Are some races actually inferior to others?

[Matt the Bat]

I don't want to be accused of promoting hate speech, because I'd like to believe we're all equal in this regard. However, I can't accept answers based solely on emotionalism and political correctness.

I have wondered if there was any truth to some races having intelligence differences than others. I'd like to think the IQ differences are simply due to the person's culture rather than race being a factor, because it would be scary if the racists were right.

What do you think?

[Jedidiah]

I find it highly unlikely that the normal intelligence bell curve would be identical for genetically different groups of individuals who had been isolated from one another for a long time. One would expect to find some minor differences. They would be minor difference, though.

[Philosophickle]

I tend to think that social differences provide the reasons for a difference in "intelligence". I don't really like that word, though, and would distinguish between intelligence and education. Probably most humans are on the same page ability-wise.

[FlimFlamboyant]

There are somewhat notable differences in normal physical attributes amongst races; this much is obvious. Some have generally stronger muscles, some have generally better cardiovascular systems... I don't know why the same wouldn't apply to the brain, though I reckon the differences are minor. Like PRex said, social differences likely have a far greater impact than the actual physical makeup of the brain itself.

[avaya]

race is a bogus concept. There are not any differences

[Seasanctuary]

There probably are slight statistical differences, just as there are slight statistical differences in susceptibility to disease and things like that.

What makes racists wrong is taking a grain of truth and magnifying it ten thousand times with distortions out of their own fantasies.

[lao tzu]

NASCAR is an inferior race.

[John Goddard]

What do you think?

Intelligence is of the Devil.

[timspong]

I don't want to be accused of promoting hate speech, because I'd like to believe we're all equal in this regard. However, I can't accept answers based solely on emotionalism and political correctness.

I have wondered if there was any truth to some races having intelligence differences than others. I'd like to think the IQ differences are simply due to the person's culture rather than race being a factor, because it would be scary if the racists were right.

What do you think?

What is the rational that intelligence is any kind of a measure of value? It is no more relevant than the maximum volume of one's yodel.

However, Darwin has some different views on this in his book "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"

He would probably hypothesis that a race would be "inferior" if it were deemed to be less able to adapt to the prevailing environment. As intelligence would be a big part of that ability in humans, I would assume that this would give rise to the notion of intelligence being a measure of ones value.

Of course in the Christian worldview this notion is completely ridiculous and of course all mankind is created with equal value. However, the non-theist has no logical basis for such an assertion.

[timspong]

NASCAR is an inferior race.

Formula one being the "Alpha male" of all motorsport events. Go Hamilton..........

Actually that brings up a very good point. Not so long ago it was considered that White men were far superior to black men in non-athletic sports such as golf and motor racing. Ooops, so along comes Tiger Woods and then Lewis Hamilton to disprove that little bigoted enclave.

I would love for Hamilton to do a season at NASCAR just to see the rednecks freak out. However, I don't think the promotors would ever allow it.

[casaba]

As I understand it, there are many problems with your question, the primary one being the idea that "intelligence" could have some single measure. There are countless different types of intelligence: an individual may be very well endowed in one and utterly lacking in another.

You mention "IQ" for which there are multiple tests, and which to me are no more valid than other exams. You question could just as easily be, "Are there differences in between 'races' in SAT results?" Finding unbiased data for such a question is next to impossible. Flimflamboyant pointed out that cultural differences are probably far greater than the "physical" structure of the brain. If my understanding is correct, it's even more complicated than that: the physical structure of the brain is far more a result of experience than genetic, i.e. racial, differences.

Any attempt at conclusive studies of the matter, even for something as silly as 'SAT scores', would require decades of studies with an amount of control of the human subjects that is both impractical and immoral. Attempts at using currently available data (as was done in the ill-fated book "The Bell Curve") produces results with a margin of error that is orders of magnitude greater than any 'measured' differences.

My guess at the answer to your question is that each culture emphasizes and develops different types of intelligence, and any 'racial' differences would be found to be insignificant and probably unmeasurable even with the most idealized controlled study. Just my guess.

[technomage]

I don't want to be accused of promoting hate speech, because I'd like to believe we're all equal in this regard. However, I can't accept answers based solely on emotionalism and political correctness.

I have wondered if there was any truth to some races having intelligence differences than others. I'd like to think the IQ differences are simply due to the person's culture rather than race being a factor, because it would be scary if the racists were right.

The differences cited are actually cultural differences, not related to genetics. IQ tests were developed in, by, and primarily for "white" Americans and Europeans.

And for the record, I am not white--I am pink with tan spots (these spots are sometimes called freckles).

[technomage]

However, the non-theist has no logical basis for such an assertion.

Excuse me, but this is grossly incorrect. If you have not been advised of how wrong your assertion is, it is certainly understandable, but such a statement should not go without correction.

Non-theists certainly do have a logical basis for such an assertion: scientific evidence that there is no statistical difference that can be solely attributed to genetics. Other factors (such as culture) play far too great a role. Indeed, this is why science largely rejects the notion of "race" as being a workable differentiation among human beings.

[Jaltus]

I would love for Hamilton to do a season at NASCAR just to see the rednecks freak out. However, I don't think the promotors would ever allow it.

NASCAR had black drivers in the 60s.

[timspong]

Excuse me, but this is grossly incorrect. If you have not been advised of how wrong your assertion is, it is certainly understandable, but such a statement should not go without correction.

Non-theists certainly do have a logical basis for such an assertion: scientific evidence that there is no statistical difference that can be solely attributed to genetics. Other factors (such as culture) play far too great a role. Indeed, this is why science largely rejects the notion of "race" as being a workable differentiation among human beings.

So are you saying that the value of a human is dependent on ability even though no significant difference in ability was found?