I am, broadly speaking, a Kantian.
I agree that we should be long-termist—prioritising what will lead to mankind’s living well for as long as possible
Stan Davies
Karma: −12
I agree with those who say it is better not to discuss the issue of whether some races are, on average, more academically successful or of higher IQ than others. It is better that each person is treated as a unique individual, and they should ‘not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character’ – and of course their suitability for the job or educational course place.
However, there are those who promote racial discrimination in favour of blacks – this is particularly the case in American universities, but not uncommon here.
And the argument they commonly use is that blacks have the same average ability as other races, therefore any difference in outcomes is due to racism, therefore blacks should be favoured in job and educational course applications in order to equalise outcomes (because otherwise, when candidates are accessed as individuals on their merits, they do less well on average). So they are the ones bringing up the topic of whether blacks have the same abilities, on average. That this is discussed is to everyone’s disadvantage. But it isn’t the fault of people like Bostrom.
Ok, well I suppose I agree with Anon Rationalist that *in the current climate* we do need to discuss average intelligence, ability etc of various groups—because that is the only way to stop the pro-black (and thus anti-white and anti-asian) racism. But there was no need to get to this place where we have to discuss average intelligence, ability etc of various groups . Society could just have gone with a colourblind approach, treating each person as an individual regardless of his skin colour—as MLK advocated decades ago.