Louisiana Purchase and Expedition

I'm not quite getting the deal that Thomas Jefferson got back in the day (something like $20 per square mile, though that's more like $300 per square mile, still a great deal). But, I bought my little bit of homestead here in New Orleans. So, I'm a landowner. And I've made multiple trips to Lowe's and Wal-Mart to buy things like storage racks and towel rings. In the next few days, I'm going to build some shelving above my washer and dryer. I've been installing ceiling fans, range hoods, and the like. I just hired a pest control service. I'm currently looking around for some folks to come out to do the lawn, and maybe a cleaning service.

So basically, I now suck. But there's redemption to be had, I think. There is still time for me to be awesome. In fact last night, I had one of those "dare to be great" moments.

One of my buddies down here is The Irishman. Let's just say that the stereotypes of drunken, semi-to-fully belligerent Irishmen are in no way overcome by my friend. And through The Irishman, I've met a handful of guys, most of whom are petroleum engineers down here.

Last night, the plan was to go hang out at one of the uptown bars for a couple beers, and then calling it a night. Great plan. Get a couple local brews, hanging out, and meet the natives. I get out to the bar, and only one of the guys is there. The Irishman and the rest of the crew are off getting a late dinner. No worries. A while later, the rest of the posse shows up, and of course, we promptly decide to go to a downtown bar. Fair enough. I don't mind driving, since I'm not really going to drink much the rest of the night, plus, I like the idea of getting to know the city better. So we end up at more of a night club sort of place. Of course, all of the employees remember The Irishman from the previous weekend, when he rolled up with his convertible BMW M3, and at one point was jumping up and down, prior to getting accidentally pepper sprayed. So we were in line for an awesome night. We hang out for a bit, when one of the managers came by started talking to The Irishman, and a few minutes later, we're sitting at one of those roped-off, reserved tables with a bottle of Grey Goose. We hang out for a while longer, and we finally go next door for some pizza, and apparently more shots. I'm driving, so I get to keep my judgment. The other guys? Not so much.

There's a lesson to be learned here, folks. If you're going to drink heavily, you should turn off your cell phone. Particularly if you have internet access. We're all in the middle of some random conversation. Then The Irishman has a great idea. He announces:

"We're going to New York."

Wow. Apparently, he gets Expedia on his phone, and flights to NY were only $250. At this point, it's about 5 in the morning, and the flight left at 7:30. We take a little while to get everyone organized, and sure enough, we're on the way to the airport. No stops home to get clothes, coffee, or to tell loved ones goodbye. Straight from the bar to the airport. I actually contemplate just parking the car and jumping on the plane. Sadly, I failed my "dare to be great" moment. But what's promising is that there seem to be more potential moments to be had. And more importantly, my life is more than weekend trips to Lowe's. I mean, not this weekend. But maybe next weekend.

-Chairman

Not So Smart

*sigh*

Of course, after that last post, I should qualify things. I was building that case that people, as a whole, have roughly the same cognitive ability. However, the level of cognitive ability that I give average people credit for is rather low.

I'm more and more convinced that freedom and democracy are just bad ideas when people are morons.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go watch TMZ.

-Chairman

Get Smart

A while ago, I read this Nicholas Kristof column regarding the intersection of poverty and intelligence in the NYT. I thought that it was interesting, but a little off, and didn't think more about it. So, Westy forwards me the link, probably based on some of our previous discussions on the nature of expertise, and the impact of race/poverty on higher education. I started to write an e-mail, that I realized was running long, so I decided to post some thoughts here.

A Broader Thought
A reasonable explanation for intelligence is the interaction of natural ability (genetics) and one’s environment. Generally, that’s a reasonable explanation for just about everything. Think Elijah Dukes, a volatile baseball player who we've been talking about over in the UPL - lots of ability (power, speed), probably some negatives with genetics (dad was a murderer), and likely a lousy environment (dad was a murder). I haven’t read the Nisbett book (though I’m familiar with his research), but the Kristof piece paints too rosy a picture. There’s a limit to potential growth (i.e., environmental benefits to IQ), and when you sell the idea that there isn’t, you create all sorts of issues, particularly over-inflating self-esteem to the point of entitlement. Interestingly (and probably tangentially) I suspect that there’s a bias toward socialist solutions, rather than solutions that push individuals to do more. His writing:

“Good schooling correlates particularly closely to higher I.Q.’s. One indication of the importance of school is that children’s I.Q.’s drop or stagnate over the summer months when they are on vacation (particularly for kids whose parents don’t inflict books or summer programs on them).”

His statements suggest that no matter how good the schooling is that there’s fadeout (the IQ drop). It’s parenting (pushing individuals to do more) that keeps IQ up (there was a Freakonomics posting on this, at some point, right?). But the next thought pushes these intensive schools (changing the system). I think that’s a bad leap of logic. My interpretation of that fact is that we need to educate the parents. And if I were writing an article on the issue, my next sentence would be about how there should be more of an emphasis on the interaction of parenting and education, not the need for more intensive schools. But I suppose that's a matter of philosophy. If you believe that the system needs to be changed at a more macro level, then you change schools. If you believe that individuals need to be pushed in their micro environments, then you push interventions that breed parental involvement.

