Genius is a question of personality as well as intellect. Edward Dutton has written extensively on the subject. See my review of At Our Wits End. Anyhow, irascible sorts such as Isaac Newton and the Bernoullis emerge in the West. Also, though average IQ is lower here, the standard deviation is greater, meaning more people at the extremes. It's complex.
Also, intelligence evolves very quickly. Same book. We are significantly smarter than we were a millennium ago. Other societies dumber. Cousin marriage and all.
The biggest error in RFK Jr's book "The real Anthony Fauci" is the chapter on AIDS being a "lifestyle" disease. He buys the Peter Duesberg baloney hook line and sinker. But I cut my teeth fighting Fauci in the AIDS epidemic 40 years ago! There is a simple proof that AIDS is NOT a lifestyle disease but some sort of infectious disease. The proof is to look at what happened to hemophiliacs during the first few years of HIV/AIDS. Because they (overwhelmingly male because it is a genetic disorder) essentially all died from exposure to transfused blood, and because gay men were very socially charitable, they donated HIV-infected blood in very high volumes. The idiots running the blood banks in those days (1982-84) before HIV testing was used to screen donated blood pooled all the collected blood into large tranches, thus guaranteeing that EVERYONE transfused would get the equivalent of HIV to that of an IV drug user sharing needles. The result was that an entire generation of hemophiliacs was wiped out before 1986 when HIV screening of donated blood became standard. This fact pattern cannot be explained by "lifestyle". At the time of Duesberg's 15 minutes of fame I challenged him to self-inject infected blood if he was so sure of his interpretation of the evidence. He never did. QED.
It feels like average, normal people in the world have no representation right now. It’s all about the criminals and the so-called “elite” (an intellectual misnomer if ever there was one).
I believe that it has always been that way. The whole purpose of government is to steal from the peasants. Why do Kings want to be King, because they are worshipped and the story that they tell is that they were appointed by God. And those who keep the King in power are there to benefit themselves. When there is an election, the only true choice is which one do you want to put their hands in your pocket.
I would take exception to your comment that the government being too inept to intrude on your life. In some ways, we benefit from the incompetence of the government, in other ways, we suffer from their ineptitude. For example, Ukraine mandates all 46 vaccines that are on the market, and I suspect it is because some oligarch gets paid for those injections. On the other hand, the government is not strong enough to force people to take the jabs. The government follows the lead of other governments, primarily I believe because the people in power enjoy the power but not the responsibility, and thus don't want to bother with thinking about policies that might or might no intrude on our lives.
It is the same with corruption. In general, I felt free of the corruption in Ukraine, but Akhmetov owns the electric company and so the service was never stellar and the prices too high. I never personally paid a bribe, but I have my daughter's mother money to pay the head of the local kindergarten a bribe to enroll my daughter. The paperwork never seemed to be satisfied until 500 hrivna appeared on the table.
In another instance, a good friend built a house near the Kyiv Sea. He was careful to make sure that he followed the rules, but when the government bureaucrat came to approve the dwelling, she said it was too close to the water. My friend's wife assured her that they had measured it and were certain that it was legal. No, the lady assured her, it was not. They had to pay the bribe.
Once, in Russia, I was riding in a car with my Russian girlfriend, her mother, and her aunt, her mother's sister. Well, she got stopped by a young local cop. He took her license and wouldn't give it back. They were across the street from us and we could see what was going on, but we could not hear. The essence of the discussion was that he would give my girlfriend back her driver's license only if she had sex with him. If I went across the street and made a fuss it would only be worse. Finally, her mother went over and started yelling at the cop and he relented and gave back the license.
She got stopped another time with me as a passenger. She got out and went to meet the young cop and came right back. He had gone to high school with my girlfriend, recognized her, and let her go.
Corruption is ever present in Ukraine, and sometimes it has a direct impact on us, and other times we don't see the impact on us.
I know all about the mordida, because my parents retired there long ago. I don't much care for Mexico and I've been there several times working on my dad's house.
Japanese editorials rarely mention IQ, but when I look at English editorials, I feel that IQ is often mentioned.
