Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Dawson Leery

(19,348 posts)
Thu Apr 26, 2018, 01:32 PM Apr 2018

Even Sam Harris has an identity.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2018/04/everyone-has-an-identity-even-sam-harris/

"Intelligence is partly genetic, but also partly environmental. And since before its inception, America has been doing almost everything in its power to starve the minds of its black citizens. We made it illegal to teach slaves to read or write. We segregated schools so that black children’s schools could be given the worst of everything. We segregated neighborhoods and put toxic dumps, polluting factories and smoggy power plants in communities of color so that people who lived there bore the brunt of pollutants like mercury and lead which decrease intelligence. Even today, black people tend to be poorer due to a long legacy of housing and job discrimination, and studies find that severe financial stress causes a drop in apparent IQ.

Under this heavy weight of historical discrimination, it would be astonishing if some black people didn’t have lower IQs than privileged white people who’ve enjoyed every educational and economic advantage.* But that tells us nothing about what their average IQ would be if all these burdens were removed. As Klein said, one common criticism of Murray is that “he often looks at indicators that reflect inequality and uses them to justify inequality.”

Incredibly, Sam Harris insists that none of this matters!"
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Even Sam Harris has an id...