TimS comments on Rationality Quotes Thread January 2016 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: elharo 01 January 2016 04:00PM

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Comment author: Lumifer 26 January 2016 08:36:52PM *  1 point [-]

For my broader argument

Yeah, but it's all hand-waving. I see this if I squint this way and you see that if you squint that way...

You originally said

it seems to me that I observe too many intelligent black folks for the mean to be in the 80s.

You, personally, observe too many? Is that statement true? Or do you merely expect to see many?

Comment author: TimS 26 January 2016 10:52:11PM -1 points [-]

it seems to me that I observe too many intelligent black folks for the mean to be in the 80s.

You, personally, observe too many? Is that statement true? Or do you merely expect to see many?

By convenience sampling in my personal life and observing public figures, I see a certain proportion of successful folk are black. Extrapolating from the proportion I see, 60k smart black folks is plausible. A much lower number is not plausible. What number of smart black folk should we expect to see if the mean were 85?

Comment author: Lumifer 27 January 2016 12:29:15AM 2 points [-]

By convenience sampling in my personal life and observing public figures, I see a certain proportion of successful folk are black.

Public figures are what, a few dozen at most? So you rely on your personal sample and why in the world do you think that it's representative?

Let's take our favourite people -- Alice and Bob. Alice lives in rural Alabama. She knows zero smart black people and extrapolates her personal sample to "all black folk are stupid". Bob hails from Idaho and is an undergrad at Harvard -- 100% of black people he knows are very smart. He extrapolates his personal sample to "all black people are smart". Why is your sample any better than Alice's or Bob's?