October, 2008

Thresholds: Who Needs Them?

by Bryan Caplan
The Conversation
October 20th, 2008

I’m slightly puzzled by Murray’s analogy that “IQ is to success in life (or in college) as weight is to an offensive tackle in the NFL.”  If Murray’s only point is that there is some IQ threshold below which it is nearly impossible to complete college, I agree.  But the college threshold is vastly below [...]

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P.S.

by Charles Murray
The Conversation
October 20th, 2008

It should go without saying that the IQ equivalent of 300 pounds for theoretical physicists is different than for, say, public policy analysts. But there is an equivalent for success in every job—and for success in every college major. And, yes, it does of course have fuzzy borders. There are still a few 288-pound offensive [...]

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The 300-Pound NFL Lineman in the Room

by Charles Murray
The Conversation
October 20th, 2008

Regarding Bryan’s point that there are many reasons people don’t complete college, it remains true that IQ plays a fundamental role. It was expressed perfectly by NYU sociologist Steve Goldberg: IQ is to success in life (or in college) as weight is to offensive tackles in the NFL. The correlation between weight and performance among [...]

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But All the Other Countries Are Doing It!

by Bryan Caplan
The Conversation
October 18th, 2008

Another intriguing Kevin Carey question:
The United States has historically been a leader among most nations in adopting policies designed to induce large numbers of people to pursue college degrees and to reduce the price of doing so. And the United States has the most productive, well-educated workforce in the world. In recent decades, many of [...]

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