# College Campus Diversity **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 11, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472 "2010-01-11T03:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/41 "2010-01-12T15:40:45Z")
Say you’re on the college admissions board and you have the choice of two students, based on the information below. One has an A-minus average, comes from a perfect upper-middle-class family, has not really faced any serious hardship, and has a similar cultural background as 90% of the students you have already. The other comes from a broken, poor family where every day was a hardship (had to take care of multiple brothers & sisters while mom worked full-time and dad was MIA), but still managed to get a B+ average, and has a cultural background that only 1% of your existing student body shares (and has probably had to deal with some amount persecution because of that) Based on no other information, which student do you think will succeed more once they get to college? Which do you think will contribute more to having a variety of different viewpoints on campus? The choice is obviously going to be for the second candidate. Now sure, if you switch the scenario around and have to choose between a upper-class, minority student and a broken-family majority student, the decision becomes a lot tougher. But race still is a factor in this debate because it usually does confer some amount of hardship that needs to be overcome, and that _is_ something that colleges are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/42 "2010-01-12T16:12:29Z")
> [@Telur](#): > > Well when you apply to a school that receives over 15,000 applicants and only accepts 1,230. My spot could be ousted by someone of African American descent very easily. Especially where the school’s outreach program is very controversial. > Also, based on last year’s stats 435 out of the 1230 (35%) were minority students. > > Can you still make that guarantee? Well, no. Would you feel better if other white students were accepted ahead of you? I’m not sure where you are applying, but it has roughly the same acceptance rate as Harvard (but with a much smaller class). Keep in mind that with a school that competative, there are likely a significant number of people with perfect high school records (4.0 GPA, 1600 SAT) who will not be accepted. So when you have a situation where a significant number of people who meet the criteria for entry are still unable to qualify, your criteria, in a sense, becomes arbitrary. We like this candidate because he plays lacrosse, we like that candidate because she plays the oboe. ---
**Author:** ![kingbighair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/43 "2010-01-12T16:34:25Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Here’s what gets me. You want “cultural” diversity fine. Yeah, a Jew, a catholic. a bapist and an athiest probably bring different cultural views to the table. So do 1st generation americans who immigrant parents come from differing parts of the world. Same with somebody from rural Kansas vs the east coast vs the west coast vs the southeast vs the northwest vs the big city vs the small town. Kids with poor parents vs middle income vs rich vs uneducated vs highly educated. And so and so on for all sorts of stuff. > > Yeah, that brings all sorts of cultural “diversity” to the table. But why do they need to ask what your skin color is or if you have a penis or not? > > Is there some inherent link between those things and your culture and how you think? In a word, yes. This recent attempt to brand America as colorblind and post-race in my opinion is detrimental to society overall. Instead of celebrating and exploring our different cultures, we are so worried about potential racial frenzies that we just feel it best to say we are all the same. People of different cultures, skin color, background, etc absolutely think differently from each other. We are products of our environment. The way you are treated in life absolutely affects the way you think and your approach to the world. Affirmative action is a somewhat poorly planned method to bring these diverse life experiences together. Race just happens to be the most salient predictor of diverse life experiences; ergo, different ways of thinking. I would prefer an affirmative action program based on class and then race, but that is another discussion. ---
**Author:** ![kingbighair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/44 "2010-01-12T16:46:05Z")
> [@Telur](#): > > Going to guess that OP means original poster. > > Well when you apply to a school that receives over 15,000 applicants and only accepts 1,230. My spot could be ousted by someone of African American descent very easily. Especially where the school’s outreach program is very controversial. > Also, based on last year’s stats 435 out of the 1230 (35%) were minority students. > > Can you still make that guarantee? > “[Man] should not be judged on the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” -Martin Luther King Jr. You are right. Your spot could be taken by a minority. Or a white guy that is smarter than you. Or a woman. Or the son of someone on the board. Or a great athlete. Or the daughter of a guy who built a new wing in the music conservatory. Or they could have accidentally dropped your application on the floor and didn’t see it. Or maybe you don’t really deserve to get in. With that low of an acceptance rate, any idea of “your spot” is nothing more than self entitlement. Nice MLK quote. Ever wonder if the content of someone’s character is shaped by their life experiences due to the color of their skin? I bet I can guarantee who you blame when you don’t get in. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/45 "2010-01-12T16:57:30Z")
