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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 1, 2024

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As a black person...I really really really don't want HBD to be true

This doesn't mean I think it's wrong. It's just that I think that the conclusions you'd have to draw from it being correct are just so awful for me.

I view it as nothing short of tragic that a people who suffered so much due to being viewed as inferior, who struggled for so long to be viewed as equals and treated with dignity, who endured all kinds of injustices in the hope that we would overcome...only for science to prove that it was fruitless all along. It's so dispiriting the possibility that all the problems in our community: crime, poverty, ignorance, are intransient. How are you supposed to deal with that without becoming utterly nihilistic?

I'll probably have a longer more essay-type post for next week's thread but I just want to get my raw emotions about it out here before then.

It's just so unfair. It fills me with anger and sadness and rage and I can't stop thinking about it. I don't want it to be true...I don't want it to be true. It's so unfair

Eh, it really shouldn't matter to you all that much if you are personally smart, that's suggestive that your family is also relatively smart and that (assuming you pick a good partner), your descendents will also be decently smart (regression to the mean notwithstanding, unfortunately the influence of your family on your children doesn't "factor through" you completely).

It's just so unfair

Life is what life is. There are highly intelligent people rotting away in the third world while 80 IQ clueless imbecilles in western welfare states who only have it in them to take out more than they put in live decent and comfortable existances. No amount of rage from me or anyone else at this injustice is going to change this so I've come to accept it and move on. I have extended family in the former situation too so it's not like this is just a theoretical problem for me.

(I also believe intelligence gives rise to moral worth, I'd happily eat a chicken - provided it was slaughtered in a Halal way - I very much would not eat a chicken that had human level intelligence and would be horrified if such a being was treated like how we treat chickens today)

Eh, it really shouldn't matter to you all that much if you are personally smart, that's suggestive that your family is also relatively smart and that (assuming you pick a good partner), your descendents will also be decently smart (regression to the mean notwithstanding, unfortunately the influence of your family on your children doesn't "factor through" you completely).

I could see it mattering to someone if they have groups that they identify with that are more extensive than their family.

I also believe intelligence gives rise to moral worth, I'd happily eat a chicken

I technically agree, but there's such a huge difference between even the least intelligent 1% of humans and chickens that it doesn't matter. Everest is a lot higher than Ben Nevis, but they're both obviously mountains and not molehills.