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#31
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
Tom, I enjoy these discussions as a way to consider various ideas and discuss the evidence pro and con - but when I do that I am not trying to say that other views are wrong. Some here are looking for ideological confrontation and I sometimes let myself get sucked into that - but I always regret that afterwards.
Even though I seem to fall more on the nurture side of things I expect that there are gaps and errors in my understanding of it all. I am no pro at this. I just think it is all so fascinating. If I argue against your view, that doesn't mean that I really believe that I am right and you are wrong. It's just a challenging way of testing ideas. You always offer your views thoughtfully and respectfully and I sense that you have a sincere interest in the underlying questions - and especially that you are pushing no agenda. Just wanted to be sure that you know that I appreciate that, Margaret |
#32
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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It seems to have become a rather nasty habit of yours. And while I tend to ignore your gratuitous ad hominems as useless distractions, they nevertheless do tell me something about who and what you are. Consider using a little more restraint in the future. |
#33
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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If it truly bothers you, I will refrain in the future as long as you refrain from misrepresenting my statements and insulting me. If you don't refrain and it does bother you, then cool!!! And anyone that reads a large number of your posts will not be blind to the fact that you would be the best target of this post of yours, so you could lead by example by granting us your request. |
#34
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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I love puzzles and paradoxes are my favorite. That's why I read all of these posts; I'd love thoughtful challenges and while puzzle books are fun, they don't come close to the puzzles of real life. I was just excited that I resolved this apparent paradox in my own mind, it allowed me to know myself better. Thanks for raising it and all of your great posts. PS. I, however, do believe that I am right! |
#35
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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Or maybe I just should have let you “win†a few of your arguments. OK Tom, maybe I can throw you a bone—There actually is, as JimB has more or less indicated in his opening posts, differences in various traits among individuals, and it’s essentially a genetic thing (shocking, isn’t it?)—Arthur Jensen, a prominent UC Berkeley supergrade professor emeritus of education psychology, known for his work in psychometrics, and differential psychology, a leading authority on IQ, has provided an enormous amount of overwhelming evidence on this area in his various papers and books. So here’s your assignment Tom: Read and study Jensen’s book, The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability (1998); and then, with actual (overwhelming) evidence documenting genetic differences, see how long you can discuss/debate this area with any estrogen-guided K-mart thinking friends you may have recently acquired before charges of Full Monte racism emerge. Last edited by Fred H.; March 19th, 2006 at 06:53 PM.. |
#36
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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First, the reason I diagnosed you with a personality disorder couldn't have been because you "pointed out various flaws in my arguments", since you haven't. You don't have to let me 'win' any arguments and it's not right to imply that I 'lost' any. Second, leave it to you to cast yourself as my teacher and suggest that I read a book that supports the nature side of my argument and use that to debate people whom I have no quarrel with. I don't think so. I mentioned a personality disorder because of the mean-spirited posts you send. You must have a lot of fear and anger to be so rude. |
#37
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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My point is that we are all born intelligent and fragile psyches. Each of us could write a "The case of..." that would pretty fully explain every one of our posts. Mine would say something about having bad adult role models and better sibling role models. This put me on a course where I do not respect authority and believe that we mere humans are responsible for our futures. So, I accept nothing on faith and have to see the facts for myself. (If this actually is agendalessness and I'm completely right, then cool!) The case of Margaret might say something about suffering at the hands of men. The case of JimB might say something about suffering at the hands of women who suffered at the hands of men. The case of Todd might say something about the horror of the Holocaust and continued anti-Semitism. The case of Fred might say...I have no idea. I don't think there were any replies to the "The Repressor Module: EP's Holy Grail" thread because of the threat the ideas pose to the bubbles we've built around ourselves (or maybe it was just my clunky prose). That our brains do not let us have all the information that might damage our self-concept kind of explains why these discussions take on the tone of everyone speaking an entirely different language. And it really is; what I have in my brain is filtered before it shows up in my post, everyone reads the words but their brains interpret them different from each other and different from my intent. To believe this seems pretty uncomfortable; how can we exercise free will when the brain is not giving us a true picture of reality? That's my point, we don't have free will; we make choices with our brains but those are completely dependent on the state of our brains (and Fred's meds). So what do we do? I say we accept everyone's shortcomings, including our own, and keep trying. It's the only human way to go and at some point we may all realize our limitations and create a society that is more effective before we kill ourselves. |
#38
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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Go back to Feb 10 in the “Intelligent Design and Why Not†thread—until then our posts were reasonably cordial, but then Margaret decided to raise the stakes in her post #49 (with her hypersensitive inferences/allegations from my review of Woody Allen’s Match Point), and you then decided to join forces with her in your mean-spirited (and groundless) remarks about me in your post #50: Quote:
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#39
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Re: Two Cousins: Francis Galton Site
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#40
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Re: Who's got rhythm and where did they get it?
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http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...82809EC588ED9F: Quote:
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