In his book The g Factor (pg 169), Arthur Jensen wrote:

The broad heritability of IQ is about 0.40 to 0.50 when measured in children, about 0.60 to 0.70 in adolescents and young adults, and approaches 0.80 in later maturity.

Rushton & Jensen write:

…the default hypothesis, is that genetic and cultural factors carry the exact
same weight in causing the mean Black–White difference in IQ as they do in
causing individual differences in IQ, about 80% genetic–20% environmental by
adulthood.

Elsewhere they write:

Jensen (1998) demonstrated that Black-White IQ differences typically increase with age (because genetic influences become stronger over the life span). He used Shuey’s (1966) compendium to document that the average
Black-White difference was 0.70 standard deviations in early childhood, 1.00 standard deviations in middle childhood, and 1.20 standard deviations in early adulthood…

…Until the results of several such studies allow reassessment of the situation, the best estimate of Black-White convergence over the past 100 years is between 0 and 3.44 IQ points—a maximum effect size of 0.23—well within the predictions of our estimated heritability of .80 for the Black-White g difference in the United
States.

Rushton & Jensen seem to be saying that because IQ is only 20% environmental (among U.S. whites), the 15 to 18 IQ point black-white U.S. IQ gap could at most, only be expected to close by 20% (3 to 3.6 points), thus reducing the gap to only 12 to 14.4 points .

One problem with this theory is that 80% means the proportion of IQ variance explained by genes so you need to take the square root to get the regression line predicting genetic IQ from phenotypic IQ which means differences would actually be 90% genetic, allowing only a 10% decline in the black-white IQ gap, assuming you believe a) heritability is 80%, and b) the default hypothesis is true.

…

9/10

I didn’t think I’d like this show but by the second episode, I found myself utterly addicted. It’s one of the best TV shows I have ever seen.

The HBO series is set at a Hawaii hotel called The White Lotus and focuses on several of the guests and a couple key staff members. There’s the prissy gay Hotel manager who smiles to everyone’s face but badmouths them behind their backs, the spoiled yuppie who can’t understand why is new bride would want an identity of her own, the woke university student who brings a minority friend on the family vacation to prove she’s morally superior to her parents, and the lonely ageing rich lady who can’t enjoy her wealth because she’s constantly whining about her childhood.

If American Beauty exposed the façade of the perfect American family, then White Lotus shows us the dark side of the perfect American vacation.

The show reminded me of the most luxurious vacations I have ever taken: When you first see everyone they seem so perfect, but as you get to know them, the dysfunction is legion. It made me nostalgic for the last time I’d been to Hawaii; the delicious outdoor dinners overlooking the sun setting into the ocean as the wind blew in my hair; the smell of tiki torches everywhere.

You’ll fall in love with the characters and the humour is up to the minute. In one scene the lonely rich lady agrees to meet with a strange man because she thinks, what a wonderful person he must be to work for “BLACK LIVES MATTER”. Much to her chagrin she discovers that the BLM he works for is actually BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.

In one scene, a woman worries that her son is actually at a disadvantage these days being a white heterosexual male (“no one seems to care about them”) only to be scolded by her woke daughter for saying something so cringeworthy. When the woman tries to defend herself, the daughter cuts her off again “MOM CRINGE!”.

In another scene, the mother scolds her woke daughter and minority friend for badmouthing Hillary Clinton, disgusted that the woke generation’s girls could turn on such a feminist icon. The scene is ironic because the woke daughter looks like a young Hillary:

If you get HBO-on demand, I would definitely watch this series from the start.

pumpkin person rating: 7/10

I couldn’t let Friday the 13th pass without posting something horror related. I recently watched the 2020 horror film Monstrous on Shudder. The film is about two women who have never met before (one is lesbian, the other bisexual) who go on a log cozy road trip to the lesbian’s cottage where a lot of pretty young women have gone missing. Some suspect they’re being killed by a serial killer, others suspect it’s sasquatch. The bisexual risks it all to find out the truth.

Well worth watching if you’re fan of monster movies, slashers, wilderness, or if you just get off on watching pretty women make out. 🙂

The Dark Hours (2005) is the best Canadian horror film of all time in my opinion. Although the film was a commercial flop (reportedly grossed only $423 USD) and has a mediocre rating on IMDB, it is one of the most atmospheric, interesting, well-acted, and well-cast films I have ever seen. How sad to see such great art playing for free on youtube but you might as well watch before they take it down.

The film revolves around Samantha, a doctor at some sort of hospital for the criminally insane who discovers she has a brain tumor and decides to spend a relaxing weekend at her Winter cottage with her underemployed husband and younger sister. But things get weird when a diminutive Ashkenazi stranger (who reminds me of commenter Pill) is invited in to warm up by the fire.

I suggest hooking your computer to a television so you can enjoy this on a big screen. While some viewers might find this film a little too slow-paced, ambiguous and anti-climatic, the dream-like quality and distinctly Canadian vibe makes it an enjoyable experience.