Chapter 815: Statistical Deception

"...At that time, behavioral scientists realized that they had greatly underestimated the intelligence of cats. The traditional concept of 'intelligence quotient', as well as the intelligence tests invented by humans, are based on existing human concepts. biased approach."

In the late 1940s, Xiangshan stood on the podium at Seoul National University and talked eloquently.

One of his arms has a distinct metallic tint. Throughout his speech, this hand was raised at the same level as his head, with his fist clenched, as if to declare something.

Xiangshan said: "Felines cannot understand the meaning of 'intelligence tests'. Evolution has not given their brains the mission of understanding all this. Compared to us primates, their brains are specialized for hunting. Only they believe 'this If their behavior is conducive to hunting, they will be willing to use their brain's computing resources."

"Let's use a less precise but vivid metaphor. If we give cats intelligence close to humans through certain brain chip implants, then we may be surprised to find that those furry little guys will only When it comes to 'hunting' and 'killing', they use the resources of those chips. They look up at the stars and wonder if there are any giant alien creatures out there that are worth hunting. , these little guys will use their wisdom to study the theory of relativity and condensed matter, and build better spacecraft to hunt aliens. "

"Humans use 'IQ tests' based on human bias to test cats' cognitive abilities. But cats have no interest in the tests - until researchers find a way to convince cats that those tests are related to 'hunting'."

Having said this, Xiang Shan opened his hands: "Although everyone believes that science should be absolutely neutral, without any stance, and beyond prejudice. Unfortunately, stances and prejudices have always existed among scientists, even in For a long time, those prejudices were not regarded as 'prejudices', but were regarded as a 'natural' part."

"This is also part of the 'new trend in academia' that my colleagues and I advocate..."

There was a lot of discussion in the audience, and many young people could not suppress their desire to discuss. Seeing this, Xiang Shan paused his speech and glanced at Li Zheyuan next to him. Li Zheyuan immediately signaled to the host to open a round of questions.

Li Zheyuan is here as Xiang Shan's simultaneous interpreter.

The host said a few words to the people below. Then many hands went up.

The first person to ask questions was a thin young man. He first greeted Xiang Shan respectfully, and then asked: "Mr. Xiang, have you ever considered that what you just said may form a kind of reverse discrimination. I don't mean to disrespect any women. I respect my Mother also respects all women, but judging from the current data, the academic world is still dominated by men..."

"That's a good question." Xiang Shan looked a little weird, but he still praised the young man politely: "You stated an irrefutable fact, that is, 'At this stage, the majority of academic members are men.' However, This is just a literal meaning. It does not mean that ‘there are any biological factors that determine that women’s academic achievements are inferior to men’, or that ‘men are the majority in academia at any time and in any field’.”

"There is currently no neuroscientific research that supports the idea that one gender has an overwhelming advantage in a certain area of ​​cognitive ability. In fact, this is what I want to say to everyone - I want to emphasize it again, Prejudice exists in everyone."

"'Women are not good at mechanics, mathematics, physics, chemistry and other subjects' is an inherent prejudice. This prejudice will make female compatriots automatically and gradually give up at a certain stage - specifically, when gender consciousness begins to sprout. This subject. For them, investing too much energy in these subjects will make them 'ungirly'."

"Marie Curie was the first person in human history to win two Nobel Prizes. Amy Noether was one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century. But what happened to them? Marie Curie Amy Knott collapsed due to the mental pressure caused by the pornographic news and was admitted to a mental hospital. She could only give lectures under a male lecturer who was not as good as her and did not even receive the same salary-because. Scholars at the time could not accept the idea of ​​"listening to a woman teaching mathematics". In fact, if it were not for the support provided by her teacher David Hilbert in her early years, this great woman would not have been able to take this step. . She would be sent home directly from school, and today's physicists would be missing several common tools."

"Of course, the situation today is much better than that time. However, this does not mean that the prejudice is no longer there. The day that the prejudice of 'girls should look like girls' and 'good girls should stay away from mechanics and mathematics' exists, then this invisible The pressure will exist for one day - it will definitely be reflected in the statistical results.”

"The conclusion of statistics is just a conclusion of statistics. It is a summary of phenomena, not the truth."

"'Statistics' and 'measurement' are equally deceptive."

"Remember the story about 'cat IQ' that I just told? In fact, the misassessment caused by this kind of bias does not only appear in 'cats'. Many creatures have been misassessed in this way by biologists - of course, This also includes 'human beings'."

"There are many factors that determine a person's cognitive and thinking abilities, and a person's cognitive and thinking abilities also have many different dimensions - we even have to admit that our understanding of our own cognition is still very superficial. We know almost nothing. The standards for assessing IQ were developed by humans who knew nothing about it in an era that was even more ignorant than today."

"For example, we know today that human "memory" is actually divided into several types, and they are independent of each other. There are differences in "memory for text", "memory for graphics" and "memory for sound". 'Emotional memory' and 'knowledge memory' are stored separately in the brain. "

"Let's assume that there are two groups in the world, A and B. Group A is better at 'memorizing text' on average, and has a statistically significant advantage in 'fast and short-term memory'. Group B, on the other hand, is better at 'memorizing graphics', and 'long-term memory is forgotten more slowly'..."

Xiang Shan sighed softly: "In the IQ test formulated by Group A, 'text memory' accounts for 80% of the weight, so statistics will give a conclusion that 'in a certain intelligence test, Group A has an overwhelming advantage'."