When I became an adult, I read a little bit about what the IQ test I took as a child was all about. The basis, according to the psychologist who authored the book, was to provide a suitable education for below-average children. If you think about it, there's no way to find out how smart you are by searching for upside down figures or doing simple calculations. No one I knew who went to psychology school was considered smart.
If Einstein created a question, I would agree, but if I took his test, I would have scored out of 100 and had an IQ of 0. Maybe I'm being too modest, let's just assume that I got IQ = 1.
It is as close to a standard as you get. Quick and easy to administer, and quite predictive of job performance.
The downside appears to be that you improve with practice. Just figuring out what the test is about, and learning that answering every question is worth more than trying to get the ones you do answer right. The 12 minute time limit is very real.
I often ponder thing like innovation which is somewhat connected to IQ. So very odd that culture interrelates in that China/Japan maybe Korea have less innovation now than perhaps many years ago. They are excellent copiers and can organize perhaps better than others. Then the middle east which was once the center of science and math but after Islam, no more.
I found the community issues quite interesting and that it does seem a group of about 40 makes for a "tight" community with each helping others. Larger and larger communities fray. But in socialist communities, once contributors observe those not contributing, the community collapses. Obviously in larger communities, we can ignore non-contributors but there remains a sense of injustice within almost everyone. As we see flight in the US from big cities with Chicago now looking like Detroit, people leaving but critically large businesses leaving which fund the operations. But it's becoming obvious in the US that the urban vs rural divide is creating great friction that politicians need to manage better.
Does the smaller tank hold 54 tons as oppsed to the larger tank holding 66 tons? And 'impeccable' is not related to 'infallible'. They have quite different meanings.
Genius is a question of personality as well as intellect. Edward Dutton has written extensively on the subject. See my review of At Our Wits End. Anyhow, irascible sorts such as Isaac Newton and the Bernoullis emerge in the West. Also, though average IQ is lower here, the standard deviation is greater, meaning more people at the extremes. It's complex.
Also, intelligence evolves very quickly. Same book. We are significantly smarter than we were a millennium ago. Other societies dumber. Cousin marriage and all.
The biggest error in RFK Jr's book "The real Anthony Fauci" is the chapter on AIDS being a "lifestyle" disease. He buys the Peter Duesberg baloney hook line and sinker. But I cut my teeth fighting Fauci in the AIDS epidemic 40 years ago! There is a simple proof that AIDS is NOT a lifestyle disease but some sort of infectious disease. The proof is to look at what happened to hemophiliacs during the first few years of HIV/AIDS. Because they (overwhelmingly male because it is a genetic disorder) essentially all died from exposure to transfused blood, and because gay men were very socially charitable, they donated HIV-infected blood in very high volumes. The idiots running the blood banks in those days (1982-84) before HIV testing was used to screen donated blood pooled all the collected blood into large tranches, thus guaranteeing that EVERYONE transfused would get the equivalent of HIV to that of an IV drug user sharing needles. The result was that an entire generation of hemophiliacs was wiped out before 1986 when HIV screening of donated blood became standard. This fact pattern cannot be explained by "lifestyle". At the time of Duesberg's 15 minutes of fame I challenged him to self-inject infected blood if he was so sure of his interpretation of the evidence. He never did. QED.
Good point. If it was indeed HIV killing the hemophiliacs, that is a strong argument against Duesberg.
The Ukrainian people are not the same as their corrupt government.
The Russian people are not the same as their corrupt government.
The American people are not the same as their corrupt government.
We the People are innocent victims in a deadly game being played by evil people.
That pretty much sums up my opinion of things.
Yes, this is absolutely correct. I love Ukraine and I love the people. Maybe not every one, but the majority.
It feels like average, normal people in the world have no representation right now. It’s all about the criminals and the so-called “elite” (an intellectual misnomer if ever there was one).
I believe that it has always been that way. The whole purpose of government is to steal from the peasants. Why do Kings want to be King, because they are worshipped and the story that they tell is that they were appointed by God. And those who keep the King in power are there to benefit themselves. When there is an election, the only true choice is which one do you want to put their hands in your pocket.
