Well mathematics isn’t facing a crisis of confidence the way that the humanities are so . . . some of these conversations are more necessary than others.
I always assumed mathematical phenomena were discovered (such as the sequence defined as Finonacci appears routinely in nature, correct?). However, I also thought that the concept of Math is like a language for explaining that phenomena. In the end, Math is Math. At least as long as everyone agrees that 2+2 = 4 (and yes I know the joke about the mathematician, the engineer and the accountant).
I wish you were joking but I know by now that you probably aren’t. According to Murray’s methodology, that’s where black intellectuals, artists, music etc from his “Western World” should show up, and a few (very few) do. As for the black intellectuals and and artists outside Murray’s Western World? They don’t count at all. Because they don’t get written up in his encyclopedias.
None. It is irredeemable garbage, hopelessly flawed in methodology and purpose, prejudice masquerading as objectivity, full of silly assumptions and closed loop logic. It’s value, if it has any, is as a cautionary tale demonstrating how easy it is to manipulate supposed “objective” methodology to come up with the exact results we want to find.
In Murray’s case, the whole tedious exercise seems aimed at reinforcing the same things he is always arguing: The West is the best; with a few exceptions, black people and women haven’t really contributed much terms of “human accomplishment;” and while he is sometimes (but not always) smart enough to not say it out-loud, he thinks it’s pretty likely that genetics plays prominent a role in this.