Against Intellectualism

I’ve seen this quote passed around a lot: I’m quite happy to be an anti-intellectual, actually. It is the modern equivalent of anticlericalism, and it is long overdue. One can oppose specific institutions without opposing thought in general. In fact, sometimes, it is even necessary. It’s hard to believe it came from Moldbug, being the… Continue reading Against Intellectualism

IQ: It Still Predicts A lot

The Bermuda Triangle of Science Nonetheless, the evidentiary base regarding the existence of general intelligence and its ability to predict important life outcomes — including health, longevity and mortality, as well as other key variables — is beyond compelling, it’s overwhelming. And if you find yourself feeling like you can do damage to this evidence… Continue reading IQ: It Still Predicts A lot

Is America Really ‘Dumbing Down’?

It has become a common refrain among pundits on both the ‘left’ and the ‘right’ to lament that America is in a state of ‘dumbing down’, with examples of pop culture (Keeping up With the Kardashians, MTV, etc) and education (political correctness in curriculum, SJWs on campus, etc) as evidence of America’s alleged intellectual decline.… Continue reading Is America Really ‘Dumbing Down’?

The Daily View: Today in Stupid

A child genius explains how she can memorize a shuffled deck of cards in less than an hour That’s like saying ‘7-foot-tall basketball player shows how he dunks basketball’…gee I wonder if being tall/genius has anything to do with it?Geniuses are good at memorizing stuff, that’s what makes them geniuses, no shit, Sherlock. Mnemonic are… Continue reading The Daily View: Today in Stupid

Debunking More IQ Denialism

However, numerous twin and adoption studies suggest IQ is heritable. Heritability of IQ Various studies have found the heritability of IQ to be between 0.7 and 0.8 in adults and 0.45 in childhood in the United States.[6][18][19] It may seem reasonable to expect that genetic influences on traits like IQ should become less important as… Continue reading Debunking More IQ Denialism

The Daily View: 1/17/2016 (lots of stuff)

From Fred Reed: The Inevitability of Eugenics I predict within 50 years America will start giving Eugenics a serious consideration as a way to tackle the growing entitlement spending problem, which by then will be much bigger than it is now if trends persist. Liberals and conservative alike need to get over this squeamishness of… Continue reading The Daily View: 1/17/2016 (lots of stuff)

In Defense of Smart People

It may be fashionable in certain circles to hate on smart people, who are perhaps perceived as being too enamored or ensconced in their thoughts and machinations to care about society and the world around them, perhaps appearing aloof, conceited, or disconnected. Maybe the economy is to blame, too, in bestowing too much prosperity upon… Continue reading In Defense of Smart People

Reactionary Realism

From Poseidon Awoke, NRx: Against Platonic Rationalism: I believe that the Dark Enlightenment is the realization that we are currently governed by pseudosciences, which were created out of the Enlightenment exuberance for the human ability to reason (rationalize). What the children of the Enlightenment did not understand was the limits of human cognition and the… Continue reading Reactionary Realism

What isn’t being taught in schools that should be?

This ‘Ask Reddit’ question What isn’t being taught in schools that should be? is going viral. This was the most upvoted answer, getting over 3,000 upvotes: HOW TO Pay taxes Vote Find a job Buy a house Buy a car LESSONS Current Events What laws there are Financial Advice Trading stocks Mental disorders Politics As… Continue reading What isn’t being taught in schools that should be?

Conservatives are smarter, better informed than liberals

Contrary to the leftist stereotype of the uneducated ‘hick’ voting Republican, it’s actually the least educated, lowest income demographic that votes Democratic, suggesting (if we go by IQ vs income & education) on aggregate conservatives are smarter than liberals. Using educational attainment as a proxy for IQ, the maybe the very smartest vote Democratic, but… Continue reading Conservatives are smarter, better informed than liberals