> [@kingbighair](#): > > In a word, yes. > > . So, “you guys think differently” Can I run a company and after years of experience say " I aint hiring anyone with colored skin or no penis because years of experience have taught me these people are pain in the ass because they think differently"? You can’t have your “we are different but different is ALWAYS good and NEVER bad” cake and eat it too. ---
**Author:** ![kingbighair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/13edae/32.png) [@kingbighair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingbighair)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/46 "2010-01-12T17:05:45Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > So, “you guys think differently” > > Can I run a company and after years of experience say " I aint hiring anyone with colored skin or no penis because years of experience have taught me these people are pain in the ass because they think differently"? > > You can’t have your “we are different but different is ALWAYS good and NEVER bad” cake and eat it too. Ooooookkk. I think you might be reading something I did not say. There is a world of difference between a college wanting people of different life experiences together in order to engender a better learning environment and violating the Civil Rights Act by intentionally discriminating based on race or gender. So to answer your question, no, you could not do that. ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/47 "2010-01-12T17:23:45Z")
> [@Chen019](#): > > According to Steven Farron, in ‘The Affirmative Action Hoax’ it effectively began in the 1920’s. This is discussed in a book review on HBDbooks: > > [http://hbdbooks.com/2009/05/affirmative-action-in-modern-america/](http://hbdbooks.com/2009/05/affirmative-action-in-modern-america/) I disagree with Farron. He dosn’t even mention the fucking Executive Order that laid the foundation for Bakke. Affirmative Action is because of the Civil Rights Movement. Pure and Simple. Once the spokesperson for that movement died, America went back to business as usual. \ ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/48 "2010-01-12T17:34:28Z")
> [@Telur](#): > > Going to guess that OP means original poster. > > Well when you apply to a school that receives over 15,000 applicants and only accepts 1,230. My spot could be ousted by someone of African American descent very easily. Especially where the school’s outreach program is very controversial. > Also, based on last year’s stats 435 out of the 1230 (35%) were minority students. > > Can you still make that guarantee?. Yep, once you go to college, you’ll see what I mean. I’ve went to University of Michigan (undergrad), Wayne State University (grad), and Ohio State University (grad, again) and I can tell you that every single class I’ve taken has been over 80% white. (and that’s being very generous, I’d say it’s about 95% white). The only outlier is an African-American literature I took during my junior year. I don’t believe for a minute that 35% were minority. If they are minority, there sure as hell not 35% blacks at your University. College is a white institution with white people, white teachers, white police officers, white researchers, and black janitors. The talk of AA is stupid because many States are criminalizing the practice. It won’t be around for much longer. By the way, what State is the OP from? I bet AA is illegal there (or will be soon) and that the discussion is moot. > [@Telur](#): > > “[Man] should not be judged on the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” -Martin Luther King Jr. I’m sorry, but Americans have thrown away everything MLK fought for with the exception of segregated water fountains. You have no right to mention him in his context. - Honesty ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/49 "2010-01-12T18:38:23Z")
MLK fought for segregated water fountains? ---
**Author:** ![Telur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@Telur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telur)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/50 "2010-01-13T04:57:43Z")
> [@bannerrefugee](#): > > The OP perceives that this schools student population has been affected by affirmative action and he seems to resent it. If it’s that important to him he should go someplace else. I was more upset at Honesty for “guaranteeing a darkie wasn’t going to take my spot” I don’t resent affirmative action if it’s looking for just as qualified if not more so, prospective students, in places that normally would not apply. I resent affirmative action when the college just wants more minority students just to “be more diverse”. @honesty I rather dislike how you tell me that the statistics on the school are false. I am from Ohio but the school I am applying is out of state. And I would prefer not to