Aaron Gross
@rongwrong.bsky.social
“Every word that is uttered creates an angel.”
Pinned
Reposted by Aaron Gross
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Your Genes Are Simply Not Enough to Explain How Smart You Are
Seven years ago, I took a bet with Charles Murray about whether we’d basically understand the genetics of intelligence by now.
www.theatlantic.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:33 PM
In 2018, Charles Murray challenged me to a bet: "We will understand IQ genetically—I think most of the picture will have been filled in by 2025—there will still be blanks—but we’ll know basically what’s going on." It's now 2025, and I claim a win. I write about it in The Atlantic.
Happy holidays to all, and Fuck Palestine 🙂
October 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Happy holidays to all, and Fuck Palestine 🙂
Thinking again about this deceptively simple sentence from @ent3c.bsky.social:
“If you believe…that genetic differences explain why you are smarter than me, then those same genetic differences will cause groups of people like you to be smarter than groups of people like me.”
What does this mean?
“If you believe…that genetic differences explain why you are smarter than me, then those same genetic differences will cause groups of people like you to be smarter than groups of people like me.”
What does this mean?
September 19, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Thinking again about this deceptively simple sentence from @ent3c.bsky.social:
“If you believe…that genetic differences explain why you are smarter than me, then those same genetic differences will cause groups of people like you to be smarter than groups of people like me.”
What does this mean?
“If you believe…that genetic differences explain why you are smarter than me, then those same genetic differences will cause groups of people like you to be smarter than groups of people like me.”
What does this mean?
This was a really interesting talk! Interesting Q&A too.
My Dobzhansky lecture at BGA: "Theodosius Dobzhansky and the Origins of Radical Behavior Genetics" is publicly available. I talk about the tensions introduced into the field at the difficult border between science using model organisms and human beings. Thanks to BGA for the opportunity.
Sat_208_Dobzhansky_Lecture
Dobzhansky Lecture by Eric Turkheimer
vimeo.com
August 23, 2025 at 3:56 AM
This was a really interesting talk! Interesting Q&A too.
Nice article on film noir from the NYRB, 1991 <https://archive.li/2B57B>
This is a really good point about how audiences experienced film noir in the 1940s–50s. They weren’t ancient Greeks experiencing catharsis from a tragedy. They were there to enjoy thrills and entertainment.
This is a really good point about how audiences experienced film noir in the 1940s–50s. They weren’t ancient Greeks experiencing catharsis from a tragedy. They were there to enjoy thrills and entertainment.
April 6, 2025 at 9:52 AM
Nice article on film noir from the NYRB, 1991 <https://archive.li/2B57B>
This is a really good point about how audiences experienced film noir in the 1940s–50s. They weren’t ancient Greeks experiencing catharsis from a tragedy. They were there to enjoy thrills and entertainment.
This is a really good point about how audiences experienced film noir in the 1940s–50s. They weren’t ancient Greeks experiencing catharsis from a tragedy. They were there to enjoy thrills and entertainment.
OK a last comment about race.
When I say that human races have existed for thousands of years, that might sound ridiculous to educated people, who say race was invented a few centuries ago.
But like it or not, right or wrong, I think most ordinary people agree with what I said about it.
When I say that human races have existed for thousands of years, that might sound ridiculous to educated people, who say race was invented a few centuries ago.
But like it or not, right or wrong, I think most ordinary people agree with what I said about it.
April 4, 2025 at 2:57 PM
OK a last comment about race.
When I say that human races have existed for thousands of years, that might sound ridiculous to educated people, who say race was invented a few centuries ago.
But like it or not, right or wrong, I think most ordinary people agree with what I said about it.
When I say that human races have existed for thousands of years, that might sound ridiculous to educated people, who say race was invented a few centuries ago.
But like it or not, right or wrong, I think most ordinary people agree with what I said about it.
A pet peeve I guess, but race is not a human invention, even if our salient racial categories—white, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and so on—do lack biological reality.
