orichá wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:43 pm
This book is absolutely mind-blowing...

The Mismeasure of Man
... by Stephen Jay Gould...

I'm sorry but The Mismeasure of Man is an outdated, widely criticised work of historical straw manning & misrepresentation. Most of the studies he references are from the 1950's and even then he does not honesty represent the methods & conclusions drawn by the original authors. His refutation of The Bell Curve is a case in point, dishonestly misrepresenting Murray & Herrnstein's conclusions for his own notoriety.

A lot has happened since the 90's, let alone the 50's.

Robert Plomin's, 'Blueprint: How DNA makes us who we are', summarises recent developments well (that's not to say that GWAS & polygenic scores are without controversy).

The problem with this area is that no one knows what to do with evidence that genetics plays a strong part in determining individual outcomes (to say nothing of groups), it doesn't fit societies model of egalitarianism, where every child is able to become a rocket scientist or Nobel laureate. It's important though that despite the awkwardness of these discussions and uncomfortable conclusions, scientific progress is not sacrificed on the alter of social justice and identity politics. We have to find a way to accept the facts (whatever they may be) and still treat everyone with the dignity & respect they deserve.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/ ... 1982147990

Not finished yet but a fascinating look at the historical interpretation of The Book of Revelation and how it has affected global events, as well as the contents of the actual scripture, how it was fairly controversially included in the Bible and it's objectively non-nonsensical narrative. Poorly written knock off of The Book of Daniel might be one conclusion to draw. Just don't tell the evangelists.

The author is also interesting, Bart Ehrman was born into in a moderately Christian household, was 'born again' as a teenager and became an ardent evangelist, attending the Moody Bible Institute. He later moderated his views to a belief in liberal Christianity, before eventually deciding it was all bullshit and becoming an atheist in mid-life. Quite a journey.

down_time wrote: ↑Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:59 pm

orichá wrote: ↑Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:43 pm
This book is absolutely mind-blowing...

The Mismeasure of Man
... by Stephen Jay Gould...

I'm sorry but The Mismeasure of Man is an outdated, widely criticised work of historical straw manning & misrepresentation. Most of the studies he references are from the 1950's and even then he does not honesty represent the methods & conclusions drawn by the original authors. His refutation of The Bell Curve is a case in point, dishonestly misrepresenting Murray & Herrnstein's conclusions for his own notoriety.

A lot has happened since the 90's, let alone the 50's.

Robert Plomin's, 'Blueprint: How DNA makes us who we are', summarises recent developments well (that's not to say that GWAS & polygenic scores are without controversy).

The problem with this area is that no one knows what to do with evidence that genetics plays a strong part in determining individual outcomes (to say nothing of groups), it doesn't fit societies model of egalitarianism, where every child is able to become a rocket scientist or Nobel laureate. It's important though that despite the awkwardness of these discussions and uncomfortable conclusions, scientific progress is not sacrificed on the alter of social justice and identity politics. We have to find a way to accept the facts (whatever they may be) and still treat everyone with the dignity & respect they deserve.

No, you are completely wrong. Gould had a very good understanding of reality. You don't understand "genetics" ...you are merely susceptible to believe in the fantasy myth of IQ promulgated by Western prejudice to rationalize a particular interpretation of social reality that fails to take into account the plain and obvious differences between deeply embedded socio-cultural and linguistic forces that limit the application of IQ testing.

IQ testing is subjective to a degree that renders comparisons between people useless. If you actually took the time to read this book, you would see that he explores the very long history of prejudiced and racialized interpretation of intelligence long before IQ tests were invented when "scientists" compared the size and shape of different human skulls as evidence of varied intelligence.

Since Gould wrote this excellent book, there has been almost nobody trying to advance any argument, much less "research" to validate the authenticity of IQ testing.

Simply put, there are different kinds of intelligence. IQ testing does not work as an effective measure to compare them. On the contrary, IQ testing favours people with STEM talent (like engineers and mathematicians) and cannot measure people who have abstract, artistic and synthetic abilities, (like painters and poets).

Anyway, I am now reading this book. Very interesting... about how you aren't really making the choices you thought you were. (How studios "over-study" audience tastes, which leads to the fakey planned design of movie plots, etc, and makes it nearly impossible that any great movies can ever get made ever again.) But you guys don't know about that. You can go on listening to the awful Eagles and repulsive Freddy Mercury down at the tedious bar...

Anyway, I never subscribed to Netflix. I just use PB...

Oh joy - 2 books this week from two of my favourite authors, Robert Goddard and Mick Herron. Downloaded both and reading them now. Also downloaded The Chase by Ava Glass, who the Guardian compared to Le Carre. Total crap, reads like it was written by an AI text generator. Le Carre indeeed - Enid Blyton could do better.

Wow, this is the weirdest book I've encountered in a long time. It somehow reminds me of how much I miss soaping up a female in the shower... it's so long ago, I can't recall how it feels...

Huang Di Nei Jing ... written by China's first Emperor ... prolly the best medical journal even ... big book, long book ... but damn good ... ancient wisdom of one of China's great men ... translated in nearly every language ...

First post as a newbee in CEO.

Currently reading "The Spoilers" by Rex Beach, a 1906 novel about gold mining and greed in the prospecting town of Nome in the Alaska colony during the late 1800s/early 1900s.