disclose. We may have one thing in common, Ohio State honors college (to which I’ve already been accepted and invited) is my backup if I am not accepted to the aforementioned. I have no right to use my first amendment rights to quote one of the most brilliant men in all of American History? I also rather dislike how you state college is run by white people and cleaned up by black people. Well I’m not in college yet but at my high school there are plenty of black kids (I can’t give you statistics because I don’t know) and every single janitor is white. Also I’ve seen plenty of black professors and students on the campus when I went to visit. So to claim it is a “white institution” doesn’t seem to hold much water to me. @YamatoTwinkie One of the short answer responses we (applicants) had to write was to describe any hardships faced. The assumption you’re making is that hardship of life is directly correlated to race. Just because a person is black doesn’t mean they fought hardship and just because a person is white doesn’t mean they didn’t have any. @kingbighair I really liked your rhetorical question “Ever wonder if the content of someone’s character is shaped by their life experiences due to the color of their skin?” Maybe it is and in that case justifiable. If they came from poorer households you mean and had to face more hardship? Sure but the same thing with YomatoTwinkie, how do you know that race means more or less hardship? I rather dislike how you made the accusation that I would blame a black person for me not getting in. If I don’t get in then I wasn’t good enough. I have no one to blame but myself for not being more competitive. @bannerrefugee I’m sorry if I came across as I didn’t like the university or the way it handles admissions. I actually had an alumni, working for the outreach program come to my house and interview me last August before my other Interview (the one everyone receives). I said their outreach program was controversial, I never stated my opinion on it. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/51 "2010-01-13T05:14:05Z")
> [@Honesty](#): > > College is a white institution with white people, white teachers, white police officers, white researchers, and black janitors. > > - Honesty Garbage. > [@](#): > > Though Asian-Americans constitute only about 4.5% of the U.S. population, they typically account for anywhere from 10% to 30% of students at many of the nation’s elite colleges… > > Asian-American enrollment at Berkeley has increased since California voters banned affirmative action in college admissions. Berkeley accepted 4,122 Asian-American applicants for this fall’s freshman class – nearly 42% of the total admitted. That is up from 2,925 in 1997, or 34.6%, the last year before the ban took effect. Similarly, Asian-American undergraduate enrollment at the University of Washington rose to 25.4% in 2004 from 22.1% in 1998, when voters in that state prohibited affirmative action in college admissions. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116321461412620634.html?mod=home\_we\_banner\_left](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116321461412620634.html?mod=home_we_banner_left) ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/52 "2010-01-13T05:33:20Z")
The problem is that groups have different average ability distributions. > [@](#): > > The distribution of IQ among African Americans peaks at about 85 with a standard deviation (SD) variously reported between 11 and 14. Using the average, 12.5, puts the college-ready IQ threshold 2 SD out from the African American mean. About 2.3 percent of blacks with the cognitive capital to earn a good degree reach this threshold. In any given year, about 13,500 African American 18-year-olds qualify. Thousands of colleges compete for them. If we divide the 13,500 African American youngsters equally among American colleges, each campus would get at most a handful. > **[Educating a Black Elite](http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/blackelite.htm)** > > EDUCATING A BLACK ELITE. Thousands of blacks in the US have IQ scores above 130, many more above 120. A war is raging over who will hire them and who will educate them. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/53 "2010-01-13T10:12:49Z")
> [@Chen019](#): > > The problem is that groups have different average ability distributions. > > [Educating a Black Elite](http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/blackelite.htm) Why do you think that is? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/54 "2010-01-13T13:55:57Z")
