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Thread: Black IQ

  1. #121
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    Re: Black IQ

    Quote Originally Posted by Astro View Post
    Statistics can be manipulated to show ANYTHING.
    Information can always be spun - "statistics" are information in number form, that's all.

    Quote Originally Posted by Astro View Post
    What about that Ron Meadows who used statistics to show that 2 cot deaths in the same household was highly improbable? Thus the babies must have been murdered.
    Ron Meadows made a classic ****-up, by siimply multiplying two numbers together and treating them as completely separate probabilities. It's a GCSE-level error, anyone with any knowledge of basic maths should have picked it up - the fact that the defence team didn't pick it up speaks volumes about their level of numeracy / competence.

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    Re: Black IQ

    Quote Originally Posted by Astro View Post
    Statistics can be manipulated to show ANYTHING.

    What about that Ron Meadows who used statistics to show that 2 cot deaths in the same household was highly improbable? Thus the babies must have been murdered.

    I can't understand why we are even discussing it.

    It's utter tosh, which is why I didn't bother to post before.
    Oh, dear. A poor excuse for considered thought, Astro.

    Statistics can, of course, be misused; they can also be used by someone who has misapplied the principles.

    The proper statistics about cot deaths were, of course, what freed the mother. The expert moved outside his specialism - paediatrics - and gave an opinion on an area in which he is not qualified - statistics. Any A level statistician would have shot his evidence down in flames - problem was not only Meadows but all the lawyers, the judge and the jury were statistically 'illiterate', and didn't spot his error in multiplying together two contingent probabilities as if they were independent.

    But to suggest - as you appear to - that nothing useful comes out of statistics is silly. The whole of modern technology is based on the statistical analysis of experiments, enabling scientists to determine what is the correct conclusion from the experiment.

    Only people who don't understand statistics can be manipulated in the way you suggest. A little learning in the area allows you to spot when rubbish is being foisted upon you!!

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    Re: Black IQ

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    I think "utter tosh" is pretty much the general consensus. The point of the thread though is why a simple comment (tosh or otherwise) is treated like olde worlde blasphemy. Whats wrong with Watson being dismissed with sensible comments like "he may have a point but the statistics also show..." and "Watson made a stupid comment, lets move on my tea's ready" etc...

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    Re: Black IQ

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov View Post
    Oh, dear. A poor excuse for considered thought, Astro.

    Statistics can, of course, be misused; they can also be used by someone who has misapplied the principles.


    But to suggest - as you appear to - that nothing useful comes out of statistics is silly. The whole of modern technology is based on the statistical analysis of experiments, enabling scientists to determine what is the correct conclusion from the experiment.

    Only people who don't understand statistics can be manipulated in the way you suggest. A little learning in the area allows you to spot when rubbish is being foisted upon you!!


    Let's suppose for arguments sake that the statistics have been aquired using strict guidelines, the results have been catalogued correctly - no clerical errors - and all the results are used.

    If the interpretation of the results is by an interested party and not an unbiased outside group, then the statistics can be bent any which way.

    We know that, Barry, but some members of the public are easily duped.

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    Re: Black IQ

    Quote Originally Posted by Astro View Post
    Statistics can be manipulated to show ANYTHING.

    What about that Ron Meadows who used statistics to show that 2 cot deaths in the same household was highly improbable? Thus the babies must have been murdered.

    I can't understand why we are even discussing it.

    It's utter tosh, which is why I didn't bother to post before.
    Our views of reality are based upon sampled data, and are not ever subjected to proper analysis. Some people have had 100 black people working for them, and, based on that sample, come to the conclusion that they were "inferior". Probably the truth is that only an idiot would work for them for those wages in the first place. Two cot deaths in one family is highly improbable. So is anyone winning the lottery. The jury and the scientists and us have to decide whether statistical probability in any particular case adds up to reality.

    There are all sorts of statistical nonsenses in circulation, usually produced by someone with a point of view to sell. Without the details nobody can tell what validity the black IQ tests have. There is one undisputable test of human attributes. Whatever genes may be in existence are the product of millions of years of evolution. If a portion of the brain that is used for logic by us is used to give better vision, hearing or whatever else to a particular race, it is because that has a survival benefit. The Australian Aborigine, for example, has a far better visual perception and memory that the white races, as a generality. You don't need brains to scarper from a lion, you need to be able to see it sooner.

    The Scientific American had a study that showed that the IQ of children is higher than expected based on the IQ of their grandparents, and this effect is more pronounced in coloured children. One possible conclusion from this was that environment has a higher effect than thought in determining IQ. We are used to living in a smarter society, and, perhaps, it shows.

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    Re: Black IQ

    I'm watching Race and Intelligence - Sciences last taboo on Channel 4.

    Absolutely fascinating!

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