The end of the Flynn Effect We never knew for sure whether it was real, what caused it or whether it was limited only to the left side of the curve. But the Flynn Effect appears to be at the end of its days in Europe, at least. This from the Times:-
So a couple of observations about this. First, the Flynn Effect has been tossed into more IQ arguments than Arthur Jensen has hairs on his eminent head - most always, of course, by the environmentalist left. It has been interesting, if not altogether surprising, to contrast the reaction on the race-realist right to this activity. Has it launched a campaign of outright denial, blatently ignoring all evidence in favour of Flynn? Has it launched attacks on the professional reputation of Flynn proponents? The difference between the realists’ response and that of the scientific left to, say, EO Wilson in the 1970s, eventually driving sociobiology underground, or to Rushton in the 90s, almost leading to prosecution, is instructive and should be a source of pride among the men of the right. Confident intellectual foundations are a wonderful thing, and the execrable behaviour of the leftists can only be explained by a lack of them. It has ever been so. The other fascinating tidbit from the Times story is James Flynn’s notion that :-
Well, no James, sorry. A weakness in debating such issues maturely is likely present in our benighted age. But there are very good, rather Durkheimian reasons for that. I am pretty certain that sympathetic markers such as the beauty and elegance of the spoken and written word, so evident in the long history of the English language, will show that our shortcomings today are wholly environmental. For example, can our boys in Iraq flay intellectual skin with the same burning endeavour as the men of Cromwell’s New Model Army in their famous constitutional debates with the Levellers? But to rid ourselves of our “emotional lumpenness” we must dispose of such sink issues as egalitarianism, multiculturalism and Third World immigration, economism (particularly in respect to working mothers), the war on the family, etc ... in short, all the elements of advanced liberalism that lie on our chests like the weight of a dozen dead men. Let the natural bonds prosper again and stability reign. The real talents of our people will reveal themselves soon enough, and psychologists can measure it then for all they are worth. On that basis I would confidently predict a rosy future for an “emotional” corrolate of the Flynn Effect. But on none other. Comments:2
Posted by Orion Blue on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:17 | # Am I right in thinking that the ‘touchy-feelie’ approach to measuring cognitive function, such as so-called ‘Emotional Quotient’, is merely a response to intractable differences between groups that have persisted these last 100 years or so, irrespective of environmental factors? This might be ‘jumping the gun’ slightly, but I cannot help but think that this ‘subjectivisation’ and ‘feminisation’ of the realm of psychology owes something to political objectives rather than to those of science. 3
Posted by Guessedworker on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 19:47 | # Detail-wise, it’s too early to say much with any certainty about EI except that it’s all rather uncertain. But to my mind, intelligence-related qualities of emotional life, whatever they may actually be, and their outcome in our personal skills are two different things. In not separating them clearly one is stuck immediately not only with issues of what is innate and acquired, for example, but also with what is genuine and what is false. It is a recipe for bad data. If one is going to venture anywhere near it one has to have very clear guiding principles, and I really don’t see much likelihood of such emerging soon. The issue of EI was taken up because ‘g’ gave too robust a platform to the right. Trying now to develop it backwards from political utility into a subject for empirical study looks, frankly, mendacious. Respectable cognitive psychologists who acknowledge the robustness of ‘g’ and, suffer no political nervous ticks because of it, will doubtless leave EI for the birds. 4
Posted by Jensen on I.Q. testing on Tue, 14 Apr 2015 08:36 | # Arthur Jensen on i.q. testing http://cdn.counter-currents.com/radio/JensenPart4.mp3 http://www.counter-currents.com/2015/04/interview-with-arthur-jensen-part-3/ Post a comment:
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Posted by James Bowery on Tue, 19 Dec 2006 16:57 | #
Interesting that Flynn is abandoning a quantitative approach, IQ, now that it no longer conveys a fashionable message. Perhaps he can search around for some other metric that conveys a fashionable message and get back to his career building. This morality approach doesn’t seem likely to lead anywhere but an over-crowded humanities milieu where guys like Flynn have nothing in particular to offer the seekers of speciousness. Maybe he can squeeze a book or two out of it.