There are times when I do feel the need to turn to my Psittaciformes for some genuinely deep, intelligent, considered discourse. I'm sure that will come as no great surprise to you, Nick.
I'd like to bludgeon home one more bit of fact that IMO supports and justifies my low opinion of the aggregate level if intelligence in this country: fully 47% of our fine US population voted for a presidential ticket that had Sarah Palin down for Vice President. I'd also like to throw out another troubling observation: Whenever the intellectual elite launch yet another discourse on one troubled aspect of our country or another -- health care, economic reform, the educational system, the political system -- they always go all academic on us. We get deep, thoughty intricate, theoretical symposia which never touch on the core issue. What is the core issue? The fact that the average IQ in the United states is just a notch above 90. 93, according to this reference,<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations>and I've seen others that support it. What I have not seen is what the distribution of IQs for the US is, so I don't know how fat the left hand side tails are, but I suspect the worse. Now, I suspect that the bulk of the FRIAM readership is, or at least consider themselves to be several points above the US standard. So given that, why have we never seen a discussion oriented around how to lead a nation of dullards into a better social structure? I would argue, should such a discussion ever get beyond the topic of political correctness, that we have arrived at exactly the optimal solution. From the perspective of the power elite, of course. The rich, powerful corporations like Bechtel, BWXT, the Washington Group, Grumman, Lockheed to name but a few of the military industrial ones. United Health Care, Blue Cross, Cygna, etc. from the health care sector. Likewise, the view as seen by the politicians whom those very same corporate entities have purchased is clearly pretty rosy. >From where these guys sit, it's the perfect way to run a country. The academics can blather all they want about theoretical optimizing solutions to whatever they claim are the pressing societal problems, because meanwhile the bulk of the populace are enchanted with Sarah Palin, the Party of No!, Rush, Pat Robertson, and their ilk, and the status remains Quo. Plus or minus a few nuances, George Orwell got it right. Then, there's the issue of cultural stupidity, which may or may not be related to IQ. These are the ones that Pamela refers to as unable to think their way past slogans they've been taught. This is a rich field for research, publications, speaking engagements, but one which most academics seem blissfully unaware. --Doug On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 10:44 AM, Nicholas Thompson < [email protected]> wrote: > Doug, > > Parroting doug ===>We truly are a nation of idiots. We deserve Rush > Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Pat Robertson <=== end parroting Doug > > I don't think one has to be stupid to engage in Dialogues of the Deaf. We > do that sort of thing quite well in FRIAM, from time to time, and we are, ex > hypothesi, VERY smart. > > Somewhere along the way, We lost our faith that there is a Truth Of The > Matter. In the fifties, you had to believe that you were right, when you > said something. Nowadays, you just have to believe you are plausible. (I > blame the post-modernists myself ... but now this message is becoming an > example of itself.) > > That having been said, are the Tea-Totallers any worse than the people who > put McCarthy into office in the 50's? > > Nick > > > > Nicholas S. Thompson > Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, > Clark University ([email protected]) > http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ > http://www.cusf.org [City University of Santa Fe] > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > *From:* Douglas Roberts <[email protected]> > *To: *The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group<[email protected]> > *Sent:* 2/14/2010 9:05:07 AM > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Sources of Innovation > > Pamela, > > I think the healthcare issue goes way beyond just the usual corporate > profit protection, pay for play political game. Look at how polarized the > nation has become over just this issue alone. Look at how many people * > don't* believe that the healthcare issue is really about healthcare > insurance industry profit protection. > > We truly are a nation of idiots. We deserve Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, > and Pat Robertson. > > Model that, if you like. The agents in the individual based simulation > won't need much sophistication. > > --Doug > > On Sun, Feb 14, 2010 at 8:00 AM, Pamela McCorduck <[email protected]> wrote: > >> When Kennedy envisioned going to the moon, no lobby existed to fight >> ferociously for the sole right to take the profits from going to the moon, >> and the sole right to decide who gets to go. >> >> If you read the not-very-deep subtext in this fight, you will see that >> it's not about giving better healthcare to Americans (which we desperately >> need) but about protecting the enormous profits of the healthcare insurance >> industry. It's dressed up in "right to choose," and "privacy between doctor >> and patient," and "keep the government out of medical care," but it's really >> about profit protection. From several different and reliable sources (one of >> them a congressional candidate) I have heard that since early last summer, >> the insurance and pharmaceuticals industries have been spending over $1 >> million per day on lobbying. It continues. You can do the arithmetic. >> >> The media regularly reports on how much better, cheaper, and more >> effective medical plans are all around the developed world. It doesn't >> penetrate $1 million-plus per day. >> >> >> >> On Feb 13, 2010, at 3:55 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote: >> >> Where does all this whining about health care >>> come from? Everyone in Germany has a health >>> insurance, it is obligatory. There is general >>> agreement here that the European (and esp. >>> the German) health care system is better >>> and more social than the one in the US. >>> The USA obviously needs a better health care >>> system. Where is the American optimism and >>> the "i believe we can do it" spirit? I've heard >>> that optimism and positive thinking is a typical >>> American attitude. >>> >>> America is lacking a vision, something like >>> Kennedy's vision to bring a man to the moon >>> and back. Military and NASA won't do it >>> this time. A vision or a common dream which >>> would foster technological innovation. Schmidt >>> mentioned "renewable energy" and green >>> technology. What about a clean L.A. with >>> fresh air? A large scale scientific initiative >>> to create the first AI would be another one. >>> America would have the resources to do it, it >>> has the companies with the largest data centers. >>> It should be proud of Google, Microsoft, >>> Amazon, and Apple. It is difficult to understand >>> why it disputes about health care so long. >>> >>> -J. >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: Roger Critchlow >>> To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group >>> Sent: Saturday, February 13, 2010 6:54 PM >>> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Sources of Innovation >>> >>> [...] We're too busy defending ourselves from hedge fund vampires and >>> health care ghouls to worry about growth. Say what you will about the >>> undead, they steal their profits fair and square and invest them in the rule >>> of law. >>> >>> >>>
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