Whose view of reality is more distorted: old female hippies or blacks? Surveys have revealed that many blacks, and even more educated blacks, believe that HIV may have been invented by white scientists to kill them. I thought that there could not be a group of people less in touch with reality. Then I listened to old hippies. On several occasions on television, I have heard Jane Fonda types saying they believe that America is so reactionary, compared to every other country on the planet, that a woman simply cannot win the presidency. They see the world very clearly indeed: only 95% percent of those polled said they would vote for a woman. The number is so friggin' high, GSS has stopped asking the question.

Who would have guessed? Smart people believe in genes! What kinds of people are most likely to think that where you end up in life has nothing to do with genes? Educated people might talk a good egalitarian game, but people going no further than high school are much more likely to think that genes don't matter. Thirty-five percent of the uneducated felt this way: only 20 percent of those with advanced degrees did. And other factors? Not surprisingly, 40% of blacks are pure nurturists, compared to 30% of whites. For hard-core conservatives, it was 17%. For hard-core liberals, it was 35%. As for religion, people with no religion had the highest share of nurturists (37%). Interestingly, the religion with the greatest appreciation of genes was Judaism. Only 24% of Jews thought genes were inconsequential.

The picture that emerges here is this: smarter, better informed people appreciate the power of genes (at least privately) unless they have some agenda, as in the case of liberals.

Gay men ain't so hot for marriage, part 2: Looking at the survey I constantly analyze, I ran across a question about how important personally is it for you to be married. While 57% percent of straight men felt it was important, only 18 percent of gay guys did. The push for gay marriage is probably primarily a demand for recognition that gays are as a good as straights and should get everything they do, and only secondarily a romantic or practical desire for marriage.

Alert to women married to a Russian: They might be cheating on you! The General Social Survey asks people is it wrong to cheat on your spouse. America has a long-standing dislike of infidelity (never mind Clinton's popularity). According to polls, Americans are more accepting of minor drug use than cheating. But let's look at how this might vary by ethnic group. Below is the percent of men who say cheating on your wife is not wrong:

USA 13.4%
1. Russians 24.0
2. Yugoslavs 23.9
3. Greeks 22.7
4. West Indians 22.3
5. Puerto Ricans 20.7
6. Spain 20.2
7. Blacks 20.1
8. Portuguese 20.0
9. Finns 18.4
10. Arabs 17.4
11. French 17.3
12. Italians 15.6
12. Chinese 15.6
14. Japanese 14.8
15. Lithuanians 14.7
16. Austrians 13.7
17. Irish 12.4
18. Scots 12.1
19. English/Welsh 12.0
20. American Indians 11.7
21. Polish 11.6
22. Czechs 11.5
23. Germans 10.9
24. Swiss 10.8
25. Hungarians 10.7
26. Danes 10.5
27. Swedes 10.3
28. Mexicans 9.5
29. Indians 9.3
30. Filipinos 8.4
31. French Canadians 8.3
31. Dutch 8.3
33. Norwegians 7.2

So, southern and eastern Europeans tend to be high, Asians are toward the middle, and northern Europeans are more often seen at the bottom. Blacks, West Indians, and Puerto Ricans are towards the top, but, strangely, Mexicans fall toward the bottom. Mexico has a long tradition of a wife and a mistress on the side, so I'm not sure why Mexican-American attitudes do not reflect this.

But this is just people talkin'. Next, I'll post their behavior.

Red states are great places to live #2: All those Bush states are boring places to live, right? Sure, because the only Wild West shows you can find there are fake. According to state-level data from Laboratory of the States, the zero-order correlation between red states and murder rates is -.72. That means that half of the story of homicide can be predicted by whether the state is red or blue. It's no wonder that so many Californian families with children are leaving the Golden State for a mountain state. "Hmm, let's see--living close to Disneyland...or saving my kid from a stray bullet...Love that Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters ride, but Colorado Springs, here we come!"

