>>510177248 (OP)Linda Gottfredson wrote:
The hereditarian hypothesis [regarding the black-white IQ gap] becomes scientifically plausible only after five evidentiary prerequisites have been met...
A century of research strongly supports all five. It has provided a vast, interlocking network of evidence that g [i.e., the general intelligence factor measured by IQ tests] is the backbone of all broad mental abilities in all age, race, sex, and national groups studied to date.
The g-based hereditarian theory connects g-related phenomena at the genetic, physiological, psychometric, and socioeconomic levels to form a coherent pattern that yields novel predictions subsequently confirmed; it is *consilient*.
In contrast, culture-only theory has become increasingly tattered over time, patched over by disconnected ad hoc speculation.
It is not clear how culture-only theory could coherently reinterpret the entire interconnected web of evidence. In fact, culture-only theory is notable for retreating from its previous failed explanations into ever-less plausible ones.
Article on the genetic contribution to the black-white IQ gap (downloadable PDF):
https://arthurjensen.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1.-J.-Philippe-Rushton-Arthur-R.-Jensen-THIRTY-YEARS-OF-RESEARCH-ON-RACE-DIFFERENCES-IN-COGNITIVE-ABILITY.pdf