Controversy Requires Competence: Comment on Rindermann et al. (2024)
1 University of Virginia
2 University of Texas at Austin
* Corresponding author: (E.T.); (K.P.H.)
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 18 Apr 2024 / Accepted: 6 Aug 2024 / Published: 30 Oct 2024
Abstract
Rindermann, Klauk, and Thompson (2024) purport to give evidence regarding the determinants of intelligence test scores among refugees who have immigrated to Germany from different countries of origin, and they speculate these intelligence test score differences have negative implications for future economic development in Germany. We describe critical flaws in their measurement, statistical analysis, and interpretation of individual- and country-level differences among the immigrant participants, particularly regarding the authors’ specious reference to “evolutionary ancestry.” We contrast their pseudoscientific approach with valid scientific methods. Human intelligence and human evolution are controversial areas of scientific inquiry that require the highest levels of scientific rigor and editorial discretion, which are absent here.
Keywords: intelligence; immigration; pseudoscience; factor analysis; human evolution
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CITE
Turkheimer, E.; Harden, K.P. Controversy Requires Competence: Comment on Rindermann et al. (2024). Controversial_Ideas 2024, 4, 15.
Turkheimer E, Harden KP. Controversy Requires Competence: Comment on Rindermann et al. (2024). Journal of Controversial Ideas. 2024; 4(2):15.
Turkheimer, Eric; Harden, K Paige. 2024. "Controversy Requires Competence: Comment on Rindermann et al. (2024)." Controversial_Ideas 4, no. 2: 15.
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