So I guess, in a way, life in heartland states is boring...like Europe or Japan. If you want to live in the most exciting place on earth, try Colombia where the homicide rate is a dozen times higher than ours.

Two-thirds of American Indians say they are white? Perhaps being white is cooler than I thought. There are large numbers of Americans from groups we don't think of as white who identify their race as white on the General Social Survey.


Percent of certain ethnic groups who say they are white:

Arabic 75.0%
Mexicans 69.8
American Indians 68.4
Puerto Ricans 57.1
Other Spanish 56.4
Japanese 19.4
Filipinos 18.9
India 18.4
Chinese 8.0
West Indians 6.0

So most Arabs and Hispanics think they're white. I tell my Hispanic-dominated classes that it is ridiculous that the U.S. government often lumps them in with whites in its statistics, but maybe many think that is appropriate. And two-thirds of American Indians are white? Huh? These must be mixed people who choose white as race and AI as their ethnicity.

Comments?

Why so much preference for vanilla over chocolate? (Or coffee, for that matter). From earlier discussions, it is safe to say that black men are much more attracted to white women than white men are attracted to black women. So what is the most important reason for this? The possibilities that come immediately to mind are:

1. Men in general prefer feminine women, and whites, on average, are more feminine than blacks (both in looks and behavior).

2. Black men, along with everyone else, are socialized to believe that white women are the most beautiful.

3. There is such a thing as objective beauty which all people appreciate, and white women are, on average, more beautiful.

4. Since white women have historically been a taboo to black men, this makes them more appealing.

5. Black men don't find them to be more beautiful, but to have other more appealing traits like cooperativeness.

6. Black men want to be with white women as a form of racial revenge.


What evidence do we have to support or contradict these ideas? Do people have other explanations in mind?

Who is more cliquish: blacks or Jews? I'm interested in the question of how much people prefer the company of their own to that of other groups. The General Social Survey provides answers when it asks about the religion and race of your best friend. If minorities did not prefer their own company, we would expect them to frequently have an outsider as a best friend because, as a member of a small group, they are are surrounded by a sea of opportunities to befriend members of the majority. The smaller the group, the more out-members you will bump into during your daily routine. If, on the other hand, you strongly prefer your own, you will swim against this tide of opportunity and seek out as a best friend a member of the in-group. For majority members, even if they had no preference for their own, we would expect most of them to end up with majority friends because they too are surrounded by members of the majority. Even if you wanted to, it is difficult to find a Jewish best friend in Boise.

These are the percent of people whose best friend is of the same faith:

Protestants 75%
Catholics 60%
Jews 76%

Jews are as likely to have a best friend of the same religion as are Protestants, even though Protestants are 29 times larger (58% versus 2%). Jews are more likely to have a co-religionist as a best friend than are Catholics, even though Catholics are a much larger group (27% versus 2%).

Let's now look at race. Here are the percentages of people having a same-race best friend:

Whites 90%
Blacks 84%

Blacks are almost as likely to have a same-race best friend as whites, even though whites are 6 times are numerous (80% versus 13%).

So to answer the question in the title? One complicating factor here is that blacks are more segregated than Jews, so it more difficult for a black person to make a white friend. Another complicating factor is how much other groups want to be your friend. It seems clear that majority groups will befriend Jews more easily than blacks. Bottom line: Jews are more cliquish than blacks.

Do black men prefer white women?

Here's the second set I promised. A reader suggested that the first set tends to be older, and it is among younger blacks where you see this preference for whites being realized. Fortunately, this set happens to be younger, and the girls are indeed lighter. I don't know that I am yet convinced of a clear preference for whites, but there is an unmistakable preference for light-skinned women with non-African features.

Do black men prefer white women?

An interesting discussion has unfolded in an earlier post about whether black men prefer white women or mulattas. I am not aware of any studies or hard data, but will keep looking. One simple we can approach the question is the examine a few extreme cases. Famous celebrities should be able to choose any type of woman they want. I wrote down the first 10 black male actors that came to mind and above are photos with their wives. The blog limits me to 5 photos, so I'll post the other 5 and some commentary next.

