5 ms·

This kind of apathy is how you end up 40 years down the road asking yourself what happened to your country, where all the good jobs went, why your kids and gran

This kind of apathy is how you end up 40 years down the road asking yourself what happened to your country, where all the good jobs went, why your kids and grandkids can't afford the things you remember having. Because we led, doesn't mean we will lead. You get to be a leader by leading, not by resting on your laurels while someone else becomes a leader.

corporateguy5 9y ago
The demographics of the United States are fundamentally different than what they once were. Whether people like to admit it or not, IQ and biological origin are linked.
- 52804375092485 9y ago
  > Whether people like to admit it or not, IQ and biological origin are linked. Can you clarify that? Because it sounds like some pretty racist bad science.
  - corporateguy5 9y ago
    I left it ambiguous to avoid a flame ware, but it is what you think it is. How could you possibly think that societies evolving in different climates under different conditions are the same? Do you understand evolution?
    - Finbel 9y ago
      > it is what you think it is. So, racist bad science then?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - seppin 9y ago
      > How could you possibly think that societies evolving in different climates under different conditions are the same? I always love new spins on old racism. Do tell how 'climate' plays a role in potential for technical workforce ability.
      - hiram112 9y ago
        I would imagine the argument is as follows: Climate, along with dozens of other factors, produced variations in human traits. Some of them, like skin color, height, etc. are obvious to everyone. Others, including intelligence, are not so obvious. But the idea that IQ is inheritable and variable between ethnicities is not too terribly controversial, even though it is politically taboo to mention. Thus, you'd find that some groups are more likely to dominate fields than others (due to nature) and not 100% because of societal differences (i.e. nurture). So the actual question for a society in a competitive global economy to ask is what proportion of limited resources are used to help those in the rear catch up vs what proportion is used to push the most gifted farther ahead.
        seppin 9y ago
        That doesn't really answer the question, does it?
      - corporateguy5 9y ago
        Imagine for instance, the abundance of food based on the landscape in civilizations thousands of years ago. High abundance of animals to eat led to different natural selection than low abundance (which in some ways forces things like agriculture). These things matter, why are we turning a blind eye and screaming bloody myrfer at the truth?
    - danbolt 9y ago
      Can you clarify what you mean by "the same" for societies? I could see that a lot of various net outcomes economically similar not due to biological factors, but rather a myriad of environmental ones. The Anna Karenina principle[1] means a lot if some societies get rice and Mediterranean Basins and World Banks, while others get tubers and mountains and slave-trading ships that buy people from you. I feel like those factors would make a more significant difference, as a few thousand years isn't very long in evolution time, from what I understand. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina_principle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina_principle
    - coliveira 9y ago
      So we see the resurgence of eugenics. This seems to be the last resort of the racists...
- louprado 9y ago
  Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. At 35 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But I'd prefer a citizens with integrity and ambition (this is within anyone's reach) over a one that scores well on a standardized test. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
- louprado 9y ago
  Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up as a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. At 35 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But I'd prefer a citizens with integrity and ambition (this is within anyone's reach) over a one that scores well on a standardized test. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
- louprado 9y ago
  Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up as a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. At 35 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But one does not need to score well on an IQ test in order to have integrity and ambition or to be a valued citizen. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
- louprado 9y ago
  Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up as a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. He immigrated to the US in his late 20's and at the age of 30 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But one does not need to score well on an IQ test in order to have integrity and ambition or to be a valued citizen. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
PostOnce 9y ago
A lot of people here are arguing with corporateguy5 (to whom i can't reply directly on his dead comment) on the basis of his apparent racism, which is bad, but no one has pointed out that he's just passing the buck, instead of making an effort to improve the country, he can just blame the failure on ethnicity xyz. So, while I don't think I'll have an impact on corporateguy5's opinion, maybe some other reader will keep this in mind and somehow benefit from the awareness?

corporateguy5 9y ago

The demographics of the United States are fundamentally different than what they once were. Whether people like to admit it or not, IQ and biological origin are linked.

