Post #12, April 28, 2009, Gender, Race and Intelligence?

Could you imagine if scientists discovered that race and gender difference did have some effect on one's intelligence? Racism and sexism would be widespread as a result, with people judging the "less intelligent" ones as inferior. Americans would be more willing to group themselves with people who are like them so as to fight off those judgements, and segregation's ugly head might spring back up again. Hostility, riots, and hate crimes between the races and sexes would rise within cities and the image of times before the Civil Rights Movement would be familiar. The evidence of this "evil science", the name given by scientists who believe that the research determined to find the link between gender, race, and intelligence is offensive, has fortunately not been proved to be true or upheld by the scientific community.

I think that most researchers and scientists who do pursue "this evil science" are racist and only want to prove that certain ethnicities are inferior to the rest of the human population. History has shown this to be true; in the mid- 20th century, the British psychologist Cyril Burt used fake data to prove that the genes of black people and poor people make them less intelligent than white people and the rich. With proof that Burt had falsified his so- called evidence, this tells us that Burt was a racist and that there is a strong possibility that the researchers who are trying to follow his foot steps today are as well.

In the Newsweek aricle, "Sex, Race and IQ: Off Limits?," by Sharon Begley, those who defend this type of science argue that, "the studies must continue because of the wealth of important knowledge they produce." I completely disagree with this because what possible good could from the studies? Just because certain people have similar genes, skin- color, gender, and other physical features doesn't necessarily mean they have the same intelligence. Begley says that, "experience shapes the brain," which I believe is true, and since we all don't have the same experiences, we therefore don't always have the same intelligence as a person of the same race as us. Lastly, I also believe that each person has the potential to be brilliant; the only difference between a "smart" person and a "not-so- smart" one is the drive.

For more on the British psychologist Cyril Burt, click on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Burt

For more on the Newsweek article, click on the link below.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/193534