View Single Post
  #641 (permalink)  
Old 04-September-2008, 01:02 PM
Disinfo Agent Disinfo Agent is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 7,036
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Neverfly View Post
It would appear that this statement in itself is an assumption on your part.
Not at all. By assuming that you can speak about "the importance of the environment versus the importance of genetics" in general, it is you who are assuming a (perfect) correlation between all human (intellectual) features.

But how do we know that such a correlation exists? I prefer not to assume one. (In correlation studies, the null hypothesis is "No correlation" until proven otherwise.)

Plus, I know that Down's syndrome is 100% genetic, but native language is 100% environmental. Clearly, the contribution of genetics to a particular human intellectual ability varies with the ability in question. It's not homogeneous. Thus any attempt to compare genetics with environment in abstract is unrealistic, meaningless.

I prefer to address this issue first, before dealing with your recap, because I feel that it is this misconception which lies at the heart of the disagreement in this thread.
__________________
"A witty saying proves nothing" Voltaire.
"All your bias are belong to us" Ara Pacis.
Reply With Quote