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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Pinker's arguments are weird and if it were a class paper from a student, should get a low grade. The studies he cites are either assessing outliers (the first one that tracked a cohort of 13 year olds that were administered the SAT decades ago) or ones that were conducted before College Board revamped SAT and before the growth of the prep industry to its now pervasive levels. In fact the study he cites (conducted by the UC faculty senate) does conclude that SAT scores are different across various groups and therefore must be accounted for, which the UC system does.

Admittedly, factors such as legacy, donors, niche sports etc do skew the system. But tying admissions to a specific score is fraught as well (see the insane IIT-JEE system in India). There will always have to be a thumb on the scale -- the question is whose thumb and in whose favor.[/quote]
+1, I’m shocked a notable Harvard scholar wrote this. The undergrads on the crimson produce better work than this.  No discussion of trade offs or really what we gain from this. He mocks the idea that entering classes of only top scorers is a brainless endeavor but doesn’t really say what’ll happen if year over year there aren’t enough students for the orchestra or the arts in general. Should colleges still consider major? What if his cognitive science department becomes underenrolled and they have to hire less? I’ve seen ideological conservatives produce great arguments for merit based admissions, but that’s because they clearly thought through the logistics of such a change.[/quote]

I’m not sure it is that shocking. Social reproduction is essential for elites.[/quote]

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