divulge it apropriatly when prompted. The tests are often poorly thought out and you can actually out think the testers. For instance, one of the questions on the verbal IQ test many years ago was "Who wrote the Illiad?" I think that had a little socioeconomic influence built into it. Another was a question that, simplified, asked "If it takes one man 2 hours to do a task, how long will it take 2 men to do that task?" Among the possible answers was "1 hour" and "cannot tell from the information given." The "correct" answer was "1 hour" so if you thought to yourself, "What's the task, fixing a watch or moving a 300 pound rock 20 ft" and answered "cannot tell from the info given" you were not as smart as the other guy.
What IQ tests are good at is measuring our ability to do well in school. In a sense it has been a circular pattern since if success is the ability to do well in school, and if that is an accurate measure of intelligence, then those tests do measure intelligence. Unfortunately, although I am agnostic I think I can say with confidence that if you put Jesus and the 12 disciples in most subjectively graded classes, the 12 disciples would all get A's and Jesus wouldn't. I don't think that telling the professor what the professor told you is a true measure of intelligence. It may be a good measure of memory, hard work and conformity, but not of creativity, insight and talent.
I find myself agreeing with many who have posted that other minorities have overcome racism and predjudice to succeed in this country while some of our minorities, as a group, have not. It may well be that some races and ethnicities have stronger talents in many areas than caucasians and asians do, and weaker talents in other areas. If that is so, it is undoubtedly true that the weaknesses are in areas of ability that are generally better rewarded economically, on average, in today's society. It's not a matter of better or worse, it may just be a matter of slightly different tendencies. One thing for sure, if we never allow ourselves to consider all the possibilities we may never know, and we will never be able to address the real issues and solutions if that is where the explanation lies.
Finally, I have to ask, are we so much better off with our high incomes and our highly successful competitive lifestyles. As I sit here typing I am listening to a CD with a Carribean beat that brings to mind a lazy, white sanded beach with a blue green sea lapping at my feet. I recently spent a few days in southwestern alaska where the native indian population is known as underperforming and underachieving. This is a place where bald eagles are as abundant as christmas ornamants on the trees and where with very little effort you can live off elk, venison, bear, crab, halibut, salmon etc, WITHOUT having to work hard to do it. Why anyone would trade that for a 50 week a year job or profession is a real puzzle. I must admit though, that while I'm not sure what success is and I'm not sure I've got it, I do believe that there are a lot of people in this country who don't have it and anything we can do to find out why and try to help them out should not be overlooked, not even for the noblest of reasons. Ed |