More Specific Thoughts
One inherent issue is what IQ actually measures. Generally, IQ measures intelligence, which is the way that Kristof has written up the article. However, I think that most folks who study intelligence break intelligence down into at least 2 dimensions (the dichotomy that I have described in the past is this fluid vs. crystallized intelligence). I think that it’s more accurate to say that genetics correspond to fluid intelligence, whereas the environment heavily drives crystallized intelligence. So there's one major issue there. But where are the changes in IQ coming from? Again, I’d like to see the data on that.

Moreover, the use of statement's like, “Another indication of malleability is that I.Q. has risen sharply over time. Indeed, the average I.Q. of a person in 1917 would amount to only 73 on today’s I.Q. test. Half the population of 1917 would be considered mentally retarded by today’s measurements,” drive me nuts. It's, at best, naïve, and at worst, disingenuous. I.Q. is a measurement of a construct that's based on intelligence/ability. I.Q. is defined such that average I.Q. is 100, and the standard deviation is 15. So, if you were to take the entire population in 1917, and have them take any I.Q., test, the average would be 100, and the standard deviation would be 15. I.Q. must stay the same, by definition. Now, I think that the intended idea is that the average amount of knowledge and analytical capability has increased since 1917.

Does this make sense? If half the people in 1917 were retards, then probably another half, or about 3/4 of the population, 90 years before that (in 1827) were also retards. And about 7/8 of the people in 1737 were retards. And about 15/16 of the people were retards in 1647, etc... how in the world did we ever evolve? We should be sitting around a pile of unlit wood, dragging square boxes along the ground, and trying to club elephants for food. How do you explain the wisdom of classic literature and religious texts?

I'd quibble a little about the amount of knowledge that differs. The amount of knowledge that people have today should be more than what people had 90 years ago. There has been a great advancement in the amount of knowledge that is known by man. So, it follows that this should trickle down to what each individual knows. However, I'd argue that how much an individual actually knows doesn't really change a whole lot. The human brain can do only so much. Things like short-term and long-term memory are generally similar, across individuals (at least in the same order of magnitude). I'd say that what is important to know has changed quite a bit. If you put that corresponding expectation of knowledge on a test, then of course, people of different eras will do poorly. But that can generally be learned pretty quickly.

And more problematic is the raw cognitive ability that people possess. Things like literacy and numeracy were not as prevalent 90 years ago. But does that account for raw cognitive ability? Or are IQ tests a function of the ability to navigate the written world? And do we really think that is the only form of intelligence? I don't know, but when I look at this sort of article, I just roll my eyes. How do you measure the intelligence required to domesticate animals or to develop agriculture? We don't do that particularly well.

Personally, when I read about intelligence and human ability, I prefer things like this classic article on intelligence.

-Chairman

Rounding Third...

I have to say that it's been quite a run for me out here in the cornfields. College has been 13 of the best years of my life. Happily, my 14th year in college will be highly paid and in warm weather. Sadly, I'll be expected to do a little work. Not much, mind you. But still.

I stopped by the Graduate College earlier today, and got some good news: only two minor edits for my dissertation, and both were on the table of contents. So, really, all I need to do is to make the edits, print up another version (plus a corrected TOC for my 1st copy), print up a few extra title pages, and fill out a little paperwork, and then I can deposit. The only bad news? We're still waiting on one signature from a committee member who's out in Asia right now. So, unfortunately, it looks like I'll need someone to drop off the materials for me whenever that piece of paper comes in. But it's not a huge deal.

And I suppose that I really should get things organized so that when the folks come to pack up my apartment on Friday, I'll be ready. Of course, I'm also planning on hitting the links on Thursday... and probably Friday, if you had to know it. Because you know that I'm good like that. In any case, the movers come by on Saturday to load up the place... and I'll probably go shoot another round after they get done. I'm not much into that Nostradamus stuff, but I will go out on a limb and predict a lot of golf in the near future. I'll hang on to a light car load of essentials that I'll keep with me for my week on the road (going to visit the parents in SC), but it'll be strange w/out a TV for the weekend. But the interesting question is what it says about me if I need to hang on to two laptops and a wireless router?

What's going to be a pain in the ass is getting all of my junk organized. I really should go through and take one more load of crap to Goodwill/the dumpster. I may do that tonight real quick. I have all sorts of clothes and a whole bunch of stuff that should be donated and/or burned. But I should have time to take care of that on Thursday night, when I'm unplugging all of my devices so that things can be packed up quickly. Tonight's excitement is to go into the office, clean out a bunch of crap, trash the rest, and print out the rest of stuff I need for the dissertation. Fun times.

But you know what? All of this stuff will get done. And I'll get a lot of golf in before I'm headed for my new home.

-Chairman