> [@Chen019](#): > > [Educating a Black Elite](http://www.lagriffedulion.f2s.com/blackelite.htm) You know where else that page gets quoted a lot? Stormf\*\*\*t. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/55 "2010-01-14T04:47:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Why do you think that is? 1. estimates for heritability of IQ are between 0.2 and 0.8 2. that means that between 20% and 80% of the variation in IQ is due to variation in genes 1. selection can act if reproductive rates are impacted by these genes (i.e., by intelligence) 2. simple estimates suggest that 50,000 _could have_ been enough time to produce .5 SD (genetic) group differences See here for some elaboration on (3) and (4) using Greg Clark’s (economist at UC Davis) data on English inheritances and family size: > **[Recent evolution in humans](https://infoproc.blogspot.com/2008/12/recent-natural-selection-in-humans.html)** > > Did evolution stop once modern humans emerged in Africa? Or, to the contrary, did it speed up? This question is addressed in the forthcoming... The simplest model would be that time since development of agriculture varies between groups, and this variation leads to different levels of selection for traits which might be more useful for agriculturalists than for hunter gatherers. There is a lot of evidence for group differences; the question is only how much is due to genetic factors. The book ‘The 10,000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution’ discusses this. For instance, you see with the Ashkenazi Jews an example of how local selective pressures exerted even over several hundred years can cause changes. > [@](#): > > There is no strong evidence yet for specific gene variants (alleles) that lead to group differences (differences between clusters) in behavior or intelligence, but progress on the genomic side of this question will be rapid in coming years, as the price to sequence a genome is dropping at an exponential rate. > > What seems to be true (from preliminary studies) is that the gene variants that were under strong selection (reached fixation) over the last 10k years are different in different clusters. That is, the way that modern people in each cluster differ, due to natural selection, from their own ancestors 10k years ago is not the same in each cluster – we have been, at least at the genetic level, experiencing divergent evolution. > > In fact, recent research suggests that 7% or more of all our genes are mutant versions that replaced earlier variants through natural selection over the last tens of thousands of years. There was little gene flow between continental clusters (“races”) during that period, so there is circumstantial evidence for group differences beyond the already established ones (superficial appearance, disease resistance). [Information Processing: "No scientific basis for race"](http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2008/01/no-scientific-basis-for-race.html) In terms of the recent changes a fair few seem neurological, see. > [@](#): > > Recent articles have proposed that genes involved in brain development and function may have been important targets of selection in recent human evolution [8,9]. While we do not find evidence for selection in the two genes reported in those studies (MCPH1 and ASPM), we do find signals in two other microcephaly genes, namely, CDK5RAP2 in Yoruba, and CENPJ in Europeans and East Asians [46]. Though there is not an overall enrichment for neurological genes in our gene ontology analysis, several other important brain genes also have signals of selection, including the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter GABRA4, an Alzheimer’s susceptibility gene PSEN1, and SYT1 in Yoruba; the serotonin transporter SLC6A4 in Europeans and East Asians; and the dystrophin binding gene SNTG1 in all populations. [http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0040072&ct=1](http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.0040072&ct=1) > [@](#): > > Several genes with functional roles in the development and function of the nervous system show very strong evidence (CLR p \< 10−5) for a recent selective sweep. For example, SV2B, a gene encoding a synaptic vesicle protein with highest expression during brain development [36], exhibits strong evidence for a selective sweep in the African-American sample. Likewise, the protein encoded by DAB1 plays a developmental role in the layering of neurons in the cerebral cortex and cerebellum [37], and exhibits strong evidence for a selective sweep in the Asian sample. Other nervous system genes with strong evidence for a selective sweep include two candidate genes for Alzheimer disease (APPBP2 and APBA2) that bind the amyloid-beta precursor protein, two genes (SKP1A and PCDH15) with a role in sensory development, and several others with various roles in nervous system development and function (PHACTR1, ALG10, PREP, GPM6A, and DGKI). [PLOS Genetics](http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.0030090) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/56 "2010-01-14T04:59:38Z")
> [@Chen019](#): > > 1. estimates for heritability of IQ are between 0.2 and 0.8 1. Cite? 2. Bear in mind that the **relevance** of IQ to, well, anything is far from established. It does measure something, some stable personal psychological characteristic, in the sense that if you take two well-designed IQ tests several years apart you probably will get roughly the same score on each; but there is no consensus among psychologists as to what it is measuring, or even as to whether there is such thing as _g,_ a general intelligence factor. E.g., see [Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences) ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/57 "2010-01-14T08:15:17Z")
The last time I checked IQ did not have anything to do with affirmative action policies at Universities. Why even bring it up? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/58 "2010-01-14T12:25:25Z")