Like, there were racially white people thousands of years ago, even though the idea of a white race didn’t exist then.
Like, there were racially white people thousands of years ago, even though the idea of a white race didn’t exist then.
The Executive Order's false claim that race is a biological reality and its trashing of the flatly true statement that race is a human invention are followed immediately by its attack on the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The most serious Nazi shit in this extremely Nazi shit executive order may be the idea, just slipped in there, that one of the "divisive narratives that distort our shared history" is that "race is not a biological reality but a social construct." www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
March 28, 2025 at 1:42 PM
A pet peeve I guess, but race is not a human invention, even if our salient racial categories—white, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and so on—do lack biological reality.
Like, there were racially white people thousands of years ago, even though the idea of a white race didn’t exist then.
Like, there were racially white people thousands of years ago, even though the idea of a white race didn’t exist then.
About the murdered Bibas children: I understand, people are making them a symbol. But to me that’s wrong. It lessens the horrors of October 7.
Kidnapping and murdering children was NOTHING compared to the absolute monstrosity of other atrocities committed on that day.
Fuck Palestine!
Kidnapping and murdering children was NOTHING compared to the absolute monstrosity of other atrocities committed on that day.
Fuck Palestine!
February 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
About the murdered Bibas children: I understand, people are making them a symbol. But to me that’s wrong. It lessens the horrors of October 7.
Kidnapping and murdering children was NOTHING compared to the absolute monstrosity of other atrocities committed on that day.
Fuck Palestine!
Kidnapping and murdering children was NOTHING compared to the absolute monstrosity of other atrocities committed on that day.
Fuck Palestine!
Only checking in occasionally here lately because there doesn’t seem to be much going on here.
Anyway, see you around, and also, Fuck Palestine.
Anyway, see you around, and also, Fuck Palestine.
February 9, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Only checking in occasionally here lately because there doesn’t seem to be much going on here.
Anyway, see you around, and also, Fuck Palestine.
Anyway, see you around, and also, Fuck Palestine.
This is great! Professor Amy Wax is suing UPenn for discrimination against whites and Jews regarding “offensive speech”.
I only hope the lawsuit goes to discovery, so UPenn will have to release statistics on how well their black law students actually rank.
freebeacon.com/wp-content/u...
I only hope the lawsuit goes to discovery, so UPenn will have to release statistics on how well their black law students actually rank.
freebeacon.com/wp-content/u...
January 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
This is great! Professor Amy Wax is suing UPenn for discrimination against whites and Jews regarding “offensive speech”.
I only hope the lawsuit goes to discovery, so UPenn will have to release statistics on how well their black law students actually rank.
freebeacon.com/wp-content/u...
I only hope the lawsuit goes to discovery, so UPenn will have to release statistics on how well their black law students actually rank.
freebeacon.com/wp-content/u...
This is a joke but it doesn’t tell the truth. As Yigal Carmon has said, Israel lost the war on Oct 7, 2023. No subsequent Israeli victory could change that.
In that sense, Hamas certainly did win the war, whatever happens going forward. We will see that clearly, when we see the hostages.
In that sense, Hamas certainly did win the war, whatever happens going forward. We will see that clearly, when we see the hostages.
January 17, 2025 at 2:27 PM
This is a joke but it doesn’t tell the truth. As Yigal Carmon has said, Israel lost the war on Oct 7, 2023. No subsequent Israeli victory could change that.
In that sense, Hamas certainly did win the war, whatever happens going forward. We will see that clearly, when we see the hostages.
In that sense, Hamas certainly did win the war, whatever happens going forward. We will see that clearly, when we see the hostages.
Reposted by Aaron Gross
i hate these tech freaks so much. shut up about politics and go make me a little computer.
January 11, 2025 at 5:52 PM
i hate these tech freaks so much. shut up about politics and go make me a little computer.
Movies where someone bought an expensive piece of jewelry or watch for their spouse/partner & another identical one for their lover, with engraving (on the watch), and this was an important plot point?
