I know this thread is of the mind that tabula rasa is bullshit
It's worth noting that
(A) there's middle ground between nature and nurture and
(B) discussing an individual is fundamentally different from discussing a group.
To illustrate
(A) forget about IQ for a moment. I'll make this point using leg muscles. Is Usian Bolt fast because of nature (his genes) or nurture (his environment)? Obviously it's both. He has good genes, but he also trained hard.
I doubt anyone in this thread believes that if we had chained him to a sofa for the first 20 years of his life, that he would have then jumped up and run and won gold medals when we released him. We understand that providing an environment in which he could practice running is important.
The problem is, the Left
does seem to believe that any person, if given the right environment, could be as fast as Usian Bolt. And if someone isn't as fast as him, their only explanation is, "systemic racism is why that person can't run a 10 second 100 meter!"
Getting back to IQ. Leftists say it's not real, or if it is, it cannot possibly be genetic. So if someone scores higher or lower on a test, their only explanation is the environment ...by which they mean racism.
On the flip side, is there anyone here who thinks that Newton would have been a genius if he had been raised by wolves, or that Mozart would have composed music if he'd never seen an instrument? Of course not!
Maybe it's best to think about genes as a cup, and the environment as what you pour into it. Some people have a small cup, and no matter how much you pour into it, they're never going to be Usian Bolt or Mozart or Einstein.
Also, I want to clarify point
(B) - talking about a group is completely different than talking about an individual. I might say that men are stronger than women. That's true ...even though there are weak men and strong women.
Another problem I have with leftists is that they don't seem to understand that either.