Roseanne-type women make my life a living hell: Is it just me, or are fat, ugly women the most difficult people in the world? Almost without exception, the students who harass me about how I grade them (as well as other class-related issues) are either females who look like Jabba the Hutt, or vocal black students. All the white guys and attractive girls never utter a peep. What is going on?

Dienekes has posted a study that shows that males have an average IQ that is 3.6 points than for females. For years, I have adopted Arthur Jensen's view, as expressed in g Factor, that the sexes have the same general intelligence. But as someone who has taught college students at several institutions over a decade, this view is at variance with my experience. And, of course, most of the intellectual leaders in my field are men. This graph closely matches what I have seen: you can't detect a gender difference among average students, but it becomes more noticeable at higher levels. The ratio of guys to girls at the highest level appears to be perhaps 4 to 1. La Griffe du Lion has documented the considerable gender difference in math, but I have sensed a general intelligence gap in the classroom. I thought maybe it was just bias on my part, but I am beginning to think it is real, and very important at the highest levels. Just take a look at Charles Murray's Human Accomplishment to see how much it matters.

Science, The Serial Killer

You broke Dream's neck,
Fed Romance arsenic,
Stabbed Spirit in the heart,
Crushed Poetry's skull,
Slit Dance's throat,
Throttled Ecstasy in her bed,
Shot Music in the head,
And hanged Magic with a rope.

With icy fingers, you murdered all these Beauty Queens.

Swedes: A race of drunkards! Everybody knows that the Irish drink more than other Americans, right? (Curse you, you evil stereotypers.) Wrong, it's those sodden Swedes! The numbers are high among northern Europeans and go down as we move toward southern Europe. Asians are very low, as are Arabs. Blacks and Mexicans are in the middle. As for Puerto Ricans: if you take a tour of the Bacardi plant in San Juan, you will get to see the "Cathedral of Rum." And the Russians have really let me down here.

1. Swedes 44.3%
2. Puerto Ricans 43.6
3. Finns 43.5
3. Scots 43.5
5. Irish 42.2
6. German 40.3
7. Yugoslavs 40.0
8. Swiss 39.6
9. Dutch 38.9
10. Czechs 37.4
11. Hungarians 37.0
11. French 37.0
13. Austrians 36.8
14. French Canadians 36.5
15. American Indian 36.4
15. Polish 36.4
17. West Indians 36.4
18. English/Welsh 34.5
19. Danes 34.1
20. Blacks 32.7
21. Mexicans 31.4
22. Italians 31.1
23. Portuguese 29.6
24. Spain 26.7
25. Russians 26.4
26. Lithuanias 25.0
27. Japanese 22.2
28. Indians 20.8
28. Filipinos 20.8
30. Arabs 20.0
31. Chinese 15.6
31. Greeks 15.6

Did the fraternity turn you into a drunk? Don't sit there and feel superior because you're a bigshot educated man who knows the meaning of discipline. Everyone assumes that it's the high school dropouts who are the stumble bums. But the General Social Survey tells us that 48% of men with bachelor's degrees admit that they sometimes drink too much, compared to 42% of guys who didn't finish high school.

Next, I'll look to see which ethnic group has the most drunks.

Is the stereotype of the dumb fundamentalist true? Readers of this blog will quickly notice my conservative orientation, but my goal is not so much to push an agenda but to find interesting information. For example, I'd like to tell you that, in spite of media portrayals, my fellow white conservatives who happen to be religious fundamentalists are just as educated as you and I are--they just prefer their religion straight up. Sorry, but I cannot. White Americans were asked to describe their religion, ranging from fundamentalist to liberal, and I took a look to see the percentage who completed at least a bachelor's degree:

Fundamentalist 14.8%
Moderate 22.5
Liberal 38.5

Now, as I wrote before, an education is overrated (and this coming from a professor). My parents, for example, are very sensible people, yet never stepped foot on a college campus. But I must admit that these numbers do not reflect well on our fundamentalist brethren.

