Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
Subject: Re: _The Mismeasure of Man_
From: sbishop@desire.wright.edu
Date: 14 Apr 92 17:15:49 EST
Organization: Wright State University 

In article <GERRY.92Apr12165028@onion.cmu.edu>, gerry@cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) writes:
> A fascinating book, but it does leave me with a question.  [Is there a
> net.reader out there who can put it to Gould and post his response?]
> I agree quite strongly with Dr. Gould that "intelligence" tests dont.
> I use as empirical evidence my scores on the GRE when I retook them
> recently.  Studying can seriusly affect the outcome of the exam,
> therefor, they do not measure "native intelligence".
> 
> My question is this though: does Dr. Gould believe/suggest/imply that
> all people have the same mental potential at birth?  [I know that the
> pre-natal environment can affect this potential, but let's ignore that
> for now.]  It seems to me that, at birth, certain individuals are
> endowed with greater potentials in certain areas of endeavor than
> others.  No one would call me names if I were to claim that Bo Jackson,
> at birth, had greater potential for becoming a great athlete than I.
> But many people might call me names if I were to say that at birth I
> was endowed with greater potential for mental achievement than he.

A very good book to read which addresses this point is _Nature's Thumbprint_,
sorry I don't remember the author.

There is one statement by Gould in his book that strongly suggests that
he does believe that there are inherent limitations, that not all people
have the same mental potential.  As a parent of two children, and also
a member of a family where the mental abilities range widely from limited
to genius, I firmly believe there is some strong inheritability involved.
I also do not believe there is any one factor involved, nor is there any
way to specifically test for 'intelligence'.

> Therefore, it seems that there IS some native, inheredited potential
> that is independent of environment.  And, since, as I claim that this
> inheredited potential must exist, is it possible to identify and
> measure it in some manner?
> 

Other than the very flawed IQ tests, which are mostly useless, no.

Actually there HAS to be some inherited potential for intelligence.
Otherwise we would not have increased in brain size in the last few
million years.

> Another question that arose from the book has to do with the
> differentiation of the human species into "races".  According to the
> book, and I have no reason to doubt this, the differentiation of the
> races is a relatively modern phenomenon (about 10,000 years ago).

I would say that it is farther back than that, since Amerindians have
been on this continent for at least 20,000 years and almost certainly
30,000 years.  

> Understanding the causes of the differentiation and some of the
> results is not difficult: more melamin and the reduced ability to
> digest milk in tropical races, less melamin and the continued ability
> to digest milk in the nordic races, etc.  But why did different
> "superficial" differences appear?  (Such as the narrow eyes of the
> oriental, the skin color of the oriental, the flattened nose and
> sloped forehead of the african negro, etc.)  Furthermore, since these
> differences would seem to imply that the races were reproductively
> isolated, so why then can the races interbreed today?  It would be
> interesting to determine if the rate if miscarraiges for inter-racial
> couples is higher or lower than for intra-racial couples.
> 

The isolation has really been relatively recent in terms of generations.
And the differences are minor compared to those of other species.

> --
> Gerry Roston (gerry@cmu.edu)    | We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
> Field Robotics Center,          | all men are created equal, that they are
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Sue
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic