Author Jared Taylor discussed what he claims are correlations between race and intelligence in a speech to the Edmund Burke Society Thursday night. Taylor, the author of Paved With Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America, said he believes that just as different races evolved physical variations, they also evolved mental variations, and therefore not all races have the same intellectual capability. "[There is] no reason to think that evolution stopped at the mind," Taylor said. "What on earth would make you think Australian aborigines are as mentally endowed as Japanese?" he continued. Taylor, citing scores of standardized IQ tests, said that 50 percent of white participants but only 16 percent of black participants scored above the median. He said the IQ test, which he considers unbiased, is "the most effective way [to measure intelligence.]" The basis of Taylor's argument is that intelligence is mainly hereditary and therefore determined by race more than environment. "The society that one finds in Africa is what one might expect for a society of a standard deviation below the white society," Taylor said. He cited examples of twins separated and raised in different environment who still scored similarly on IQ tests to support his claim that heredity mainly determines intelligence. Taylor attributes the discrepancy in the intelligence of races as having "to do with how many ice ages a group had to live through." After the speech, there was a brief question and answer period. Taylor was repeatedly questioned on his views and the validity of his facts. "Mr. Taylor fails to see environmental effects on IQ tests though he claims there are no test biases against different races," Sociology graduate student Jennifer Altman said. College sophomore Ben Wyche said he "did not feel that the statistics proved intelligence was due to heredity." Engineering sophomore Michael Mirmak said he found the lecture interesting. "The lecture led to a lot of insight into the implications of racial differences and why certain government policies are failing to make up for those differences," College junior Lewis Saideman said.
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