Monday, May 04, 2009

IQ denial at the NY Times

David Brook writes:
We, of course, live in a scientific age, and modern research pierces hocus-pocus. In the view that is now dominant, even Mozart’s early abilities were not the product of some innate spiritual gift. His early compositions were nothing special. ...

The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess.
Meanwhile, Sam Dillon reports:
The achievement gap between white and minority students has not narrowed in recent years, despite the focus of the No Child Left Behind law on improving the scores of blacks and Hispanics, according to results of a federal test considered to be the nation’s best measure of long-term trends in math and reading proficiency.
He says that the gap is a total mystery that no one can explain. His personal theory is that schools are now teaching concepts that are too complex for the tests to measure, so the gap is just an artifact of poor tests.

I don't see how these folks can deny that Mozart had a special talent, or that there could be a talent gap between some people and others. I think that they are deluded with political correctness.

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