4 ms·

That is an important distinction (or at least the idea that IQ only measures a very narrow and not so significant part of a persons intelligence). I would surmi

That is an important distinction (or at least the idea that IQ only measures a very narrow and not so significant part of a persons intelligence). I would surmise that a lot of those graduating with high IQs have also acquired the arrogance to believe that they should manage society, not just businesses. They can point to IQ scores and high salaries to prove their supposed superiority. In that way, IQ has become a cultural myth for reinforcing mandate to rule; we even have magazines comparing the IQs of different presidents throughout history, as estimated by pseudo-psychologists. The cultural elite have become something of a ruling/chattering class, more so than before, with greater and greater divides between different sectors of society. It is all quite ironic, since it could be argued that the elites today have less critical thinking abilities than our classically educated ancestors, many of whom expressly rejected a belief in elite rule. Fixation on IQ and wealth can be like the Cyrenians who wasted their wealth teaching their war horses to dance, then getting defeated when the enemy played flutes in battle, causing their horses to dance.

YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
>> Fixation on IQ and wealth can be like the Cyrenians who wasted their wealth teaching their war horses to dance, then getting defeated when the enemy played flutes in battle, causing their horses to dance. Source for the story, please?
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  War elephants were distracted with spikes, squealing pigs, loud noises, and other noises.
- jfengel 5y ago
  It's the Sybarites, not the Cyrenians, and that's the origins of "sybaritic". > But they had carried their luxury to such a pitch that they had taught even their horses to dance at their feasts to the music of the flute. Accordingly the people of Crotona, knowing this, and being at war with them, as Aristotle relates in his History of the Constitution of Sybaris, played before their horses the air to which they were accustomed to dance; for the people of Crotona also had fluteplayers in military uniform. And as soon as the horses heard them playing on the flute, they not only began to dance, but ran over to the army of the Crotonians, carrying their riders with them. -- Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists The Aristotlean source he cites is lost.
  - YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
    Thanks.
  - brobdingnagians 5y ago
    Thank you! That explains why I couldn't find it; heard it in a history of philosophy class ages ago :)
deleted 5y ago
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amalcon 5y ago
> we even have magazines comparing the IQs of different presidents throughout history, as estimated by pseudo-psychologists. Which magazine / when? It sounds like this might actually contain some insight into the thinking of the magazine's editors, which could be interesting (so long as one is careful to assign no truth value to the content). Edit: Googling has led me to a few, all citing this one paper from 2006. Political Psychology, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Aug., 2006), pp. 511-526 TLDR: The methodology is a bit loose, taking biographical achievements in earlier life and correlating them with people of known intelligence who did similar things. This leads to the perhaps-unsurprising result that they were all estimated at above-average IQ. I'm not sure why a 2006 paper would be turned into article fodder now.
- brobdingnagians 5y ago
  Thank you! That is even more info than I had. Odd how so many places picked it up in the last couple of years
salawat 5y ago
They who count their wealth to measure their worth are those that would measure the worth of their home by the piles of sawdust produced in making it. -Thief 3, some Hammerite (paraphrased) IQ is a meme, and once you get away from the ivory tower and see how everyone else has to make it, you realize just how jacked the entire thing is. The thing in this case being the prestige class. Noblis oblige is dead, the new money is stark raving mad, the old money couldn't give a shit more. Nobody has any more of a clue than anyone else, and the executable bad idea is valued over and above the good idea that just doesn't seem quite ready to crystallize yet. The biggest curse in my opinion is to see and grok the magnitude and nature of the problems but to not be in a position to do much about them besides trying to explain it to a handful of people and hope a couple understand, are in a spot and mindset to do something about it, take it, and run with it. It's kind of like being a Chief or high level enlisted in the armed forces from what I gather. Too busy getting things done to keep the status quo moving, but also facilitating bottom up information propagation and nudging the command structure in the right direction via reality checks. Oh... The dreams that have died from learning how the world really works. They are a plenty.

YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago

>> Fixation on IQ and wealth can be like the Cyrenians who wasted their wealth teaching their war horses to dance, then getting defeated when the enemy played flutes in battle, causing their horses to dance. Source for the story, please?

redis_mlc 5y ago
War elephants were distracted with spikes, squealing pigs, loud noises, and other noises.
jfengel 5y ago
It's the Sybarites, not the Cyrenians, and that's the origins of "sybaritic". > But they had carried their luxury to such a pitch that they had taught even their horses to dance at their feasts to the music of the flute. Accordingly the people of Crotona, knowing this, and being at war with them, as Aristotle relates in his History of the Constitution of Sybaris, played before their horses the air to which they were accustomed to dance; for the people of Crotona also had fluteplayers in military uniform. And as soon as the horses heard them playing on the flute, they not only began to dance, but ran over to the army of the Crotonians, carrying their riders with them. -- Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists The Aristotlean source he cites is lost.
- YeGoblynQueenne 5y ago
  Thanks.
- brobdingnagians 5y ago
  Thank you! That explains why I couldn't find it; heard it in a history of philosophy class ages ago :)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

amalcon 5y ago

> we even have magazines comparing the IQs of different presidents throughout history, as estimated by pseudo-psychologists. Which magazine / when? It sounds like this might actually contain some insight into the thinking of the magazine's editors, which could be interesting (so long as one is careful to assign no truth value to the content). Edit: Googling has led me to a few, all citing this one paper from 2006. Political Psychology, Vol. 27, No. 4 (Aug., 2006), pp. 511-526 TLDR: The methodology is a bit loose, taking biographical achievements in earlier life and correlating them with people of known intelligence who did similar things. This leads to the perhaps-unsurprising result that they were all estimated at above-average IQ. I'm not sure why a 2006 paper would be turned into article fodder now.

brobdingnagians 5y ago
Thank you! That is even more info than I had. Odd how so many places picked it up in the last couple of years

salawat 5y ago

They who count their wealth to measure their worth are those that would measure the worth of their home by the piles of sawdust produced in making it. -Thief 3, some Hammerite (paraphrased) IQ is a meme, and once you get away from the ivory tower and see how everyone else has to make it, you realize just how jacked the entire thing is. The thing in this case being the prestige class. Noblis oblige is dead, the new money is stark raving mad, the old money couldn't give a shit more. Nobody has any more of a clue than anyone else, and the executable bad idea is valued over and above the good idea that just doesn't seem quite ready to crystallize yet. The biggest curse in my opinion is to see and grok the magnitude and nature of the problems but to not be in a position to do much about them besides trying to explain it to a handful of people and hope a couple understand, are in a spot and mindset to do something about it, take it, and run with it. It's kind of like being a Chief or high level enlisted in the armed forces from what I gather. Too busy getting things done to keep the status quo moving, but also facilitating bottom up information propagation and nudging the command structure in the right direction via reality checks. Oh... The dreams that have died from learning how the world really works. They are a plenty.