52804375092485 9y ago
> Whether people like to admit it or not, IQ and biological origin are linked. Can you clarify that? Because it sounds like some pretty racist bad science.
- corporateguy5 9y ago
  I left it ambiguous to avoid a flame ware, but it is what you think it is. How could you possibly think that societies evolving in different climates under different conditions are the same? Do you understand evolution?
  - Finbel 9y ago
    > it is what you think it is. So, racist bad science then?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - seppin 9y ago
    > How could you possibly think that societies evolving in different climates under different conditions are the same? I always love new spins on old racism. Do tell how 'climate' plays a role in potential for technical workforce ability.
    - hiram112 9y ago
      I would imagine the argument is as follows: Climate, along with dozens of other factors, produced variations in human traits. Some of them, like skin color, height, etc. are obvious to everyone. Others, including intelligence, are not so obvious. But the idea that IQ is inheritable and variable between ethnicities is not too terribly controversial, even though it is politically taboo to mention. Thus, you'd find that some groups are more likely to dominate fields than others (due to nature) and not 100% because of societal differences (i.e. nurture). So the actual question for a society in a competitive global economy to ask is what proportion of limited resources are used to help those in the rear catch up vs what proportion is used to push the most gifted farther ahead.
      - seppin 9y ago
        That doesn't really answer the question, does it?
    - corporateguy5 9y ago
      Imagine for instance, the abundance of food based on the landscape in civilizations thousands of years ago. High abundance of animals to eat led to different natural selection than low abundance (which in some ways forces things like agriculture). These things matter, why are we turning a blind eye and screaming bloody myrfer at the truth?
  - danbolt 9y ago
    Can you clarify what you mean by "the same" for societies? I could see that a lot of various net outcomes economically similar not due to biological factors, but rather a myriad of environmental ones. The Anna Karenina principle[1] means a lot if some societies get rice and Mediterranean Basins and World Banks, while others get tubers and mountains and slave-trading ships that buy people from you. I feel like those factors would make a more significant difference, as a few thousand years isn't very long in evolution time, from what I understand. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina_principle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina_principle
  - coliveira 9y ago
    So we see the resurgence of eugenics. This seems to be the last resort of the racists...
louprado 9y ago
Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. At 35 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But I'd prefer a citizens with integrity and ambition (this is within anyone's reach) over a one that scores well on a standardized test. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
louprado 9y ago
Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up as a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. At 35 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But I'd prefer a citizens with integrity and ambition (this is within anyone's reach) over a one that scores well on a standardized test. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
louprado 9y ago
Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up as a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. At 35 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But one does not need to score well on an IQ test in order to have integrity and ambition or to be a valued citizen. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...
louprado 9y ago
Yes, I recall reading that Ben Franklin thought Germans were too stupid to make it in America[1]. So you have really good company with this opinion. For the record my father grew up as a shoeless jungle peasant in Nicaragua. He immigrated to the US in his late 20's and at the age of 30 he nearly lost his hand in a factory accident in Brooklyn. So he took college courses at night and eventually became a top DB admin at various institutions in NYC. He had something to prove so he just worked harder than all his peers. He was a man of his word of high integrity so he was given ever increasing responsibility. Maybe he'd do poorly in a quantum physics class. But one does not need to score well on an IQ test in order to have integrity and ambition or to be a valued citizen. [1]https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-bias-starting-with-benjamin-franklins-hatred-of-the-germans/ https://qz.com/904933/a-history-of-american-anti-immigrant-b...

PostOnce 9y ago

A lot of people here are arguing with corporateguy5 (to whom i can't reply directly on his dead comment) on the basis of his apparent racism, which is bad, but no one has pointed out that he's just passing the buck, instead of making an effort to improve the country, he can just blame the failure on ethnicity xyz. So, while I don't think I'll have an impact on corporateguy5's opinion, maybe some other reader will keep this in mind and somehow benefit from the awareness?