I'm only 19% thru "The Mismeasure of Man" (lots of stuff on my plate) but something that leaps off the page is how presumably intelligent people can unconsciously err in ways that confirm their existing notions. Not purposeful fraud, but blindness to their own data selections and ignoring things that would be obvious to a child once ment…
I'm only 19% thru "The Mismeasure of Man" (lots of stuff on my plate) but something that leaps off the page is how presumably intelligent people can unconsciously err in ways that confirm their existing notions. Not purposeful fraud, but blindness to their own data selections and ignoring things that would be obvious to a child once mentioned. Astounding. Something to examine in myself. I'm really glad that you mentioned this book.
The critique of "The Bell Curve" is an addition at the end. I look forward to something other than a knee-jerk "He's a racist" when I get there. As well written and comprehensible as that book was, my largest doubt was that something as complex as the diversity of human aptitudes can be crunched into a single number for ranking without bias, even if you honestly try. When you have an IQ well above average it is enticing to believe that it is more important than it is. "I'm smart" confirmation.
I wrote about something like this a few weeks ago; when one grows up a lot smarter and more knowledgable then everyone else one gets used to being right, and others wrong, almost all the time. My humbling has been gradual but even now I bristle when challenged, Just today I was telling some vegan that cats will go blind on a diet of vegetable protein he came back with "you're wrong," nothing more, I told him to google taurine and later he conceded. But that bland denial ticked me off.
It is amazing that so many people don't know what herbivore, omnivore and obligate carnivore mean. How can any cat owner not know that cats are obligate carnivores?
Years ago, I worked with a bunch of pranksters - serious pranks that would get you fired today. One of my over-the-top pranks got me paid back with my motorcycle on the roof. That was a good one. Nobody helped me get it down, I deserved that.
We had a guy with a MENSA coffee cup, proud of his IQ. Someone stuck a hose up his tailpipe and funneled a quart of motor oil into his muffler. When he left at the end of the day, he got about a quarter mile, and it looked like he was spraying for bugs. He pulled over and raised the hood. Engine running smoothly and no oil leaks in the engine compartment. The perpetrator followed him to make sure he didn't go to an auto repair shop and get ripped off. The next day was without mercy. "What was up with your car yesterday, GENIUS?" Anyone there other than Mr. MENSA would have said, "Which one of you assholes..." He never figured it out. IQ isn't everything. A really good prank, I wasn't the prankster.
"How can any cat owner not know that cats are obligate carnivores?"
Dogs are omnivorous but of course they can live on meat; most cats never eat anything else and their food is so loaded with protein that it will shorten a dog's life, to say nothing of ours. Cats make their own vitamin C, for example.
A few months ago I gave my torties a can of tuna. The next time I opened a can they came running over; they had only heard the opening sound once and that was several seconds before they had their first tuna. They remembered.
I'm only 19% thru "The Mismeasure of Man" (lots of stuff on my plate) but something that leaps off the page is how presumably intelligent people can unconsciously err in ways that confirm their existing notions. Not purposeful fraud, but blindness to their own data selections and ignoring things that would be obvious to a child once mentioned. Astounding. Something to examine in myself. I'm really glad that you mentioned this book.
The critique of "The Bell Curve" is an addition at the end. I look forward to something other than a knee-jerk "He's a racist" when I get there. As well written and comprehensible as that book was, my largest doubt was that something as complex as the diversity of human aptitudes can be crunched into a single number for ranking without bias, even if you honestly try. When you have an IQ well above average it is enticing to believe that it is more important than it is. "I'm smart" confirmation.
I wrote about something like this a few weeks ago; when one grows up a lot smarter and more knowledgable then everyone else one gets used to being right, and others wrong, almost all the time. My humbling has been gradual but even now I bristle when challenged, Just today I was telling some vegan that cats will go blind on a diet of vegetable protein he came back with "you're wrong," nothing more, I told him to google taurine and later he conceded. But that bland denial ticked me off.
It is amazing that so many people don't know what herbivore, omnivore and obligate carnivore mean. How can any cat owner not know that cats are obligate carnivores?
Years ago, I worked with a bunch of pranksters - serious pranks that would get you fired today. One of my over-the-top pranks got me paid back with my motorcycle on the roof. That was a good one. Nobody helped me get it down, I deserved that.
We had a guy with a MENSA coffee cup, proud of his IQ. Someone stuck a hose up his tailpipe and funneled a quart of motor oil into his muffler. When he left at the end of the day, he got about a quarter mile, and it looked like he was spraying for bugs. He pulled over and raised the hood. Engine running smoothly and no oil leaks in the engine compartment. The perpetrator followed him to make sure he didn't go to an auto repair shop and get ripped off. The next day was without mercy. "What was up with your car yesterday, GENIUS?" Anyone there other than Mr. MENSA would have said, "Which one of you assholes..." He never figured it out. IQ isn't everything. A really good prank, I wasn't the prankster.
"How can any cat owner not know that cats are obligate carnivores?"
Dogs are omnivorous but of course they can live on meat; most cats never eat anything else and their food is so loaded with protein that it will shorten a dog's life, to say nothing of ours. Cats make their own vitamin C, for example.
A few months ago I gave my torties a can of tuna. The next time I opened a can they came running over; they had only heard the opening sound once and that was several seconds before they had their first tuna. They remembered.