This is a great case study in IQ assholes being IQ assholes.

Charles Murray says that 130 IQ students can’t hang in advanced college math, but 140 IQ students can.

Someone asks, “how do you know their IQ?”

He says that he knows because he can tell when he talks to them.

Pure confirmation bias. High IQ students do good. How can I tell they’re high IQ? Because they do good.

And fuck Charles Murray. But I think a different form of this happens in schools.

Smart kids do well in schools. Why do they do well in schools? Because they’re smart. It’s all circular, turtles all the way down.

And hey, big picture, there’s this basic phenomenon driving the whole thing: academic achievement is stable on average. Students who have done well in the past tend to do well in the future.

But that’s an average.

I had a really proud moment this week. A student who has always struggled in math, and had a tough time so far this year, got a 100 on a quiz. Ten questions. Mixed topics, so it included two problems from months ago.

He was so proud. Huge confidence boost for him. Big win.

I’ve spent a ton of time working with him outside of class, filling in gaps, trying to help him see the progress he was making. And the point here is, on average academic achievement doesn’t change. But effective teaching can change it. One approach is to give up. Smart kids are going to do well, and they do well because they’re smart.

The other approach is to dig in, work hard, and change the trajectory of as many students as I can. This is why I don’t find a lot of intelligence commentary helpful. It’s all averages. I don’t teach averages in the classroom, I teach students.

(link to tweet: x.com/charlesmurray/sta…)