Paul Graham‘s 2004 essay What you can’t say had a big influence on me and remains my favorite essay. In he argued essentially that popular morality shows fashion tendencies i.e. that it varies over time but for no evidence-linked reason. What is at one time considered a grievous moral evil is later considered not a big deal, and the other way around. Graham did not mention anything related to race in his essay, but he mentioned that physicists are much smarter than humanities people. Apparently, this was hotly enough disputed that he wrote a follow up. Though academics at times deny it, intelligence is the most important trait. We have literally named our species after it (homo sapiens, thinking man).
I’ve already discussed Eric Turkheimer before, but his continued scientifically nonsensical incoherence on this topic means that we will have to do another post.
Behold, I present you the list of party approved OK traits for studying between group differences
OK – studying these is science as usual, carry on
- Height
- BMI
- Monobrow
- Eyebrow density
- Beard density
- Hair shape
- Hair greying
- Balding
- Hair color
- Skin melanin index/skin color/skin pigmentation
- Eye color
- Brow ridge protusion
- Eye fold
- Chin shape
- Forehead profile
- Nasion position
- Nose bridge breadth
- Columella inclination
- Nose protrusion
- Nose tip angle
- Chin protrusion
- Facial flatness
- Ear protrusion
- Lobe attachment
- Lobe size
- Helix roling
- Fold of antihelix
- Antitragus size
- Prostate cancer
- Breast cancer
- Alcoholism
- Altitude sickness/tolerance
- Type 2 diabetes
- Lung function
- Asthma
- Heart disease
- Sleep depth
- Lactose (in)tolernace
- Diving ability
- Resting state functional MRI
- Geometry of cortical surface
- (everything else not mentioned below)
NOT OK – you are racist and a pseudoscientist
- Intelligence