TheAncientGeek comments on Stranger Than History - Less Wrong

52 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 01 September 2007 06:57PM

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Comment author: TheAncientGeek 01 April 2014 09:04:35AM *  -2 points [-]

Are "you" using race as a proxy for IQ, using actual IQ, or using evidence of domain relevant knowledge?

I notice that real world employers tend to emphasise the last. Rightly, because it avoids the Spolskyan problem of "smart, but doesn't get things done"

Comment author: Lumifer 01 April 2014 02:37:05PM *  0 points [-]

Are "you" using race as a proxy for IQ, using actual IQ, or using evidence of domain relevant knowledge?

(a) No; (b) Mostly; (c) Somewhat.

Domain knowledge functions as a hard cutoff at the lower end (if you need an accountant, you need someone who can do accounting) but the higher it is, the less important it becomes unless you're filling a position at the bleeding edge of a particular field.

Domain knowledge is also not the same thing as work habits, effectiveness, etc.

Comment author: TheAncientGeek 02 April 2014 09:46:19AM -1 points [-]

If you are not filling a position at the bleeding edge, you wouldn't need high domainknowledge. I don't see why you would need high IQ either.

Work habits, etc, can be judged by someone's ability to get things done, which can be judged from their resume as per standard recruitment procedures.

You seem to think IQ is a better indicator. Why?

Comment author: Lumifer 02 April 2014 04:46:55PM 1 point [-]

I don't see why you would need high IQ either.

Not necessarily high, but higher.

Basically, each job has an appropriate IQ range. It's better to pick people from the higher end of that range than from the lower end.

Work habits, etc, can be judged by someone's ability to get things done, which can be judged from their resume as per standard recruitment procedures.

No, I don't think you can effectively evaluate things like work habits on the basis of a "normal" resume. There is a reason people are hired after interviews and, sometimes, test periods and not just on the basis of their resumes.

You seem to think IQ is a better indicator. Why?

IQ is not a better indicator of work habits. However it is a good indicator of the contribution that a person can make to your organization. To make obvious observations, people with higher IQ work faster, make fewer mistakes, need less things explained to them, can handle the unexpected better, etc. etc.

Comment author: Eugine_Nier 03 April 2014 05:52:31AM 1 point [-]

Work habits, etc, can be judged by someone's ability to get things done,

These haven't been as extensively studied, but anecdotal evidence suggests these are also correlated with race. Furthermore, since judging these things is obviously going to be more subjective than looking at the results of a test, an employer relying on these is going to be even more open to accusations of racism.