Time to End Intelligence-based Discrimination

[Nierneduj]

Every day, people are denied opportunities because of their intelligence. They work just as hard or harder than others, are good neighbors and friends. But because they were not given the intelligence others have, they are excluded.

Think of how that would feel if it happened to you. You try your hardest, and get nothing for it, while someone else who was lucky to be born with something you don't have gets all the reward. You'd be hurt and angry.

Our society systematically denies people opportunity and reward for having lower intelligence. No matter how hard they work, or how fair and kind they are to others, they just can't get ahead. They are then trapped in a cycle of poverty, despair, drug use and self-destruction.

Throughout history people for whom intelligence is a challenge have been discriminated against, bullied, and exterminated. The Nazis under the infamous "Action T4" declared many innocent people to be retarded and killed them. We do not have the right to kill ANY person for what is not their fault.

Every day, you will hear people talking with cruelty in their voices about those they perceive to be of lower intelligence. But how do we define that? There is no intelligence gene. We do not have the right to call ANY person stupid for what is not their fault.

You can help reverse intelligence-based discrimination. The following demands are the fight against intelligence-based discrimination:

* IQ tests are scientifically inaccurate and should no longer be used. The same goes for any standardized test or procedure which claims to assess intelligence, which is something we cannot even define.

* Saying "that's stupid" or "he/she is stupid" is discrimination and will hurt others and make a society based on cruelty and inequality. Instead say "You haven't thought that all the way through."

* Rewards and awards based on intelligence discriminate against those of perceived lower intelligence. We are all equal human beings and to give some rewards for things they have not earned is injustice.

* Instead of assuming that physical risks are obvious, we need more warning labels and regulations to make sure that we do not discriminate by hiding risks from people of perceived lower intelligence.

It is cruel and unjust to discriminate. That means everyone. With the power of caring people and empathy, we have beaten back discrimination in many other forms, but one ugly secret remains: our society discriminates on the basis of intelligence. Help us end this unfairness now.

[Invincible Summer]

Every day, people are denied opportunities because of their intelligence. They work just as hard or harder than others, are good neighbors and friends. But because they were not given the intelligence others have, they are excluded.

Think of how that would feel if it happened to you. You try your hardest, and get nothing for it, while someone else who was lucky to be born with something you don't have gets all the reward. You'd be hurt and angry.

Our society systematically denies people opportunity and reward for having lower intelligence. No matter how hard they work, or how fair and kind they are to others, they just can't get ahead. They are then trapped in a cycle of poverty, despair, drug use and self-destruction.

Throughout history people for whom intelligence is a challenge have been discriminated against, bullied, and exterminated. The Nazis under the infamous "Action T4" declared many innocent people to be retarded and killed them. We do not have the right to kill ANY person for what is not their fault.
Are you actually talking about the fact that people have different levels of intelligence, or are you trying to candy-coat talking about people who are "mentally challenged" or whatever?



Every day, you will hear people talking with cruelty in their voices about those they perceive to be of lower intelligence. But how do we define that? There is no intelligence gene. We do not have the right to call ANY person stupid for what is not their fault.
I think you may be reading a bit too far into things. If I call my friend "stupid," it's not because I think he/she is of a lower intelligence and I want to discriminate against him/her, it's because I think what they said/did was foolhardy, ridiculous, or a bunch of other synonyms.


You can help reverse intelligence-based discrimination.
Sounds like an informercial :lol:


The following demands are the fight against intelligence-based discrimination:

* IQ tests are scientifically inaccurate and should no longer be used. The same goes for any standardized test or procedure which claims to assess intelligence, which is something we cannot even define.

* Saying "that's stupid" or "he/she is stupid" is discrimination and will hurt others and make a society based on cruelty and inequality. Instead say "You haven't thought that all the way through."

* Rewards and awards based on intelligence discriminate against those of perceived lower intelligence. We are all equal human beings and to give some rewards for things they have not earned is injustice.

* Instead of assuming that physical risks are obvious, we need more warning labels and regulations to make sure that we do not discriminate by hiding risks from people of perceived lower intelligence.
1) I'm not too read up on the IQ test thing, but I do hear that the questions themselves are very biased towards dominant class values. So it's not really a matter of intelligence as much as having integrated dominant class norms.

I agree that they shouldn't be used. I can't see any benefit from judging someone's "intelligence score" or when it'd be used.

2) That's just being ridiculously PC. Seriously. If you're going to try to eliminate being "mean," then you need to seriously re-examine your ideas. Saying "You haven't thought that all the way through" is just sugar-coating things. That's also discriminatory against people who may not be able to think "all the way." The concept of "all the way through" is discriminatory to those with a limited mental capability.

See how this is problematic?

3) The thing is, even if some people are born with "more intelligence" (which you have said is something that we cannot define), it's still up to them and their material conditions to use/exercise it. If someone achieves something extraordinary, and they happen to have a higher intelligence, why not recognize that achievement? It's not discrimination unless you want to look at it that way.

4) What are some "dangers" that people may not perceive? Should we put labels and regulations around stairwells saying "May fall if not careful?" Or signs every 10 ft on a city block warning people to "watch out for falling pianos/crazed armed masked men/reckless drivers?"

But wait! Having more signs and bureaucracy to deal with is discriminatory to those who do not have the intelligence to understand the signs or how to deal with bureaucracy!


