tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post2537475183405884245..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: The cognitive ability of US elitesSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-91735107461428133392013-05-10T20:06:09.190-04:002013-05-10T20:06:09.190-04:00Just listening to Nixon. It's obvious he's...Just listening to Nixon. It's obvious he's the smartest prez since recorded sound. As Milton Friedman said, "In terms of pure IQ, Nixon is the smartest person I've ever met." Too bad for Nixon and many like him, they don't realize that the US more than any other developed country, does not "prefer" such people, in the active since of "prefer".HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-28449083300180564132013-05-10T20:02:20.573-04:002013-05-10T20:02:20.573-04:00Yes. I scored 790 on the practice test and 770 on ...Yes. I scored 790 on the practice test and 770 on the test, but I never even appiled to B-school because I knew I couldn't get into one worth attending. The US is shit. It is as simple as that.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-52441065865948582812013-05-10T19:59:01.130-04:002013-05-10T19:59:01.130-04:00Racism isn't blacks' biggest problem or th...Racism isn't blacks' biggest problem or the biggest problem of the Afrikaner or the untouchables or Koreans of Japan. Their biggest problem is that they form a distinct cultural group. I am originally from PDX, but living farther east it was really brought home when I heard a few whites talking (and acting) like blacks. These were whites racially but culturally they were black. The very HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-3810852875658871372013-05-02T03:18:34.420-04:002013-05-02T03:18:34.420-04:00The campus gossipers you overheard were probably o...The campus gossipers you overheard were probably overstating their case. I seriously doubt the lowest white score was higher than the highest black score, because over a dozen blacks per year score well within the vast range of white Harvard law students, and surely a school as prestigious as Harvard law can attract at least one of them. Here's some relevant data:<br /><br />http://Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-79963019850954899892013-05-02T01:01:49.404-04:002013-05-02T01:01:49.404-04:00"As only a tiny side note I will add that, IM..."As only a tiny side note I will add that, IMHO, it does no favors to the black students that average scores for admitted blacks are so much lower than those of whites" <br /><br />I really think the black students might disagree with you. The "asterisk" argument has some power, but at the same time it is often used to avoid the really uncomfortable parts of the debate. It tractalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-32861264965979399362013-05-01T23:55:54.655-04:002013-05-01T23:55:54.655-04:00From this, it looks to me like Obama's LSAT...From this, it looks to me like Obama's LSAT's were within the range of what white students were scoring and that campus rumors were false. Further it looks like at least two Columbia students had LSAT's in this range and extrapolating from that - and assuming a lot of the high scoring african-american went to Harvard (safe bet?) he wasn't the only one - by far. <br /><br /><br /LondonYoungnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-84391367274977571882013-05-01T17:04:13.145-04:002013-05-01T17:04:13.145-04:00It's a myth that the Flynn effect affects only...It's a myth that the Flynn effect affects only non-brilliant people; it has uniformly lifted virtually the whole bell curve by about 20 points and occam's razor says it's done so for the same reason other biological traits like height and brain size have increased by over 1 SD: better nutrition. Twin studies show nutrition mostly benefits those abilities on which the Flynn effect Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-63869479506249954192013-05-01T15:32:52.148-04:002013-05-01T15:32:52.148-04:00Obviously wrong is appropriate here. The Flynn eff...Obviously wrong is appropriate here. The Flynn effect may not even represent any real gains in G, and what gains might be there are concentrated in the bottom half of the bell curve. Even if you embrace the extreme idea that the population as whole has gained 20 IQ points you still wouldn't have much evidence of that happening in the top half relevant for college performance. <br /><br />On tractalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-36710128302775518412013-05-01T14:39:33.252-04:002013-05-01T14:39:33.252-04:00Of course it's non-sense to say that it's ...Of course it's non-sense to say that it's impossible that the top half of the bell curve could be 1 SD smarter than 1910. It strikes me as highly unlikely. But impossible?<br /><br />The "argument" that is put forth above (i.e., that it is "obviously wrong") reminds me of the sort of proofs I would get back in my grad school days grading papers. In mathematics, dwbuddhttp://twitter.com/dwbuddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-72631701361225660452013-04-30T11:11:11.830-04:002013-04-30T11:11:11.830-04:00Why can't the top half of the bell curve be 1 ...Why can't the top half of the bell curve be 1 SD smarter than in 1910? Height has increased by more than 1 SD since 1910 in the top half of distribution. Why not intelligence?Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-36380955211015852972013-04-30T02:38:13.006-04:002013-04-30T02:38:13.006-04:00Point 1 is reasonable but hyperbolic. Point 2 is s...Point 1 is reasonable but hyperbolic. Point 2 is stupid.tractalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-89874889683813171152013-04-29T23:23:20.118-04:002013-04-29T23:23:20.118-04:00Steve, could you please provide some thoughts you ...Steve, could you please provide some thoughts you may have on motivation and its relationship to intelligence and achievement? