Originally Posted by Iucounu
deacongirl's quoted statement, with a bit more context, was:

Originally Posted by deacongirl
Most important, we know that interventions at every age from infancy to college can reduce racial gaps in both I.Q. and academic achievement, sometimes by substantial amounts in surprisingly little time. This mutability is further evidence that the I.Q. difference has environmental, not genetic, causes.

So this will teach me not to delete my posts. Right after I posted that message, I posted another one saying that follow-ups have shown that IQ jumps after infancy don't last. The references are in Real Education. The evidence points to adoption at birth or soon after as being a solid driver of IQ increase. Other interventions...not so much.


The Bell Curve is big and complex, but Real Education is a much easier read (readable on a Saturday). I pulled up some of the papers Murray cited and basically agreed with his conclusions.

I'd like to hear from deacongirl; the statement still sounds absolutist to me. Could be me.

Oh, FWIW, I'm a strong advocate of ensuring that poor people have access to nutritious food and solid healthcare (especially of the pre-natal and pediatric variety) as a way of improving socioeconomic gaps.

Val