This is a strange title, but it is significant as you will see in this blog.
I am a hunter and fisherman and I use my God given talent to do as well as I can. If you are a hunter or a fisherman, then you know that you have to "play the odds". Where to find a game animal or a fish is not an exact process, but most people think in terms of "right" and "wrong". They do not think probabilistically. Why is that?
We know that the USA ranks 40th in terms of math, but not "all" people rank 40th. Asians rank a lot higher and Blacks rank a lot lower. Given that knowledge, shouldn't we, as humans with a brain, try to use that knowledge when we make decisions? If we knew that big bucks lived in the deep woods, why would we hunt in open hay fields? Does it mean that we are biased or racist in terms of how we hunt or fish? I don't think so. What we are doing is using statistics to guide us. We know that the world is not just a big list of "right" and "wrong" answers like school.
If we were looking for an accountant or an engineer who had to deal with a lot of math and we had three candidates, one White, one Black and one Asian, how would we deal with the situation knowing what we already know? We could test the candidates, but we also know that tests are not 100%. If we were to apply Bayes Theorem to our decision, how would that effect our choice? In the end, we want to make the very best choice from our limited alternatives and given equal test scores, I would select the Asian. How about you?
Why do Asians score higher in math than Whites or Blacks, I do not know 100%, but at least part of it is that Asians take school very seriously from a very early age as well as their parents. Parenting has to be a big factor and we all know that there is a significant difference between different racial groups, on average that is! We also know that there are outstanding parents in all racial groups and also that there are also some very bad ones too. It is not "yes" and "not" or "right" and "wrong" and we all need to start thinking in those terms. The world we never be perfect in everyone's eyes, but we can expect it to get better over time. Will it ever be good enough? I don't think so, but that is not reason the accuse someone as being racist.
People will continue to "play the odds" and it should not be interpreted as racist. It is that part of human intellect that has allowed us to survive all these thousands of years. I think that you all must agree if you are honest about the term "racism".
