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Comment by jrogers65 | Hacker News Reader

I don't really understand where you're going with this. If the best speakers happen to be Asian females then what is the problem, exactly?

There is not one caucasian person in the top 10 fastest 100m sprinters (http://www.toptens.com/sports-track-sprinters/). Do you believe that this is somehow problematic?

Genes and gene expression affect neurotransmitter levels and neurotrophic factors which, in turn, affect cognitive performance - just as Jamaicans and Africans are on average better at sprinting than English and French natives. Particular genetic groupings are going to fare better at task X, not too badly at task Y and terribly at task Z.

This is not privilege, it is reality.

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20110809/genes-play-big-...

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I just said that the colour of a speaker's skin or gender may not matter. I agree with you that it ought not to matter.

As to my post, what I would say is that you and I are having a productive conversation in part neither of us is labelling the other as overreacting. Instead, we're trading viewpoints and questions.

Are you suggesting that the genetic grouping of white males is scientifically accepted as being a better ruby conference speaker than non-white or non-male people?

I believe that we're talking about Asian women being at the top of whatever field the conference referenced in the blog post was about.

right, I was thinking of the actual incidents that (I assume) prompted this blog post. So you can re-state my question as, "are you arguing that it is likely that Asian women are genetically superior to non-Asian or male people in that field?".

Well yeah, that's what I'm arguing. Asian women are going to, on average, do better in field X than individuals from other genetic groupings - just as Jamaican men excel at sprinting.

Another example:

> Different studies have found different results, but most have found above-average verbal and mathematical intelligence in Ashkenazi Jews, along with below-average spatial intelligence. Some studies have found IQ scores amongst Ashkenazi Jews to be a fifth to one full standard deviation above average in mathematical and verbal tests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jewish_intelligence#D...

ok. So to tie this back to the real world examples that came up recently - is there similar evidence for white guys in Ruby?

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