{"id":6316,"date":"2016-06-29T05:21:41","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T05:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/06\/29\/on-over-represent-2\/"},"modified":"2016-06-29T05:21:41","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T05:21:41","slug":"on-over-represent-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2016\/06\/29\/on-over-represent-2\/","title":{"rendered":"On ‘Over-Represent’"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you fancy yourself clear-thinking, then you  ought to be very careful with the word 'over-represent' and its opposite.  They are ambiguous as between normative and non-normative readings.   <\/span>It is just a fact that there are proportionately more Asians than blacks in the elite high schools of New York City.  But it doesn't follow that this state of affairs is one that ought not be, or that it would be better if there were proportional representation.  So don't say that the Asians are 'over-represented.'  For then you are trading in confusion.  You are blurring the distinction between the statement of a fact and the expression of a value judgment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consider the sports analogy.  Asians are 'under-represented' on basketball teams.  That is a fact.  But it doesn't follow that this state of affairs is one that ought not be, or that it would be better if there were proportional representation.  Enforced proportional representation would adversely affect the quality of basketball games. Women are over-represented among massage therapists.  Is that bad?  Of course not.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Since we are now back to the delightful and heart-warming topic of race\/ ethnicity\/ gender, let's talk about Jews!  They are 'over-represented' in the chess world<\/a> so much so that there is much truth to the old joke that chess is Jewish athletics.  Should the government do something about this 'problem'?  (This is what is called a rhetorical question.)<\/span><\/p>\n

I once told my Jewish and Israeli friend Peter that I had never met a stupid Jew.  He shot back, "Then you've never lived in Israel."  The very alacrity of his comeback, however, proved (or at least provided further evidence for) my point.<\/span><\/p>\n

I have noticed, however, that Jews get nervous when you point out that, as a group, they are more intelligent than some other groups I won't mention.  I finally figured out what makes them nervous.  Jews are a small minority who have been hounded and persecuted and slaughtered through the centuries. They don't like to 'stick out.'  They prefer to 'lay low.'  Can you blame them?  That is at least part of the explanation as to why they don't want attention drawn to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the interests of full disclosure, I should point out that I am not now, and never have been, either an Asian or a Jew or an Israeli. And the chances of becoming one of these is either zero, or near zero.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am a chess player, however, a patzer<\/em>\/potzer<\/em> to employ a choice word of Yiddish, presumably from the German patzen<\/em>, to make a mess, or do something incompetently.   But be careful!  Should  our paths cross  in some coffee house, chances are good that I will clean your clock!  <\/span><\/p>\n

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If you fancy yourself clear-thinking, then you  ought to be very careful with the word 'over-represent' and its opposite.  They are ambiguous as between normative and non-normative readings.   It is just a fact that there are proportionately more Asians than blacks in the elite high schools of New York City.  But it doesn't follow that … Continue reading “On ‘Over-Represent’”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169,6,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chess","category-language-matters","category-race"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}