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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cautious_Optimist who wrote (480325)	9/30/2021 11:20:26 AM
From: koan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 541181

I don't believe in an extended form of lamarkianism as regards our evolving intelligence. Or Darwin for that matter. I believe our enhanced intelligence today is a simple matter of education, education by any means. I believe we are born as concrete thinkers like all other animals, but by a quirk of evolution, we are capable of "abstract thinking". But to effect abstract thinking one needs massive amounts of knowledge. It is "impossible" to teach an uneducated person existentialism, because existentialism is a function of "Knowledge Directed Perception" which says:" one cannot SEE what one does not understand! <, Research shows every year the number of atheists increases and this, IMO, is the result of us getting smarter, seeing reality more clearly as guided by science. There is obviously a lot more filtered information available in this "information age" where data and knowledge is spread more widely and cheaply. Perhaps that accounts for our powerful progressive bubble as well as Q-Anon and rising fascism on the right? There is no accepted evidence that people across classes are internally "smarter." I know you believe in an extended form of Lemarkism but I do not share this, due to the evidence from modern molecular biology of reproduction. Traditional IQ tests (and many standardized "achievement" tests) are racist and ethnocentric, reflecting the hidden bias of those who developed the tests. If one argues that its modern diets, sleep and going to the gym -- well that is not inherited and does not impact real people generally. In fact many argue our modern diets (fast foods, sugar beverages, chemical processed meats and fats etc.) are having very negative affects, other than those who can afford AND consciously choose the best choices and diets. One could make an equal rhetorical argument people are dumber than ever. While you equate atheism with intelligence, anti-abortionists seem to be thriving from Pennsylvania to Texas. Disinformation and misinformation spread easily-- ironically propagated by VERY EDUCATED and smart people to the fearful emotional herds who probably don't watch existential foreign films or read Jean-Paul Sartre, The Economist or the Journal of Quantum Computing