Notice that even people caught up in Propaganda, who we know to be deluded because of an excessive amount of verifiable evidence, see themselves as smart. Such aphorisms as 'pride in intelligence blocks ability to reason' etc. doesn't work because they are blinded by their own ego-self, i.e. they don't like to see the truth about themselves or that which they love because their self-esteem is tied up in those beliefs.
2:20 "He's a smart fellow with brains... like me!" The most passionate followers of Hitler
Notice that even people caught up in Propaganda, who we know to be deluded because of an excessive amount of verifiable evidence, see themselves as smart. Such aphorisms as 'pride in intelligence blocks ability to reason' etc. doesn't work because they are blinded by their own ego-self, i.e. they don't like to see the truth about themselves or that which they love because their self-esteem is tied up in those beliefs.
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Useful background; BBC: Scans reveal intricate brain wiring Study: How to Get Smarter, One Breath at a Time The following ancient review of mine is about a book that explains that the ability of each person to process information is the same over time. Book Review: What Is Intelligence? - The Flynn Effect In other words, what we see as IQ is more or less an estimate of how an individual handles a particular mode of cultural expression. So, for example when we say 'kids are smarter today than us' it's because they are more familiar with the most common modes of cultural expression (computers, games, messaging, & other ways of communicating). As technology and it's use spreads other cultures adapt to it as well, And when that happens "IQ" of that culture is said to rise as per the Flynn Effect. That said, any one brought up in a culture of information/education of the most successful culture they can easily beat or keep up with the dominant cultures intellectuals. Why? Because intelligence is about experience and HOW you understand that experience i.e. how many internal brain cell interconnections you make. What actually does explain how any one civilization is more successful than other is it's historical interactions with 3 things: Guns Germs & Steel. The following two links explain that; Jared Diamond’s ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ Part 1 – Out of Eden Jared Diamond’s ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’ Part 2 – Conquest and the Tropics Most differences of opinions are a matter of information/education. Book Review: Lies my Teachers Told Me The are external factors keeping levels of information down such as Texas. The Power Of Your Brain: Brain Plasticity & IQ Enhancement Once upon a time we believed that IQ was set for life. We believed that your brain, though it developed till a certain age, it ceased to develop after we reached adulthood. Yet studies with stroke patients (an extreme example) has shown that the brain CAN repair itself. In the following talk you will see evidence of how the brain can grow new areas in response to a skill. This is called "brain plasticity": Michael Merzenich: Growing evidence of brain plasticityMichael Merzenich studies neuroplasticity -- the brain's powerful ability to change itself and adapt -- and ways we might make use of that plasticity to heal injured brains and enhance the skills in healthy ones.Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function. Notice at 9 minutes how when a monkey learns to use a tool to get food he develops new areas of/in the brain, same thing happens when a kid learns language i.e. massive brain change
This means that neuronal development and restructuring is possible with training. Since lack of brain exercise can increase the "noise" in your brain and make it less efficient over time, a type of brain gym for older people is likely in the future as part of daily activities. Brain Plasticity--An Overview "What is brain plasticity? Does it mean that our brains are made of plastic? Of course not. Plasticity, or neuroplasticity, describes how experiences reorganize neural pathways in the brain. Long lasting functional changes in the brain occur when we learn new things or memorize new information. These changes in neural connections are what we call neuroplasticity. To illustrate the concept of plasticity, imagine the film of a camera. Pretend that the film represents your brain. Now imagine using the camera to take a picture of a tree. When a picture is taken, the film is exposed to new information -- that of the image of a tree. In order for the image to be retained, the film must react to the light and ?change? to record the image of the tree. Similarly, in order for new knowledge to be retained in memory, changes in the brain representing the new knowledge must occur. To illustrate plasticity in another way, imagine making an impression of a coin in a lump of clay. In order for the impression of the coin to appear in the clay, changes must occur in the clay -- the shape of the clay changes as the coin is pressed into the clay. Similarly, the neural circuitry in the brain must reorganize in response to experience or sensory stimulation." This means that the way you can build your muscles is the same way that you can build your brain i.e. with exercise. Chris Hayes Offers A Useful Perspective For Secular Liberals Background: A surprisingly good overview by CNN: Bill Maher's Muslim problem Weighted Muslim Population Distribution Map Distribution Of The 2 Main - And Generally Opposing - Sects of Islam Note: There few thousand (or hundred thousand or so) radical Muslims in a population of 1.57 billion Muslims. The Main Discussion;2:20 has to be my favorite moment with Bill Maher shrugging and Ben Affleck exclaiming "Jesus. This was in response to "Islam is the mother load of bad ideas" - Listen to white guy in second video below. 2:50 "people standing up to them like Malala or...' (bunch of other studies not covered in the media as it would be the opposite of smearing which is the media's current goal) At 4:05 the guy comes with an interesting idea that i might be inclined to agree with (te Muslim world is going through a dark age, not as bad as the Christian dark age with burning of witches and all, but a dark age nevertheless). It's important to understand 2 things about that idea 1. He estimates it at 20% which seems fair to me. 2. Holding strange beliefs is normal for large human populations, for example; One in four Americans think Obama may be the antichrist, survey says - Poll asking voters about conspiracy theories reveals alarming beliefs – including 37% believing global warming to be a hoax Quarter of Republicans Think Obama May Be the Anti-Christ A5 6:10 the Michael Steele does get it right that the media doesnt cover important stuff making most news a sort of smear campaign (one which Bill Maher has been witnessing for years already and probably doesn't realize it yet). 7:50 Ben Afflek is right we look at Iraq etc. and think oooops we made a mistake and don't even carry out an investigation(the last part is me). At no point did they cover economic situations of those involved. It's touched upon in the second video below. I'm very confused where Bill Maher is getting the 90% figure on how Muslims feel about someone leaving thier religion. Oh! Nevermind. Found it. From CNN: Maher then cited a Pew Research poll that he claimed found that 90% of Egyptians supported the death penalty for those who left Islam. I'm not sure where Maher got his numbers, but a 2013 Pew poll actually found only 64% of Egyptians supported this -- still alarmingly high, but not 90%. Another useful extractfrom CNN: More importantly, Egypt does not define the Muslim world. Rather, Egypt is simply one of 47 Muslim-majority nations. That same poll found that in Turkey, a nation that has almost as many Muslims as Egypt, less than 5% supported the death penalty for leaving Islam. Maher also has left out that only 13 Muslim nations have penalties for apostasy, while 34 do not. So who truly defines Islam? To Maher, clearly it's the worst of our faith. That's something you would expect to hear from a far-right bigot, not a liberal. Maher's remarks dismayed American Muslims across the country but won applause from all the hosts on Fox News' "The Five." When you're a progressive and a gaggle of Fox News hosts praises your views, you know something is seriously wrong. Note: On the belief that individual Muslims should be out fighting the rhetoric of fundamentalists... first off, it's a Fox News endorsed belief (with Muslims under death threats from Christians supporting them) and secondly, individuals of any culture tend to be cowards. Only the masses are brave. Bill Maher thinks he's brave because he has free speech in a world where he can speak freely. He would turn tail like a coward if he ever had to face any real difficulties; On Topic - Political Parties - The Democratic Party: Stephen knows that when someone misbehaves, it's natural to assume that person is a Democrat. |
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