Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Tai Shtick
Date: Tue, 07 Apr 1992 01:28:42 -0500

Another compilation of replies to assorted Scott Tai drivel.

 RL = roger@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
 ST = tai@ailab.ncsu.edu (Scott Tai)
 TC = twc@svcs1.UUCP (Ted Chan)

===

 RL> Mensa doesn't discriminate on the basis of race.
 RL> They discriminate on the basis of test scores.

 ST> Which is inherently linked to race.

 And YOU have the utter CHUTZPAH to call *US* discriminatory???  Saying
 it is inherently linked to *culture* would be one thing (and even then
 wrong, due to the wide variety of tests available, including ones in
 many languages, or indeed no written language at all), but this is
 plain racism - the same crap you accuse *us* of.

===

 ST> There is no test that will account for the bias, in the United
 ST> States at least, of the differences in education and financial
 ST> status, in general, for minorities, which are linked to test scores.

 And this is Mensa's fault?  You would complain at the air for not
 stopping a bullet fired at you....

===

 ST> Any African-American or Hispanic US MENSA members out there?

 ST> 'Nuff said.

 Yeah, 'nuff said, you've just posted conclusive evidence that INTERNET
 discriminates against African-Americans and Hispanics.  B-)

 BTW, there are several of them in Metro Washington Mensa, along with
 several Chinese-Americans and Indian-Americans (not to be confused with
 "American Indians"), just among the *active* people (which is maybe 5%
 of the whole group).  And probably other minorities that I can't recall
 offhand having seen any of.

===

 ST> Once again my words have been taken out of context.  As I have
 ST> maintained all along:

 ST> [...] Studies have shown that intelligence is based primarily on
 ST> hereditary and genetic factors.  To have a group solely for people
 ST> with a certain IQ or test score is nothing less than blatant
 ST> discrimination [...]

 ST> Where did I mention race in the above article?

 Nothing whatsoever has been deleted from the above, so you cannot claim
 you are being taken out of context.  You state that intelligence is
 based primarily on hereditary and genetic factors.  You state (not
 there but many other places) that Mensa is racially discriminatory
 because of its membership policy of admitting only those of the top 2%
 of intelligence (the cultural bias argument has already been thoroughly
 destroyed).  Therefore:

  IF those factors upon which intelligence is based are race-related,
  THEN intelligence is based primarily on race (ie, you are a bigot)
  ELSE Mensa is not racist (ie, you are knowingly libelous)

Take your choice.

===

 ST> I'm curious why the Cattell score required is significantly higher 
 ST> ( > 15 points) than for any other IQ tests.

 Not all tests are created equal.  Fact of the matter is, there is no
 such thing as a person's "IQ", unless that is qualified by which test.

 It's also a lot lower than the SAT score required.  B-)

===

 ST> Any African-American or Hispanic US MENSA members out there?

 TC> So the category "minorities" now only includes African-Americans
 TC> and Hispanics, huh?  Boy, you are a condescending racist.  And
 TC> you've proved my point quoted above.

 ST> Have some respect for what I say and don't try to twist it around into
 ST> what you want me to say.

Yet another demonstration of chutzpah!  "Do as I say, not as I do!"

===

 ST> As I stated above, MENSA has never explicitly claimed that these
 ST> tests are the equivalent [of IQ tests].  However, they imply that
 ST> they are, by accepting them as entrance requirements.

 Equivalent *for that purpose only*.  And this is backed up by studies
 showing an extremely good statistical correlation.

===

Nighty night, y'all!