Something annoying about HBD

At a blog discussion on the question, “What is HBD”?, a commenter says:

In essence, HBD cuts the legs from under claims that the poor performance of certain populations must be due to unfair discrimination against them.

No small thing, that.

Excuse me, but what cuts the legs from under the claim that the poor performance of certain populations must be due to unfair discrimination is not a thing called HBD, but the truth—the truth that there are significant and enduring differences in mean intelligence among different racial groups. The HBD’ers are attempting to colonize that truth, by acting as though that truth does not exist apart from the group or belief system called HBD.

Furthermore, since all (or virtually all) HBD’ers are Darwinians, there is the implicit message that understanding group differences in intelligence requires believing in Darwinism, which, since Darwinism is incompatible with theism, further implies that believing in group differences in intelligence requires disbelieving in God. Which of course is simply untrue. So, whether they realize it or not, the HBD’ers are trying to monopolize the idea of group differences for their ideology, an ideology that involves many things beyond group differences, such as atheism and the material-reductive view of human existence.

HBD’ers will reply that HBD is not an ideology, but simply the study of biologically based group differences within the human race. Sometimes this is true of HBD. But many times it is not. HBD generally comes as a “package,” a world view to which its followers subscribe and which makes them a community. If it didn’t, they wouldn’t call themselves HBD’ers.

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Jeff W. writes:

You had a very good comment about HBD’ers today. They take a lot of pride in the fact that they have discovered one small aspect of suppressed truth.

But the gigantic cesspool that is modern American culture is totally dominated by the Father of Lies. There is no end to the lies; everyone is subjected to hundreds of lies each day. But, through the grace of God, there still exists a small remnant that is devoted to the truth and rejects all the lies. It is that remnant that you serve.

Thanks for your continuing determination to fight the Father of Lies and for working to loosen his control over us.

LA replies:

Thank you.

You’re saying something very interesting: that the HBD’ers are using their fight against one false idea (namely that all racial groups have equal abilities), to advance and to corral people into embracing several other false ideas (that life and consciousness are the results of materialist, purposeless processes, that there is nothing beyond matter, that there is no God, etc.).

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 07, 2010 02:30 PM | Send