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Notes -
Do you remember taking the ASVAB?
Do you remember how certain jobs had a minimum GT score? Do you recall jokes about people who needed waivers?
The US military did studies in the WWII era that showed dumb people are more likely to fuck things up and be bad at their job. So the US military tries to keep the real dummies out altogether, and requires above average scores for many jobs. Becoming a pilot requires passing an extra test with a general aptitude section. Getting into the Defense Language Institute requires a good score on a language-learning aptitude test, which basically measures verbal IQ.
MacNamara decided to lower the minimum IQ to expand options for recruits/draftees. It did not go well.
So the moral of the story is that IQ is real and it matters.
You believing MacNamara made bad decisions is in line with him making a bad decision about lowering IQ requirements.
You’re smart enough that we should not have to tell you that if you enlist a bunch of low IQ people there’s going to be “disparate impact.”
Obviously there’s an HBD angle.
https://old.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/8syjn9/gwerns_review_of_mcnamaras_folly_the_use_of_lowiq/
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