- Registrado
- 23 de Ago, 2020
I like reading the literature discussion threads. I also read a lot of non-fiction (pop science, history, biographies, all of it—I read a lot). Let’s talk about the non-fiction books we’ve read and why they’re stupid or awesome.
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I recently read The Bell Curve. Maybe it’s because it’s thirty years later, maybe it’s because some of their predictions ended up being wrong, but I didn’t think it was especially well-reasoned.
As an example, the authors assert that the selective nature of the most prestigious schools will effectively segregate the high IQ folk from the bottom 85% or so. First, there are many, many more 98th+ percentile Americans (let alone foreigners) than there are prestigious uni undergrad spots, so the smart people can’t be super effectively segregated. Second, the authors did not fully comprehend how little a BA would ultimately reflect intellectual capacity. (See: Human Resources.)
I think a lot of their foundational reasoning is good—from understanding regression implications to clarifying facts and correlations—but I think, whenever they extend their claims beyond the data in front of them, they’re far more ignorant than they’re willing to acknowledge.
To wit, if all the smart people become doctors and plumbing businesses are only run by people who aren’t that smart… doesn’t a genius stand to corner a market ($$$) by becoming a hyper-efficient plumber? Their understanding of basic economics seems weak, but I would love to be corrected on this.
So, what non-fiction are you guys into?
———
I recently read The Bell Curve. Maybe it’s because it’s thirty years later, maybe it’s because some of their predictions ended up being wrong, but I didn’t think it was especially well-reasoned.
As an example, the authors assert that the selective nature of the most prestigious schools will effectively segregate the high IQ folk from the bottom 85% or so. First, there are many, many more 98th+ percentile Americans (let alone foreigners) than there are prestigious uni undergrad spots, so the smart people can’t be super effectively segregated. Second, the authors did not fully comprehend how little a BA would ultimately reflect intellectual capacity. (See: Human Resources.)
I think a lot of their foundational reasoning is good—from understanding regression implications to clarifying facts and correlations—but I think, whenever they extend their claims beyond the data in front of them, they’re far more ignorant than they’re willing to acknowledge.
To wit, if all the smart people become doctors and plumbing businesses are only run by people who aren’t that smart… doesn’t a genius stand to corner a market ($$$) by becoming a hyper-efficient plumber? Their understanding of basic economics seems weak, but I would love to be corrected on this.
So, what non-fiction are you guys into?
