Capitalism threatens to throw us back to the Dark Ages

I see...you believe that "phrenology" is a valid "science?"

 

Your imaginary science seems to think it is all nature with no nurture. Be interesting to know how you think orientals in America outperform whites on average. .

 

probably not. There of course are lots of advantages of growing up wealthy or middle class that money just can’t erase by the time one reaches the age to go to public schools. But it would reduce the difference. Go to an inner city public school and see just how badly they are funded.

 

Because they are naturally more intelligent... Duh.

But it might be worth noting that they Asian immigrants who come here are typically the cream of that crop. Similar to the African immigrants who come here.

 

It is not a hard science like say physics, but it is not totally unfounded.

 

Sorry...it is. It's called a "pseudo-science." You know...sort of like "fake news."

 

We already have a considerable amount of poverty. The homeless are but one part of it.

 

"Phrenology"?????

I don't know of any serious researcher in this field who believes that it is "all nature and no nurture". People who understand that "nature" (ie. genes) also plays a role in addition to "nurture" have to be careful about how they express that, given the power of the Leftist Thought Police in the Academy, but it's not hard to
see that most researchers in the field believe that both play a role.

However, it's now practically impossible to have a rational discussion about the issue.

And ... it's actually really a moot point. Let's assume that inheritable genetic IQ is significant -- I'll leave it vague. The question is, can we improve the educational outcomes for someone who has been unfortunate in his or her genetic inheritance? Or does it make any difference what kind of school they go to?

Almost everyone I have read says, Yes, whatever about the IQ/genetics role, we CAN do better.

Here's my two cents' worth: the REAL problem in ghetto schools, and other poorly-performing schools, is disruptive students. Get rid of them, institute a Michaela-style regime, and results would improve dramatically.

 

Homelessness is not a function of poverty. If it was, it would exist in the same way in the poorest countries, and it does not. It only exists the way we know it, in the richest countries.

Hard to fathom that some folk still can't grasp this.

 

Yet the poor still starve, while lazy fat First Worlders are fed.

 

No, they are not. IQ is 'formed' via firming of synaptic pathways in early childhood, and the firming of synaptic pathways is a result of primary carer engagement. Literally. Direct engagement and stimulation from a specific primary carer is what triggers the firing of those pathways. Primary carers who do not engage with the infant/child in a focused 'eye to eye' manner, at very regular intervals, slow down this process. It's the reason breastfeeding contributes to IQ - breastfeeders are known to engage with the infant with more focused eye to eye engagement, than bottle feeders. There are multiple reasons for this, but one of these is the simple fact that a breastfeeding mother is truly the primary carer, while a bottle fed child can be cared for by multiple people - again slowing down the process.

Building upon that is continued highly focused engagement up until school age (and beyond, but it's more telling earlier). Constant verbal engagement, lots of eye contact, lots of focus. You can always spot the process, when out and about in public. Those little kids who ask questions, and have their questions answered fully and thoughtfully. The parent who constantly explains everything to their child, and responds to every enquiry. The building blocks of intelligence.

 

This is a shock to a fundamentally sound economy. Once the virus is under control the economy will come roaring back.

 

I just laugh at these folks - damn poor - why do we have to feed the poor - lazy bastards - let them eat cake.

Sure - lets just let them starve - nothing like a person who will do anything for food - never mind a whole segment of the population - that's good for controlling crime and corona.

 

I have no clue what any of this is supposed to mean, sorry.

 

Why can't the third world figure it out?

 

Utter nonsense. Intelligence is just like height, hair color, eye color, skin color, facial structure, personality etc. I'm sure none of us have anything in common with our parents and siblings. I guess we can chalk up doctors and lawyers kids being smart to nurture...

 

Yes, you can. "Smarter" people generally engage better with small children. It's a very easy to identify and understand phenomenon, when you make a study of it. And the science has been in on this for quite a while. We know intelligence is tied to synapses, and we know synaptic 'strength' is triggered by focused carer engagement.

The brain is the only thing about us which is plastic. It's the only physical structure which is not pre-set.

 

Why don't you spend some time there and come up with your own theory?

 

You really just don't get it do you?

Look, the pandemic is global NOW but it wasn't some time ago. And believe me, it existed MUCH longer ago than just last year. It almost definitely was around in 2017, probably even before that, but it wasn't showing up on anybody's early warning detection system, and by the time it did, (after 2017 Trump had sent the epidemiologists that had been embedded in the Chinese systems home to work on our biological warfare weaponry. The Chinese, even the Chinese admit, aren't even half as good as our people, so they missed it and by the time they realized the dragon was flying the only thing they could think of to do was to try to act like it didn't really exist.

You see, you America Firsters don't realize that your ideology notwithstanding, the world IS global (or more colloquially, not flat) in actual fact. Viruses are NO respecters of borders or distance or even geography, as the victims of the Black Death could have told you in the 1300s. Trump decided to let his base's bigotry and his hatred of anything Obama had done combine to override any real consideration of scientific good practice and now god knows how many people will pay for it with their lives. Thanks, Republicans.

 

You believe in phrenology now?

 

I was making fun of those who don't want to feed the poor

 

Well, good. It's awful to see virtue signallers ignoring starving children in the Third World, while paying lazy First Worlders to get fat.

 

well - to get historical - we know that civil society requires poverty levels to be above a certain level ... as in food. Otherwise things are far too unsafe - as there are folks willing to do what ever for food - this endangers the world the rich wish to live - too much.

Also - if you go towards a police state - that is expensive - way more than it would cost to keep the poor fed. I don't want to walk outside a restaurant and have some starving person try to rob me. .. as you move down the chain .. you increase the likelihood.

And can you blame the person really - they are starving - that's pretty far down on the Maslow Hierarchy of needs scale - not much high level civil thinking going on -

This is a reason why the rich should pay more than regular Joe. The system is paid protection .. and the rich have a lot more to protect.
They also use the roads, infrastructure far more - in terms of the companies by which they earn income - I am not benefiting directly from trucks travelling down the highway.

So why am I paying more as a percent of my income than these folks ? aka Fat Cats .
Why am I subsidizing their pockets ?

But its the poor - the poor are the problem - why taxes are so high .. certainly not feeding them its not .. that is a pittance - more is spent on administering the programs than gets to the poor person - but lets go build some new aircraft carriers which are obsolete as soon as they are launched - and serve little purpose in the numbers that we have. Who is this massive army massing at our gates we are scared of ?

Is it A) Russia B) China or C) War with either is nuclear madness - so there is no point in pretending we are going to be attacking each others homelands anytime soon.

That fantasy dismissed - the point of all these toys is what ? to look cool and pretend we run the world like we used to ?

 

Now? I have believed it since sophomore biology. If modern humans evolved from chimps and became different types of homos and chimps are inferior wouldn't humans in different parts of the world have evolved at different rates and therefore some modern homos be more primitive than others? Please explain how that is not the case.

Another point is how recent research has shown that modern day Europeans and Asians in fact have Neanderthal DNA. Some more than others. It was believed that the Neanderthals were killed off entirely, but many interbred with homo sapiens. This is not pseudoscience. It would be like saying a donkey and a horse are the same thing, or a dachshund and a golden retriever. This is irrefutable, but uncomfortable and taboo.