Chapter
The History of BMI and IQ Tests
02:25 - 09:03 (06:38)
Understanding the history behind the creation of the BMI and IQ tests reveals a flawed perspective towards race and genetics by those who didn't think they were being discriminatory. These scientific measures highlight the human desire to rank and prove genetic superiority, even if those biases were not obvious to the creators at the time.
Clips
The history of the BMI and IQ tests shows that people have used them as a way to prove genetic superiority.
02:25 - 04:25 (01:59)
Summary
The history of the BMI and IQ tests shows that people have used them as a way to prove genetic superiority. Any attempt to simplify complex phenomena like health or intelligence into one number is bound to fail.
ChapterThe History of BMI and IQ Tests
EpisodeThe Body Mass Index
PodcastMaintenance Phase
The speaker discusses an article he wrote about the history of the BMI system and how he came up with an objective system where everyone named Mike is considered cool.
04:25 - 04:45 (00:19)
Summary
The speaker discusses an article he wrote about the history of the BMI system and how he came up with an objective system where everyone named Mike is considered cool.
ChapterThe History of BMI and IQ Tests
EpisodeThe Body Mass Index
PodcastMaintenance Phase
The history of race science is full of people who didn't think they were doing anything discriminatory but ended up creating one of the worst and most pervasive pieces of science.
04:45 - 06:25 (01:40)
Summary
The history of race science is full of people who didn't think they were doing anything discriminatory but ended up creating one of the worst and most pervasive pieces of science. It's important to understand the nuances of how it happened to prevent it from happening in the future.
ChapterThe History of BMI and IQ Tests
EpisodeThe Body Mass Index
PodcastMaintenance Phase
This podcast episode talks about a bureaucrat named Adolphe Quetelet who analyzed data sets about people and looked for social laws that mimicked the laws of physics.
06:25 - 09:03 (02:38)
Summary
This podcast episode talks about a bureaucrat named Adolphe Quetelet who analyzed data sets about people and looked for social laws that mimicked the laws of physics. He aimed to measure acts of courage and heroism while working during the time of the Belgian Revolution.