I have posted a paper on the arXiv (a website for physics articles) addressing statistical issues in interpreting standardized tests. This is a volatile topic, and my argument is long and nuanced, so I don't want to retype the entire thing in a blog post. The short version is that a couple years ago somebody noticed that there are many successful scientists who did poorly on the GRE. One possible interpretation is that the GRE has no predictive power for performance in a PhD program. Another possibility is that performance is predicted by a combination of several variables, and a low score on any one of them might easily be compensated for by a high score on another. Moreover, admissions processes typically enforce such a condition, so the only people getting in with low GRE scores probably did well by some other measure (e.g. research experience, relevant work experience, lab skills, etc.), while people who did poorly by some other measure must have had something to compensate (e.g. the GRE). Consequently, when you compare people with high and low GRE scores, you aren't actually holding everything constant. I use computer simulations to illustrate these points.
I also include a digression on "ought" vs. "is" statements, illustrated with two characters (Helena and Cosima) from Orphan Black, my current favorite science fiction show. It may be that Helena is less likely to succeed in graduate school than Cosima is, but if Helena had a disadvantaged upbringing (and believe me, she did) then we ought to give her a chance to exceed our expectations. This is an important point, given the diversity implications of standardized tests.
Monday, September 11, 2017
Sunday, September 10, 2017
They were normal by the lights of their society
There's been much discussion of this picture of Auschwitz guards, taking some time off from their busy schedule of extermination to enjoy a little rest and relaxation. The discussion has been of how normal they look, and I agree, they do look normal.
But I'll go one step farther: Unlike today's neo-Nazis they do not look like members of a fringe group. They look like cheerful, well-assimilated members of their society, people who are wholly in-tune with the widespread assumptions shared by all Right-Thinking members of their society. Were they alive today they'd be popular people, sharing this photo on Instagram and getting "likes." They'd be respectable people who don't question conventional wisdom.
I don't fear that Nazis, as such, will ever return to power. There are indeed neo-Nazis in our society, and they can do a lot of dangerous things, but they will never consolidate power again. Not in that form. Yes, there's a neo-Nazi sympathizer in the White House, but his impeachment and removal is an inevitability at this point. He will soon enough be toppled. His followers might riot, they might do a lot of damage, they might kill innocents in retaliation, but as long as they carry Nazi flags they will never again gain true power. That might seem like small consolation, given the harm they could nonetheless do, but it's an important consolation when one considers the power that they'd have if they controlled the resources of a modern nation-state.
That's not to say that the bad guys will never again hold power. Of course they will. By some lights the very definition of a "bad guy" is "a person in power." But the neo-Nazis of today are fringe losers, and their label is far too toxic for mainstream acceptance.
No, the type of evil that the Nazis represented will only return to power by adopting a form that is not so frightening to the well-adjusted majority. Now that the swastika has (accurately) been emblazoned on our cultural memory as a symbol of purest evil, no successful movement will ever again use it. The next time an evil that great gains power, they will use some other symbol, a symbol that a decent person who desires social acceptability might come to embrace. The bad guys might start off with mostly just fringe losers in their camp, but they will go mainstream in order to win, and then they will purge the losers. Hitler did exactly that. He rose to power on the backs of fanatical street-fighting men, creepy losers, then he got wider popularity, gained power, and purged many of the creepy losers. That's what made him dangerous: Once he had power he availed himself of the sorts of mainstream people who know how to make trains run on time, run munitions factories, raise and organize armies, and keep the economy humming to support the construction of that deadly war machine.
I want every Right-Thinking Person to reflect seriously on this. The original Nazis, the ones who helped Hitler when he was small potatoes, they looked nothing like the people in that picture. But once Hitler had power he was able to make use of normal, socially well-adjusted people who could fit in and conform to the society around them. The sorts of people who could get out of bed on time, show up to work, make things happen, feel secure in the knowledge that they are in harmony with all of the other respectable people around them, and then at the end of a long week of mass murder go blow off some steam with other well-adjusted members of their society, taking group photos of smiling people at a party.
Question authority.
But I'll go one step farther: Unlike today's neo-Nazis they do not look like members of a fringe group. They look like cheerful, well-assimilated members of their society, people who are wholly in-tune with the widespread assumptions shared by all Right-Thinking members of their society. Were they alive today they'd be popular people, sharing this photo on Instagram and getting "likes." They'd be respectable people who don't question conventional wisdom.
I don't fear that Nazis, as such, will ever return to power. There are indeed neo-Nazis in our society, and they can do a lot of dangerous things, but they will never consolidate power again. Not in that form. Yes, there's a neo-Nazi sympathizer in the White House, but his impeachment and removal is an inevitability at this point. He will soon enough be toppled. His followers might riot, they might do a lot of damage, they might kill innocents in retaliation, but as long as they carry Nazi flags they will never again gain true power. That might seem like small consolation, given the harm they could nonetheless do, but it's an important consolation when one considers the power that they'd have if they controlled the resources of a modern nation-state.
That's not to say that the bad guys will never again hold power. Of course they will. By some lights the very definition of a "bad guy" is "a person in power." But the neo-Nazis of today are fringe losers, and their label is far too toxic for mainstream acceptance.
No, the type of evil that the Nazis represented will only return to power by adopting a form that is not so frightening to the well-adjusted majority. Now that the swastika has (accurately) been emblazoned on our cultural memory as a symbol of purest evil, no successful movement will ever again use it. The next time an evil that great gains power, they will use some other symbol, a symbol that a decent person who desires social acceptability might come to embrace. The bad guys might start off with mostly just fringe losers in their camp, but they will go mainstream in order to win, and then they will purge the losers. Hitler did exactly that. He rose to power on the backs of fanatical street-fighting men, creepy losers, then he got wider popularity, gained power, and purged many of the creepy losers. That's what made him dangerous: Once he had power he availed himself of the sorts of mainstream people who know how to make trains run on time, run munitions factories, raise and organize armies, and keep the economy humming to support the construction of that deadly war machine.
I want every Right-Thinking Person to reflect seriously on this. The original Nazis, the ones who helped Hitler when he was small potatoes, they looked nothing like the people in that picture. But once Hitler had power he was able to make use of normal, socially well-adjusted people who could fit in and conform to the society around them. The sorts of people who could get out of bed on time, show up to work, make things happen, feel secure in the knowledge that they are in harmony with all of the other respectable people around them, and then at the end of a long week of mass murder go blow off some steam with other well-adjusted members of their society, taking group photos of smiling people at a party.
Question authority.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
