Emil O W Kirkegaard

The debate between @ezraklein and @SamHarrisOrg is up. https://goo.gl/kCBg37  I won't have time to listen until tonight, but in the meantime I wrote a post on the subject. Heritability and Malleability of Group and Individual Differences. Longish. https://goo.gl/mbSQSK 

What are the mechanisms connecting slavery, Jim Crow and contemporary racism to the black-white IQ gap? Unless such mechanisms can be demonstrated (at the molecular, if not subatomic, level), shouldn't you reject out of hand any explanations of the gap that rely on them?

You know my (reliably unpopular with both sides) contention that this isn't really a scientific debate? That is exactly what I mean. The argument will go on in its current pointless form until the gap goes away, and then we will forget about it, like every other gap before it.

Nothing is a scientific debate if you set the standard of evidence so high that nothing will satisfy it.

Like I said in my post. If you don't like mine, propose one of your own.

I have mine. For example, a large admixture mapping study with strong control variables would provide decisive evidence on the black-white gap. You make what are clearly scientific arguments but then retreat to the "this is not a scientific question" position when challenged.

That's indeed a good study design (used in medical research) there have been attempts of this kind in the 70s with the very rough techniques of the time. The results suggested a minor advantage for blacks with more African advantage. Never heard of it afterwards