Posted on 12/10/2007 6:57:09 AM PST by Daffynition
Thanks. Your assessment is all I need to know about this guy.
The percentage of African genes is as if 1 great grandparent were African origin. If that 16%were divided among several lines then you would have to go much farther back to find several African ancestors.
You just reminded me of my favorite part line in Saving Private Ryan, where the Jewish soldier yells at the German voice on the megaphone: "Your father was circumcised by my rabbi!"
No you can't. None of us can. Prior to the development of DNA testing it was not possible to scientifically determine who the father of a baby was.
In DNA testing done in recent years for divorce cases, about 25% of the children are proven to not be the genetic offspring of the mother's husband.
I'm sure this was less common in the past, but I'm also sure it happened. The chance that anybody who claims they can accurately trace their ancestry back many generations is true is statistically very small.
Take a look at ANY large data set. The military intelligence data; NAEP scores; SAT scores (not the best choice since it is not the most representative sample). Every time you will see a one std deviation difference between white and black test-takers. It's a fact of life whether we like it or not.
At that, the infamous the Milwaukee Project pretty much debunked the blanket racial difference argument.
I would like to think I am conversing with someone who understands that one study proves nothing. Especially when it is the only study to get the results reported. AFAIK, no other study has been able to duplicate the results. If I missed something, there are still far more negative studies. And how practical was Milwaukee? IIRC, the gains in IQ cost something on the order of 25K per IQ point.
An example of a contrary study: the Minnesota Adoption Study. When black infants were adopted into white households they did not end up enjoying the same IQs as the white siblings with whom they are raised. Benefits were shown initially, but they were unfortunately transient. By their teen years, the effect was gone.
I have learned to accept the advice of Philip Dick. "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
(Stickin' with my 50/50 estimate BTW.)
The deviation would be slightly smaller if given the same environment, but it still exists, and always will. For example, whilst the average African has an IQ of around 70 (Average White American = 101, average Japanese = 110), the average Black American has an IQ of around 85. Still one full standard deviation below the White American (with whom they were raised in the same society) average.
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