I would take exception to your comment that the government being too inept to intrude on your life. In some ways, we benefit from the incompetence of the government, in other ways, we suffer from their ineptitude. For example, Ukraine mandates all 46 vaccines that are on the market, and I suspect it is because some oligarch gets paid for those injections. On the other hand, the government is not strong enough to force people to take the jabs. The government follows the lead of other governments, primarily I believe because the people in power enjoy the power but not the responsibility, and thus don't want to bother with thinking about policies that might or might no intrude on our lives.
It is the same with corruption. In general, I felt free of the corruption in Ukraine, but Akhmetov owns the electric company and so the service was never stellar and the prices too high. I never personally paid a bribe, but I have my daughter's mother money to pay the head of the local kindergarten a bribe to enroll my daughter. The paperwork never seemed to be satisfied until 500 hrivna appeared on the table.
In another instance, a good friend built a house near the Kyiv Sea. He was careful to make sure that he followed the rules, but when the government bureaucrat came to approve the dwelling, she said it was too close to the water. My friend's wife assured her that they had measured it and were certain that it was legal. No, the lady assured her, it was not. They had to pay the bribe.
Once, in Russia, I was riding in a car with my Russian girlfriend, her mother, and her aunt, her mother's sister. Well, she got stopped by a young local cop. He took her license and wouldn't give it back. They were across the street from us and we could see what was going on, but we could not hear. The essence of the discussion was that he would give my girlfriend back her driver's license only if she had sex with him. If I went across the street and made a fuss it would only be worse. Finally, her mother went over and started yelling at the cop and he relented and gave back the license.
She got stopped another time with me as a passenger. She got out and went to meet the young cop and came right back. He had gone to high school with my girlfriend, recognized her, and let her go.
Corruption is ever present in Ukraine, and sometimes it has a direct impact on us, and other times we don't see the impact on us.
Try Mexico next.
I know all about the mordida, because my parents retired there long ago. I don't much care for Mexico and I've been there several times working on my dad's house.
Japanese editorials rarely mention IQ, but when I look at English editorials, I feel that IQ is often mentioned.
When I became an adult, I read a little bit about what the IQ test I took as a child was all about. The basis, according to the psychologist who authored the book, was to provide a suitable education for below-average children. If you think about it, there's no way to find out how smart you are by searching for upside down figures or doing simple calculations. No one I knew who went to psychology school was considered smart.
If Einstein created a question, I would agree, but if I took his test, I would have scored out of 100 and had an IQ of 0. Maybe I'm being too modest, let's just assume that I got IQ = 1.
It seems that life is not just about IQ.
Good luck in the cold, Graham.
From a man with IQ = 1.
Just the trigger I needed. More to write on the subject today. Thanks.
It is as close to a standard as you get. Quick and easy to administer, and quite predictive of job performance.
The downside appears to be that you improve with practice. Just figuring out what the test is about, and learning that answering every question is worth more than trying to get the ones you do answer right. The 12 minute time limit is very real.
I often ponder thing like innovation which is somewhat connected to IQ. So very odd that culture interrelates in that China/Japan maybe Korea have less innovation now than perhaps many years ago. They are excellent copiers and can organize perhaps better than others. Then the middle east which was once the center of science and math but after Islam, no more.
I found the community issues quite interesting and that it does seem a group of about 40 makes for a "tight" community with each helping others. Larger and larger communities fray. But in socialist communities, once contributors observe those not contributing, the community collapses. Obviously in larger communities, we can ignore non-contributors but there remains a sense of injustice within almost everyone. As we see flight in the US from big cities with Chicago now looking like Detroit, people leaving but critically large businesses leaving which fund the operations. But it's becoming obvious in the US that the urban vs rural divide is creating great friction that politicians need to manage better.
Does the smaller tank hold 54 tons as oppsed to the larger tank holding 66 tons? And 'impeccable' is not related to 'infallible'. They have quite different meanings.
54 and 66, yes, and I agree that Wonderlic is wrong on this. Thanks.
Wonderlic is the IQ test for Pro football players.
https://peggyhall.substack.com/p/success-california-couple-receives