Profile

Who: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ
09 April 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
An Informed Atheist Re-Addresses Christianity
10 March 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
A Progressive Reform Program for America
10 March 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Supply Side and Libertarians Are Wrong and Not Supported by the Data
10 March 2018 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
How Income Inequality Injures People and the Economy
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
A Democratic Reform Program for America
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Supply Side Libertarians Are Wrong and Not Supported by the Data
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Economic Ignorance
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part VI)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part V)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part IV)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part III)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part II)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Rise of Income Inequality (Part I)
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Racial Hatred Is Confused
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
What To Do About North Korea
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
On Neoliberalism
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Ban Hate Marches and Assemblies
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
On Miss Piggy and Mr. Pork
22 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
The Demise of the Democratic Party
09 August 2017 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
On Elitism

A Note on Prejudice and Bias

14 December 2014 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Kimball Corson
The word prejudice is much bandied about, but few understand the concept. It is deemed to be negative, for sure. The best definition of prejudice I think is the idea of preconceived opinion, usually negative, about a defined group, usually of people, that is not adequately based on facts and reason from those facts. That seems simple enough, but is a tricky concept in practice. Group definition is key.

For example, the statement blacks are looters is nonsense because they are many blacks who clearly are not. But the statement looters engage in criminal behavior and many in Ferguson are black is a statement based on fact and reason with those facts. Here is another one. Blacks, as measured by IQ tests, are less intelligent than whites. This is patently false, even though the normally distributed mean IQ of blacks is lower than whites. The fact of normal distribution means there are very many blacks who, by this measure, are in fact smarter than very many whites so such global statements may not be accurately made.

IQ tests are also claimed to be prejudicial and biased. By biased we mean designed, deliberately or not, to favor one group over another based on cultural differences. Great efforts have been made to remove bias from IQ tests and with considerable success. Asian Americans, whose first language is not English, now do very well on such tests, although culturally they are quite different than most Americans. The reason IQ tests are not deemed prejudiced themselves and banned as such is because of their predictive validity along so many dimensions.

This is the comment of a liberal commentator -- Without a doubt, the skills assessed on modern IQ tests are widely applicable and highly valued in contemporary American society. Accordingly, . . . IQ scores clearly tell us something of genuine importance. They are a reasonably good predictor not only of performance in the classroom but of income, health, and other important life outcomes. I add, they can even be used to predict who will live in which zip codes.

But the point is IQ tests do not get the boot as being prejudicial (as opposed to sometimes biased in some uses -- standard English test given to Hispanics who speak mostly Spanish) precisely because they have predictive validity and therefore are based on fact and reason. Recall, that is the test for prejudice.

Americans, especially liberals who do not understand science, often get the concept of prejudice quite wrong, often by jumping to unsupportable conclusions. People too much believe what they want to believe, regardless. That itself is often prejudice.
Comments
Vessel Name: Altaira
Vessel Make/Model: A Fair Weather Mariner 39 is a fast (PHRF 132), heavily ballasted (43%), high-aspect (6:1), stiff, comfortable, offshore performance cruiser by Bob Perry that goes to wind well (30 deg w/ good headway) and is also good up and down the Beaufort scale.
Hailing Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ
Crew: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
About:
Kimball Corson: I am a 75 year old solo sailor, by choice. However, I did take on a personable, but high maintenance female kitten, now a full grown cat, named KiKiPoo when she is sweet, or KatKatPo after she has just killed something like a bird or bat. [...]
Extra:
Although I was a lawyer and practiced law with good success for thirty years, creating significant new law, I never really believed in the law, the politics of law or in the over reaching self-interest of most lawyers I met. Too much exposure to Nietzsche and other good and seriously thoughtful [...]
Altaira's Photos - Main
No items in this gallery.

Profile

Who: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