Sam Harris and the Myth of Perfectly Rational Thought

[Major Nikon]

67. From your own reference...

5) On the basis of points 1 through 4, it is natural to assume that the reasons for racial differences in IQ scores are themselves at least partly genetic.

Until you get to 5, none of the premises is completely incorrect.

Turkheimer is saying #5 is completely incorrect.

Whether or not group differences in IQ are genetically based is not a political question. If Harris's point was to dive into the controversy, Turkheimer et al presented him with an excellent opportunity. He failed to join the debate at any substantive level.

Actually it was Turkheimer et al who refused to debate Harris. Klein offered them the opportunity to participate in the podcast and they refused.

Another thing worth noting is Turkheimer isn't the only authority one can appeal to on this subject, and far from the best one. The most important study he published was in a relatively low-level journal and it wasn't replicable in a later study which probably didn't help his career much. It also doesn't help Turkheimer that David Reich, who has been published in Nature numerous times, disagrees with him, which Harris points out.

So it may be very true that Turkheimer is entirely correct in that there isn't the consensus on the subject that Murray and Harris suggest and it may also be true that Turkheimer is entirely correct in his conclusions about the data. However, he did himself no favors by calling his opposition junk science mongers (however you want to frame that) as this was just too easy for them to counter. That's why Turkheimer apologized for that characterization.