It is cruel and unjust to discriminate. That means everyone. With the power of caring people and empathy, we have beaten back discrimination in many other forms, but one ugly secret remains: our society discriminates on the basis of intelligence. Help us end this unfairness now.

Who is "us?"

While we would all agree that discrimination is unjust, and we should try to oppose overt and systematic forms of discrimination, I think your position is heading towards a slippery, Harrison Bergeron-esque slope.

There's going to be biological inequalities. While we should strive to include people of all abilities in society, it's not wholly possible to avoid the level of discrimination you're describing here. You're taking an extreme "PC police" view of fairness - one where no one is mean to anyone else and everything is fair for everyone at every possible level.

Should everything be made of paper to avoid discrimination against those who may not be strong enough to lift heavier materials? Should we all yell and do things at high volumes to help those w/ hearing problems? Or maybe wear many layers of heavy clothing so that thinner people won't feel more comfortable than heavier-set people.

[sarmchain]

are you talking about people who are retarded and such? in that case by all means we should seek to end discrimination against them, but there is going to far some jobs would endanger themselves as well as others, or do you mean people who have not had access to as much education as most , once again i don't think that these people should be discriminated against as it offen not their fault instead its the fault of capitalism , however if someone has had access to education but insteads chooses to live in their own little box (such as the people on Stormfront) then i say fuck them

[Quail]

I agree that IQ tests aren't accurate. People can easily learn how to do well at the questions. I don't presonally see the need for them. I've only encountered them at school, where they were used to predict my grades so that the school could be monitored on how well it was helping me acheive what I am capable of (since schools seem not to care about education these days, just how good their statistics look), which I think is unnecessary and also leads to people being labelled as intelligent or unintelligent. Labelling people like that can cause self-fulfilling prophecies.

I don't think that "that's stupid" is discriminatory - it's a valid discription of things that are illogical or ridiculous or whatever. That's what stupid means. It is actually not quite the same as "unintelligent" in that you would usually call an action stupid if someone had the intelligence to know what they did was a bad idea.

I think that rewards based on academic acheivements are unfair - for example I get a bursary from my university for getting As at A level, but there are probably a lot of students who work a lot harder than me, but don't get any money because they only got Bs at A level. I think again though that this is to do with putting the reputation of the educational establishment ahead of the needs of the people who are learning.

I'm not sure what you mean about dangers that some people might not perceive. To be honest, I think that our society already goes overboard with safety warnings anyway. I don't really know how much further we could go without signs or speakers warning us to look where we're going every 5 seconds.

I think that capitalism is very unfair with the way that some jobs are considered "better" than others, and some of the most useful jobs are considered to be bad jobs. The world would totally come to a standstill without cleaners or binmen, yet nobody aspires to be a cleaner or a binman and they are not paid nearly as much as some jobs that aren't even nearly as important. I think it would be very difficult to eliminate the unfairness of varying intelligence in a capitalist society.

[FreeFocus]

Well-informed people already know that IQ tests are basically irrelevant in this age.

As for your general argument, sure, people are born with varying degrees of intelligence, but even someone with more natural gifts has to take advantage of them for them to be worth anything. Moreover, relegating people with less intelligence to the lower rungs of society is a symptom of capitalism with its race-to-the-top mentality, in which you die or your life is very compromised if you don't succeed. I don't think this is an excuse to glorify or encourage stupidity or a lack of knowledge, however - one should always strive to learn more and develop their mental acuity.

So, I will continue to use the phrase, "that's stupid," because, well, it's stupid to try to get rid of it. People who aren't as naturally gifted can, with work (by reading, expanding their horizons, etc), still be smart and knowledgeable. Only a stupid person stays stupid when they have the opportunity in front of them to improve themselves (I am taking into account socialization that sometimes turns people away from this; some people do spurn knowledge willingly).

[black magick hustla]

what the fuck is intelligence anyway. i know some kids who can crunch numbers and have a very strong intuition but who are worthless at writing a paper. i know kids who are very good poets, or who have very interesting views of sociology but who are scared by numbers. i know people who have some mad street smarts.

[Dimentio]

This thread must almost be the work of a troll.

People should not become brain surgeons or pilots just because they want to, but because they have the right qualifications in terms of something society could evaluate. It doesn't have too much to do with intelligence, but their performance in test which could be influenced by intelligence.

I could agree that it possibly is a bit discriminatory that people cannot become what they want no matter their grades. Yet, I have never encountered a person with what society would consider to be "low intelligence" who wants to become a brain surgeon or an engineer (many of those I have met want to be policemen, wrestlers or dictators though).

There is a lot of people with what is considered to be "low intelligence" who have important and influential positions in society either due to inheritance, social skills or the manipulations of others in the background. I would claim that social skills and media attention are much more important than intelligence in determining who is becoming who in late capitalist society.

[Meridian]

what the fuck is intelligence anyway. i know some kids who can crunch numbers and have a very strong intuition but who are worthless at writing a paper. i know kids who are very good poets, or who have very interesting views of sociology but who are scared by numbers. i know people who have some mad street smarts.
Agreed.

"Level of intelligence" is a pretty worthless term since it tries to umbrella many vastly different kinds of skills. It doesn't work since it always comes out with a priority of one skill type over another, corresponding, of course, to what is beneficial to the mode of production.

A measure of a "low IQ" is someone who brags about their IQ.

[Comrade Gwydion]

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