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-83742619127859418142013-04-29T22:22:48.840-04:002013-04-29T22:22:48.840-04:00You'll have to pardon me for asking you to qua...You'll have to pardon me for asking you to quantify this: "BUT when human development is less as in Brazil and China the top 1% in <br />test scores and the top 1% in ability at conception overlap less." It does not match with my experience.<br /><br />Re: "The US has the lowest social mobility of any developed country." One might say that our federalism is etched into David Coughlinhttp://twitter.com/dscoughlinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-78541977647012325702013-04-28T23:32:43.187-04:002013-04-28T23:32:43.187-04:00Whatever.Whatever.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-6401870267582212452013-04-28T23:11:16.232-04:002013-04-28T23:11:16.232-04:00And what % of US citizens is the "elite"...And what % of US citizens is the "elite"? What fraction of 1%?HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-9105722478910525652013-04-28T23:01:37.337-04:002013-04-28T23:01:37.337-04:00Most elites would have still become elite had they...Most elites would have still become elite had they never attended the Ivy League. It's the traits the got them accepted by the Ivy League that made them successful, not the Ivy League degree itself. And the reason elites never went to college in our great grandfather's day is because intelligence, like height, was impaired in those days so not even elites were generally smart enough Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-88283568570628023502013-04-28T22:47:35.500-04:002013-04-28T22:47:35.500-04:00Bullshit.Bullshit.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-57603425724571323692013-04-28T22:46:10.029-04:002013-04-28T22:46:10.029-04:00Absolutely yes, from their top 1%.Absolutely yes, from their top 1%.HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-79567723071846346392013-04-28T22:44:52.897-04:002013-04-28T22:44:52.897-04:00Both are the case. But today the former is much mo...Both are the case. But today the former is much more true than in times past. Astor, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller never went to college. My grear great grandfather J J Brown never went to college. The ethnic bottom line accordong to Unz is, despite their constant bitching about discrimination against them, Jews have taken the commanding heights in the US and pulled up the drawbridges. How they've HughLygonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-2973868405314216092013-04-28T22:01:34.940-04:002013-04-28T22:01:34.940-04:00Very interesting. What do you make of this source?...Very interesting. What do you make of this source?<br /><br />http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/21/Found-Obama-s-LSAT-Score<br /><br /><i>According to Lockwood, LSAC data reveal that during the 1987-88 <br />academic year, ten African-American students from Columbia University <br />applied to law school. Only two earned LSAT scores above the 63rd <br />percentile, and those each Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-64089827412616820702013-04-28T20:57:02.605-04:002013-04-28T20:57:02.605-04:00Sorry, no web link :-( ... I was officed on the e...Sorry, no web link :-( ... I was officed on the east side of the North Yard getting my degree while Obama was over on the west side getting his, and at that time admissions were a topic even around the "lesser" North Yard (as I suppose they are now) and his name specifically came up in convo around the place as an example of "unfair" admissions (he made a name for himself LondonYoungnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-29110536701248692072013-04-28T19:02:01.373-04:002013-04-28T19:02:01.373-04:00It does strikes me as strange that the media still...It does strikes me as strange that the media still gives candidates a complete pass on their grades, SAT's, etc ... Obama was said to have the lowest LSAT score of anyone in his class at Harvard, but how do we know? And if we knew, would we care?LondonYoungnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-17068775292536575292013-04-28T16:45:02.195-04:002013-04-28T16:45:02.195-04:00Ivy league schools select for the same three trait...Ivy league schools select for the same three traits that the real world success selects for (high IQ, high drive, high socio-economic background) so it's not surprising to find a very high correlation between academic credentials and real world success. But I wouldn't assume the ivy league elites are smarter than elites with inferior schooling. The smartest elites might be those who Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-70008940017495333842013-04-28T11:03:36.940-04:002013-04-28T11:03:36.940-04:00you're assuming smart people become elite beca...you're assuming smart people become elite because they attend elite universities. It could be that universities become elite by accepting smart future elites.Iamexpertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-34862351859259591822013-04-27T22:29:17.182-04:002013-04-27T22:29:17.182-04:00Oh please - we all know that the Ivy League has &#...Oh please - we all know that the Ivy League has 'legacy' entry for scions of the tax-eating establishment (as evidenced by Dubya), and that it is absolutely possible to gain entry WITHOUT meeting the GPA criterion... opening the door to nepotism and other forms of corruption.<br /><br />If these individuals were so 'elite' they would have far fewer qualms about releasing their Kratoklasteshttp://www.marketmentat.com/noreply@blogger.com