1) Preamble:
It may have at one point been the case that Academia was a place where real intellectual exploration was done. Tragically, in modern America (1990 – 2020) this has not been the case.
In our society, Academia is a place constricted by political correctness.
Academics who publish opinions (or facts) that are politically incorrect are at risk of being fired.
This deters rigorous intellectual exploration; the probability that the truth regarding many important matters is politically correct is zero. As Illimitable Man once said, “Reality is not politically correct.”
2) The Specifics of Modern Political Correctness:
The ideology that constrains Academia and society at large in our time is Blank Slate Theory Egalitarianism (sometimes called ‘Cultural Marxism’).
This ideology insists that all psychological and behavioral differences between individuals are the result of environmental factors, never genetics; it’s always nurture, never nature. It also insists that there are no psychological or behavioral
differences between the 2 genders (men and women), or between racial groups.
To assert that there are psychological differences between individuals driven by genetics is heresy.
To assert that there are psychological differences between men and women driven by genetics is even worse heresy.
The worst heresy is to assert that there are psychological (or intelligence) differences between racial/ethnic groups driven by genetics.
Everyone in Academia must meticulously avoid mentioning any of these 3 heresies. Any Academic who dares to assert any of these 3 heresies is at risk of losing their career.
Tragically, these 3 aforementioned heresies are all factually correct.
It is factually correct to say that psychological differences between individuals are heavily driven by genetics, there are psychological differences between men and women driven by genetics, and there are psychological (IQ) differences between racial groups driven by genetics.
Factual correctness and political correctness are mutually exclusive.
3) Gender is a Social Construct:
TLDR: It is not an opinion that male IQ is more variable than female IQ (most geniuses are male, most idiots are male). It is a fact.
Unfortunately it is a fact that is politically incorrect, and that Larry Summers and James Damore were fired for mentioning.
In our time, it is politically correct to say that gender is a social construct; all psychological differences between men and women are trivial, and they are always the result of environmental factors (cultural training), never genetics or biology.
It is factually correct to say that there are psychological differences between men and women that are driven by genetics. Anyone who points out this fact will be hit with the ad hominem ‘Sexist’ or ‘Misogynist’.
3A) Harvard, Larry Summers
Larry Summers (President of Harvard) learned this the hard way.
He asserted that male IQ is more variable than female IQ (there are more men who are geniuses than women who are geniuses, and more men who are idiots than women who are idiots), and that this may explain why there are more men who excel in STEM fields than women.
What he said was true; it is factually correct to say that male IQ is more variable than female IQ, and it is very likely true that this (most geniuses being male) explains why most people who attain eminence within STEM are men.
However, his assertion violates the ideology that is currently dominant (Blank Slate Theory Egalitarianism). For his heresy, Summers was fired from Harvard. A secondary consequence of his firing is this; every person doing psychological research within Academia has received the message “If you point out a psychological difference between men and women, or if your data shows that there is such a difference, you might get fired.”
Certainly, this deters many young academics from bothering to investigate whether or not there are psychological differences between men and women driven by genetics, and what these specific differences might be.
3B) Google, James Damore
An engineer at Google named James Damore had a similar experience as what Summers had.
Damore pointed out that male IQ being more variable than female IQ (most people who have IQs of 130+ being men) may explain why most of the people who make it into the engineering department at Google are men; most of the people with the genius level IQ required to do rigorous engineering work are men.
What Damore asserted is almost certainly true at least to some degree (it is true that male IQ is more variable than female IQ, most people with extremely high IQs are men, and an extremely high IQ is a basic requirement for doing elite level engineering work). However, it was considered blasphemy by those currently in power, and so he was fired.
4) Race is a Social Construct:
TLDR: It is not an opinion that some racial/ethnic groups on average have higher IQs than others. It is a fact.
However, it is a fact that is politically incorrect and that academics can get fired for mentioning.
In our time it is politically correct to say that race is a social construct; all psychological differences between racial or ethnic groups are trivial, and they are always the result of environmental factors (cultural training), never genetics or biology.
It is also politically correct to say “IQ isn’t real”; no individual is more intelligent than any other, and certainly no group is on average more intelligent than any other.
It is factually correct to say that IQ is real; some individuals are actually more intelligent than others. It is also factually correct to say that there are racial disparities in IQ; some racial (or ethnic) groups are on average smarter or dumber than others.
To what degree racial disparities in IQ are driven by genetics or environmental factors is yet to be determined, however, among the few who acknowledge that the disparities exist it is politically correct to say the disparities are driven entirely by environmental factors, and not at all by genetics.
Anyone who points out the fact that there are psychological (IQ) differences between racial or ethnic groups will be hit with the ad hominem ‘Racist’.
There is nothing the field of psychology has ever produced for which there is more concrete evidence than IQ. As such if we deny the legitimacy of IQ as a measurement of intelligence, we may as well burn every psychology book ever written.
4A) Richard Lynn, Ulster University:
Richard Lynn is an academic who lost his ‘Emeritus’ title from Ulster University for daring to tell the truth about the existence of racial disparities in IQ.
Fortunately, there are still academics investigating IQ as well as racial disparities in IQ. However, they have all received notice that they may be fired if the results of the research they conduct do not conform to the ever changing bounds of
political correctness.
5) Internet Surpasses Academia:
It is both sad and true that an intelligent person will learn more from 4 years of being left alone with a computer that has an internet connection, than they will from 4 years spent in a university.
Most people with bachelors degrees in psychology have never heard of IQ.
Most people with bachelors degrees in sociology are unaware of racial disparities in IQ.
Most people with bachelors degrees in political science don’t know what machiavellianism is.
Most people with business degrees don’t know how to form an LLC.
This is as insane as having physics majors who don’t know what gravity is, or math majors who don’t know what algebra is.
You would learn more about psychology from 4 hours spent reading The 48 Laws of Power, than from 4 years spent getting a psychology degree.
You would learn more about how society is structured from 4 hours spent reading The Bell Curve (Charles Murray), than from 4 years spent getting a sociology degree.
You would learn more about how politics works from 4 hours spent reading The 33 Strategies of War, than from 4 years spent getting a political science degree.
You would learn more about how business works in the real world from 4 hours of reading Felix Dennis’ book ‘How to Get Rich’, than from 4 years getting a business degree.
You would learn more about how the financial industry is structured from 4 hours of reading Mergers & Inquisitions (Brian DeChesare) than from 4 years spent getting a finance degree.
Academia is to ‘education’ what McDonalds is to food.
A psychologist who is unaware of IQ and its predictive validity is as much of a joke as a physicist who is unaware of gravity.
A sociologist who is unaware of racial IQ disparities is as much of a joke as a chemist who doesn’t know what the periodic table is.
These jokes fill the social science departments of America’s universities.
6) Academic Research is Untrustworthy:
Academic studies are heavily politicized. The conclusions of them aren’t based on objective evidence. They’re based on what the people running the study want to believe is true.
Every academic is aware that if they publish data or research that is politically incorrect, they will be at risk of getting fired, and consequently many of them are intentionally obscuring or outright hiding data they have collected or research they have conducted.
At best, Academia is lying by omission.
7) Relevant Reading:
WallStreetPlayboys, College Guide
Larry Summers Fired By Harvard
James Damore, Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber
Richard Lynn, Emeritus Title Rescinded