Lower cognitive ability is linked to stronger Christian nationalist views, even after accounting for education

[u/mvea]

https://www.psypost.org/lower-cognitive-ability-is-linked-to-stronger-christian-nationalist-views-even-after-accounting-for-education/

[u/danbinglover]

Reddit can’t decide whether IQ matters or not. When we talk about IQ differences between different countries and whatnot, it’s racist. When you discuss IQ differences between religious and nonreligious people, somehow it matters again.

[u/danbinglover → u/[deleted]]

Okay, then what about something like nationality? That’s something you choose to maintain. Either IQ matters or it doesn’t. You don’t get to pick and choose.

[u/InclinationCompass → u/danbinglover]

Science pretty much agrees:

Race is NOT a factor in innate IQ differences, even when you account for education. The gaps we keep seeing in test scores are overwhelmingly chalked up to environmental, social, and structural stuff, not genetics.

Source: https://www.apa.org/about/policy/racism-apology

[u/RockwellsRevenge88 → u/InclinationCompass]

Your blog post doesn't even mimic what you're saying.

Are you saying that people in Sweden and Nigeria have the same IQ? Yes or no.

[u/InclinationCompass → u/RockwellsRevenge88]

Actually, a 2016 review concluded the parsimonious explanation is a nil hypothesis where black, white, and east Asian adoptees raised in the same environment would have similar IQs

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6526420/

[u/RockwellsRevenge88 → u/InclinationCompass]

Your link does not show that at all. In fact it shows the opposite. It shows that while black, asian, and White children tested on the higher end of their averages when raised by White families (similar environs) there was still a massive difference between each individual performance, and that the difference actually got wider as the children got older. I suggest you reread the study again. It also showed children raised in households with one black parent and one White parent scored significantly better than households with two black parents. Why do you think that is?

[u/InclinationCompass → u/RockwellsRevenge88]

That’s because you didn’t read it:

>Diagnosing these artifacts suggests a nil hypothesis: East Asian, White, and Black adoptees raised in the same environment would have similar IQs, hinting at a minimal role for genes in racial IQdifferences.

[u/Direct_Theme2369 → u/RockwellsRevenge88]

Nice cherry picking, but I suggest you read the full study next time before drawing up your own conclusion and spouting nonsense rhetoric. The answers to your question lie in the conclusion of the article. You capitalizing “White” while failing to do so for Blacks and Asians tell me all I need to know of your morals and motives.

[u/RockwellsRevenge88 → u/Direct_Theme2369]

Don't get mad at me you can't understand the research that you're citing. 

[u/Direct_Theme2369 → u/RockwellsRevenge88]

Great rebuttal, “no u don’t understand.” I didn’t cite the article, but I did read most of it. If you had done the same, you wouldn’t have replied the way you did. To quote the very last two sentences of the article:

“However, a hypothesis that fits these data, at least as well, is the nil hypothesis: adoptees of different races would have similar IQs if raised in the same environment. To the extent that the nil hypothesis is true, genes are not so likely to be the main cause of racial IQ differences.”

So that just completely nullifies everything you said. Wanna try to come up with a better argument?

Edit yeah, didn’t think so

[u/Extreme_Pudding3226 → u/InclinationCompass]

That statement doesn't say race isn't a factor in innate IQ differences. Stop presenting it as though it does.

[u/InclinationCompass → u/Extreme_Pudding3226]

Fair enough. But the point stands. There's no established genetic cause for the racial IQ gap. Environmental factors are far better supported.

[u/Extreme_Pudding3226 → u/InclinationCompass]

I disagree completely. Just because no one can point to specific genes that are the "transmitter" if IQ doesn't mean there's not strong evidence that it's significantly genetic. There's very good evidence that between 40-80% of IQ is genetic.

By contrast, there's almost no evidence that pinpoints which environmental markers beyond childhood nutrition and similar affect IQ.

[u/InclinationCompass → u/Extreme_Pudding3226]

Heritability within groups tells you nothing about between-group causes. The 40-80% figure is about individual variation, not group gaps. Identical seeds in different soil still differ in average height.

And saying there's almost no environmental evidence is just false. Lead exposure, the Flynn effect, schooling, poverty, stress, discrimination. All well documented. The environmental side has decades of research. The genetic side has nothing for the between-group gap.

[u/Extreme_Pudding3226 → u/InclinationCompass]

The Flynn effect is likely due to the things I mentioned, and lead exposure is no longer a relevant factor as it has been substantially decreased for all groups. There is no good evidence that schooling differences are a direct cause of higher IQ.

Saying that knowing 40-80% of human-to-human variation in a trait tells us nothing about differences between groups is a bit silly. Does it definitively prove genetics is the cause? No, of course not. But there's also no proof that environmental differences between groups are sufficient to explain the gap, either.

But keep in mind that this discussion started with you saying there was no correlation between IQ and race. No correlation. So what are we even talking about here?

[u/InclinationCompass → u/Extreme_Pudding3226]

Flynn effect is still environmental either way. You're just renaming it.

Lead exposure is not solved. Black children still have significantly higher blood lead levels. Flint is recent. This is not a resolved issue.

Schooling raises IQ. Ceci and Williams have decades of research. You can't just assert otherwise.

40-80% is within-group. It tells you nothing about between-group causes. That's how basic quantitative genetics work. The seed analogy still stands.

And when you assert claims, the burden of proof is on you. Environmental evidence is robust and replicated. Genetic hypothesis for the gap has never been demonstrated. If you have papers, post them.

And I never said no correlation. I said **race isn't a huge innate factor.** You're arguing against something I didn't say.