Andrew Ducker said
>>Samael said
>>>some people would much rather be strong than smart
>>>...people are taking advantage of this rather than of becoming an einstein.
I replied
>>a. I have never met anyone who was glad that they were unintelligent.
>>b. The notion that people choose not to be Einstein and instead
>> take up sport is ludicrous.
>So those people who don't read books, but take part in sports aren't
>implicitly mqaking this choice then?
there is no such thing as an implicit choice: choices are explicit.
>The people who choose to watch
>Brainnumbing soaps rather than making use of their intelligence?
they are making of their intelligence, it just doesn't run to much. As Steve Jobs poitned out last week: the television is for swithcing off, the computer for swithcing on. Those with something to switch on are not watching the days of someone eleses life.
>The fact that 'smartie' is an insult, along with brainbox, etc.?
As Arthur Schopenhauer (german modern philosopher) pointed out: letting someone know you are intelligent is very dangerous to your health: they realise that no amount of "exercise" will allow them to better you and will often strike preemptively.
>I've worked in various jobs previous tpo the last few years, working with
>the general public and the majority of them don't give a damn about
>intelligence as ,omg as they have something on the box to keep them
>contented and a stomach full of food.
Ahh, we agree on the result, we simply differ upon how we arrived at th eresult. you argue it was an implicit choice and i that it was highly determined. The fact that the heritability of IQ _rises_ rather than declines over the life span tends to support my contention.
cheerio,
tim
(PS, I am glad i responded ;-)
That quotation can be found, ironically and conveniently enough, on Microsoft's Bookshelf 98 CD-ROM
http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/