> [@Chen019](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Though Asian-Americans constitute only about 4.5% of the U.S. population, they typically account for anywhere from 10% to 30% of students at many of the nation’s elite colleges… > > > > Asian-American enrollment at Berkeley has increased since California voters banned affirmative action in college admissions. Berkeley accepted 4,122 Asian-American applicants for this fall’s freshman class – nearly 42% of the total admitted. That is up from 2,925 in 1997, or 34.6%, the last year before the ban took effect. Similarly, Asian-American undergraduate enrollment at the University of Washington rose to 25.4% in 2004 from 22.1% in 1998, when voters in that state prohibited affirmative action in college admissions. > > [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116321461412620634.html?mod=home\_we\_banner\_left](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116321461412620634.html?mod=home_we_banner_left) How many of those are Asian-Americans, by the way? Not a single one of the 15-if-I’m-not-miscounting people in my graduate program who would be counted as “Asian-American” were American. I’m reasonably sure that the Standard Taiwanese, the Standard Korean and the Standard Seventh-Generation-Chinese-American don’t exactly have the same cultural background, but they all get counted together for the purpose of diversity stats. The Standard Costa-Rican of Chinese Ancestry would get to choose between three options, yay (multicultural, Hispanic and Asian-American). ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/59 "2010-01-14T13:36:35Z")
> [@bannerrefugee](#): > > The last time I checked IQ did not have anything to do with affirmative action policies at Universities. Why even bring it up? Thank you for recognizing this. These posters bring it up to essentially say “Those niggers don’t need Affirmative Action because they’re too stupid to contribute to society, anyway.” It’s two parts ethnocentrism and one part threadshitting. ---
**Author:** ![Chen019](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@Chen019](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chen019)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472/60 "2010-01-15T02:18:50Z")
> [@](#): > > BrainGlutton;11992311]1) Cite? Brain Glutton, “Data from more than 8000 parent-offspring pairs, 25,000 sibling pairs, 10,000 twin pairs and adoption studies provide evidence that genetic factors play a substantial role in the variation of general intelligence, with heritability estimates ranging from 40 to 80%” – Burdick et al, Cognitive variation in DTNBP1 influence general cognitive ability. Human Molecular Genetics, 2006, Vol 15, No. 10. “Multivariate genetic analyses indicate that general intelligence is highly heritable, and that the overlap in the cognitive processes is twice as great as the overall phenotypic overlap, with genetic correlations averaging around .80.” Plomin et al (2004) “A functional polymorphism in the succinate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase genes is associated with cognitive ability,” Molecular Psychology 9, 582-586. > [@](#): > > 1. Bear in mind that the **relevance** of IQ to, well, anything is far from established. It does measure something, some stable personal psychological characteristic, in the sense that if you take two well-designed IQ tests several years apart you probably will get roughly the same score on each; but there is no consensus among psychologists as to what it is measuring, or even as to whether there is such thing as _g,_ a general intelligence factor. E.g., see [Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences)[/ Actually, a tremendous amount of research has been conducted on its relevance to real world outcomes. For a nice summary, see Why g matters: the complexity of ordinary life by psychologist Linda Gottfredson. > **[1997whygmatters.pdf](https://www1.udel.edu/educ/gottfredson/reprints/1997whygmatters.pdf)** > > 3.82 MB Whatever it is measuring it appears to be something real in the brain that is reflected in different reaction time, greater processing efficiency (less glucose uptake), and different brain characteristics. See summary here. Neurobiology of Intelligence: Science and Ethics. Jeremy Gray1 and Paul Thompson2 [http://www.loni.ucla.edu/~thompson/IQ/NRN2004\_IQ.html](http://www.loni.ucla.edu/~thompson/IQ/NRN2004_IQ.html) Also, see twin study on heritability of myelination. > [@](#): > > The UCLA researchers took the study a step further by comparing the white matter architecture of identical twins, who share almost all their DNA, and fraternal twins, who share only half. Results showed that the quality of the white matter is highly genetically determined, although the influence of genetics varies by brain area. According to the findings, about 85 percent of the variation in white matter in the parietal lobe, which is involved in mathematics, logic, and visual-spatial skills, can be attributed to genetics. But only about 45 percent of the variation in the temporal lobe, which plays a central role in learning and memory, appears to be inherited. [http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22333/](http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/22333/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-campus-diversity/524472.md?page=4)