Geoffrey MillerVerified account

Ezra shouldn't say anything at all about race & IQ if he can't even engage with a blue-ribbon consensus report from the leading psychology association that's specifically written for science journalists to summarize the research in the wake of 'The Bell Curve' debate.

Yes. The debate should focus on what policies should be instituted in light of the evidence. I would also be curious to hear their takes on what percentage of IQ differences they believe are attributable to environmental vs genetic factors (it is clear both exist).

I think the genes vs. environment debate on sources of IQ differences across groups is tricky, since all good scientists (inc. Murray) agree that we just don't know yet, and all speculation will be ideologically biased. We'll have better genomic data within a decade though...

Agreed, but where you fall on that spectrum implicitly shapes the policy recommendations which, at the end of the day, are the most societally important consequences of this field. I think at least estimating your place on that spectrum is an important exercise.

But Murray's key point in Bell Curve was that most policy issues about IQ don't really depend on the nature/nurture issue; he stayed resolutely agnostic about it, even as he made policy recommendations. It might be a red herring, for current purposes.

I’m no expert in the field. I would have thought the nature/nurture issue would have profound implications for how policy should be shaped. Any recommendations on what to look at when determining what should be key considerations for shaping policy?

A key issue is, given that IQ varies between people, and is stable and predictive of outcomes and learning abilities, how should American education deal with cognitive variation? More streaming? More testing? Different teaching styles? Better vocational education? School choice?

Sure. Makes sense. I think a key emotional problem in this debate is folks on the left hear “IQ differences are at least partially explainable by genetics” and translate that into fears over those who claim nature plays a role as “we should not allocate resources towards (1/3