• Heaven Can Wait (1943)
• Johnny O’Clock (1947)
• The Edge (1997)
Are there more I missed?
• Heaven Can Wait (1943)
• Johnny O’Clock (1947)
• The Edge (1997)
Are there more I missed?
January 11, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Movies where someone bought an expensive piece of jewelry or watch for their spouse/partner & another identical one for their lover, with engraving (on the watch), and this was an important plot point?
• Heaven Can Wait (1943)
• Johnny O’Clock (1947)
• The Edge (1997)
Are there more I missed?
• Heaven Can Wait (1943)
• Johnny O’Clock (1947)
• The Edge (1997)
Are there more I missed?
More about overrated classics: the Ernst Lubitsch classic films I’ve seen are overrated, except for “Heaven Can Wait” which was really good.
Lubitsch is called “sophisticated”, which means adultery. But now when adultery is no longer risque, “sophistication” doesn’t help. What’s left ain’t funny.
Lubitsch is called “sophisticated”, which means adultery. But now when adultery is no longer risque, “sophistication” doesn’t help. What’s left ain’t funny.
January 9, 2025 at 8:05 AM
More about overrated classics: the Ernst Lubitsch classic films I’ve seen are overrated, except for “Heaven Can Wait” which was really good.
Lubitsch is called “sophisticated”, which means adultery. But now when adultery is no longer risque, “sophistication” doesn’t help. What’s left ain’t funny.
Lubitsch is called “sophisticated”, which means adultery. But now when adultery is no longer risque, “sophistication” doesn’t help. What’s left ain’t funny.
I finally watched “Detour” (1945), and I think it’s overrated today. Yes, it’s a decent noir B movie, but it’s nowhere near the great noir films.
January 9, 2025 at 7:57 AM
I finally watched “Detour” (1945), and I think it’s overrated today. Yes, it’s a decent noir B movie, but it’s nowhere near the great noir films.
Reposted by Aaron Gross
Belal in Gaza is unhappy with the consistency of the free UN hummus.
"It tastes like hummus and smells lile hummus, but it isn't hummus!" He complains. "Have mercy on us! Enough sending us cans like this!"
TikTok timestamp: 18 hours ago
#TheGazaYouDontSee
vt.tiktok.com/ZS6PHKrVS/
"It tastes like hummus and smells lile hummus, but it isn't hummus!" He complains. "Have mercy on us! Enough sending us cans like this!"
TikTok timestamp: 18 hours ago
#TheGazaYouDontSee
vt.tiktok.com/ZS6PHKrVS/
January 6, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Belal in Gaza is unhappy with the consistency of the free UN hummus.
"It tastes like hummus and smells lile hummus, but it isn't hummus!" He complains. "Have mercy on us! Enough sending us cans like this!"
TikTok timestamp: 18 hours ago
#TheGazaYouDontSee
vt.tiktok.com/ZS6PHKrVS/
"It tastes like hummus and smells lile hummus, but it isn't hummus!" He complains. "Have mercy on us! Enough sending us cans like this!"
TikTok timestamp: 18 hours ago
#TheGazaYouDontSee
vt.tiktok.com/ZS6PHKrVS/
Reposted by Aaron Gross
A friend unearthed this from the archives ... a piece I wrote in 2011 predicting the presidency of Donald Trump five years before it happened. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Why Main Street takes Donald Trump seriously | David Frum
David Frum: Donald Trump is a serious contender in the 2012 race because key Republican voters feel they can connect with him
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A friend unearthed this from the archives ... a piece I wrote in 2011 predicting the presidency of Donald Trump five years before it happened. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
So I read this new book by Eric Turkheimer, “Understanding the Nature–Nurture Debate”, and it’s really good.
There are a few things that didn’t help the book, and there were a couple minor cases where I found his “gloomy prospect” argument unpersuasive. But overall, well-presented and convincing.
There are a few things that didn’t help the book, and there were a couple minor cases where I found his “gloomy prospect” argument unpersuasive. But overall, well-presented and convincing.