Are we going to see more social strife, and from whom? Steve Sailer's article at VDARE documents the global importance of national IQ differences. He concludes that our importation of low IQ immigrants is creating long-term inequality which will produce social strife. This raised a question in my mind: Which immigrant groups are poor enough to become resentful? The General Social Survey has data on ethnicity and income. I chose $30,000 per household as the cutoff. The ethnic groups with averages lower than this are:

1. Africans
2. Mexicans
3. Arabs

These 3 groups are also non-white, so the class resentment is likely to be aggravated by racial and/or religious resentment.

White guys do not fantasize about black women, and they definitely do not fantasize about African women: Thanks to the reader who mentioned this Sudanese supermodel, Alek Wek, as an example of a real black woman. Now I'm a red-blooded American guy like the rest of you, but I must be honest--she's not giving me tingles. Maybe some hair or a body shot might help, but I find myself most attracted to women closer to home. White women with a twist of the exotic are most attractive, but Alek is too exotic.

Reason to belive in God (#2): My students have told me that at times I sound like a preacher in class. Not because I tell them how to think, but because my energy and rhythm make me sound like I am channeling MLK. Maybe I missed my calling. Well, this blog is an opportunity to share my thoughts, honest and unedited. And my thoughts often turn to the question of God.

Let me try out an idea on you. Science tells us that nature is locked in an iron grip of cause and effect, and scientific thinking has an amazing record of success...with the one crucial exception of human beings. Brilliant men have attempted to understand and predict human behavior for a very long time, yet I contend that we have made practically no progress here. Bentham? Yawn. Marx? C'mon. Freud? What a joke. Skinner? Do I look like a lab rat to you? Wilson? Well maybe, but do I look like a lab rat to you?

Now it is not my intention to identify every possible reason why scientific methods have failed to succeed in the social sciences where they have been so wildly successful in the real sciences. But I contend that one cause of the problem is that, unlike everywhere else in nature, there is considerable indeterminacy in human behavior. While carefully done research with a long list of risk factors may be able explain perhaps 50% of the sample's variation in individual behavior, this is far from 100%, and it is unable to predict what Joe (subject number 24) will do. Even the sharpest social scientist is very likely to be wrong if he ventures to predict that, "Joe will do X." Humans have much more control over their destinies than does a horseshoe crab.

So the evidence suggests that humans have somehow escaped (to some extent) the bone-crushing determinism of the universe. Events that don't follow the laws of nature are called miracles. How can Man ever transcend nature's machinery? The theological answer is that God touched him with just a bit of His own freedom.

Mexicans come in dead last in immigrant competition! This is the final installment in my mini-study of the highest versus the lowest quality immigrants. First, let's see who brings the greatest family stability to the country, measured as the percentage of people ages 25-60 who are married:

1. Indians 75.6
2. Filipinos 73.7
3. Chinese 72.7
4. Italians 71.9
5. Mexicans 65.5
6. English/Welsh 65.3
7. Spain 62.8
8. Germans 58.2
9. Africans 50.0

Below I have summed the standardized values of the five variables (unemployment, education, crime, political values, family stability) in order to get a ranking of immigrant groups from best to worst. Listen: can you hear the drum roll?

1. Filipinos (10.7)
2. English/Welsh (7.8)
3. Chinese (6.9)
4. Indians (6.1)
5. Germans (1.6)
6. Italians (-1.6)
7. Spain (-3.02)
8. Africans (-5.68)
9. Mexicans (-12.9)

Counting both legal and illegal immigrants, annual totals from the Philippines number in the tens of thousands while those from Mexico numbers in the hundreds of thousands. I'm sure that people around the world look at our immigration policy and say, "Damn, those Americans are clever."