January 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM
So I read this new book by Eric Turkheimer, “Understanding the Nature–Nurture Debate”, and it’s really good.
There are a few things that didn’t help the book, and there were a couple minor cases where I found his “gloomy prospect” argument unpersuasive. But overall, well-presented and convincing.
There are a few things that didn’t help the book, and there were a couple minor cases where I found his “gloomy prospect” argument unpersuasive. But overall, well-presented and convincing.
Currently learning: the Christmas carol “Villancico de Navidad” by Barrios. Here it is performed by Anabel Montesinos.
I started learning this literally on Christmas Day, so a little late, but whatever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tr...
I started learning this literally on Christmas Day, so a little late, but whatever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tr...
A. Barrios | Villancico de Navidad | Anabel Montesinos
YouTube video by GuitarCoop
www.youtube.com
December 26, 2024 at 8:44 AM
Currently learning: the Christmas carol “Villancico de Navidad” by Barrios. Here it is performed by Anabel Montesinos.
I started learning this literally on Christmas Day, so a little late, but whatever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tr...
I started learning this literally on Christmas Day, so a little late, but whatever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5tr...
Reposted by Aaron Gross
Burned, beaten, starved: Health Ministry compiles hostage testimonies to submit to UN
Burned, beaten, starved: Health Ministry compiles hostage testimonies to submit to UN
Final report to be presented to UN committee that deals with torture; health minister says it should be a 'wake-up call' to pressure Hamas into releasing remaining captives
The post Burned, beaten, starved: Health Ministry compiles hostage testimonies…
www.timesofisrael.com
December 26, 2024 at 8:23 AM
Burned, beaten, starved: Health Ministry compiles hostage testimonies to submit to UN
Reposted by Aaron Gross
With both the "Aryan Jesus" of the 1930s and the "Palestinian Jesus" of the 2020s, those who seek to expunge Jews from the past do so to justify eliminating Jews in the present. press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
December 25, 2024 at 1:07 PM
With both the "Aryan Jesus" of the 1930s and the "Palestinian Jesus" of the 2020s, those who seek to expunge Jews from the past do so to justify eliminating Jews in the present. press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
That quote is kind of a mess.
1. “Race is a political category” is a highly contested claim among of philsophers of race (almost all of whom are anti-racist).
2. Of course no grouping—race, population, species—“produces” any difference at all because of genetic differences. Sloppy thinking.
3…
1. “Race is a political category” is a highly contested claim among of philsophers of race (almost all of whom are anti-racist).
2. Of course no grouping—race, population, species—“produces” any difference at all because of genetic differences. Sloppy thinking.
3…
December 25, 2024 at 3:17 PM
That quote is kind of a mess.
1. “Race is a political category” is a highly contested claim among of philsophers of race (almost all of whom are anti-racist).
2. Of course no grouping—race, population, species—“produces” any difference at all because of genetic differences. Sloppy thinking.
3…
1. “Race is a political category” is a highly contested claim among of philsophers of race (almost all of whom are anti-racist).
2. Of course no grouping—race, population, species—“produces” any difference at all because of genetic differences. Sloppy thinking.
3…
For context: from what I’ve read these are incidents which occurred over thirty years ago. They were investigated; soldiers and commanders were tried, convicted, and punished; units were restructured to deal with the systemic corruption.
I’m not an authority on this. But people should print context
I’m not an authority on this. But people should print context
This Haaretz piece of IDF soldiers’ confessions of human rights violations absolutely wrecked me
www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024...
www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024...
December 24, 2024 at 7:59 AM
For context: from what I’ve read these are incidents which occurred over thirty years ago. They were investigated; soldiers and commanders were tried, convicted, and punished; units were restructured to deal with the systemic corruption.
I’m not an authority on this. But people should print context
I’m not an authority on this. But people should print context
OK but it really sticks the knife in with that last line
True luxury is found in the simplest moments.
December 19, 2024 at 5:06 PM
OK but it really sticks the knife in with that last line