The following excerpts should sum up my objection to the MinisterMonkey Mentor’s views on Eugenics, and also the use of academic achievements or knowledge as a measure of intelligence. In fact, it is also the basis of my argument against IQ tests as a means of measuring intelligence, my stand that there are no evidence to determine that intelligence can be passed genetically and thus my answer to iantimothy‘s question on Plurk: ‘So you think genes aren’t important?’
First, even our cognitive abilities as adults are heavily influenced during childhood, making it hard to discern any influence of preexisting genetic differences. Second, tests of cognitive abilities (like IQ tests) tend to measure cultural learning and not pure innate intelligence, whatever that is.
– Guns, Germs and Steel, Prologue: Yali’s Questions [p. 20]
… One day, when my companions of the Foré tribe and I were starving in the jungle because another tribe was blocking our return to the supply base, a Foré man returned to camp with a large rucksack full of mushrooms he had found, and started to roast them. Dinner at last! But then I had an unsettling thought: what if the mushrooms were poisonous?
I patiently explained to me Foré companions that I had read about some mushrooms’ being poisonous, that I had heard of even expert American mushroom collectors’ dying because of our difficulty in distinguishing safe from dangerous mushrooms, and that although we were all hungry, it just wasn’t worth the risk. At that point one of my companions got angry and told me to shut up and listen while they explained some things to me. After I had been quizzing them for years about names of hundreds of trees and birds, how could I insult them by assuming they didn’t have names for different mushrooms? Only Americans could be so stupid as to confuse poisonous mushrooms with safe ones. They went on to lecture me about 29 types of mushroom species, each species in the Foré language, and where in the forest one should look for it. This one, the tánti, grew on trees, and it was delicious and perfectly edible.
– Guns, Germs and Steel, Chapter 8: Apples or Indians [p. 143 – 144]
Thinking back, I would admit I had argued like a fool when I disagreed with iantimothy. I should have simply said when you point out my ignorance, would you not be kind enough to show me what I am ignorant about? instead of saying I don’t need to show you nothing to show there is nothing.. Thus, I will now revisit this matter and put it down on a blog post. That way, if iantimothy need to further elaborate on the matter in a blog post of his own, he will not have to guess or speculate on why I so violently object to the Monkey Mentor’s views.
In summary, my entire premise is simply built upon these points – i.e. there is no sure method to measure intelligence (be it an IQ test or academic achievements), and that any research purportedly proving the link between genes and intelligence are questionable as a result of our cognitive abilities being heavily influenced during childhood.
I am not an expert in the field of intelligence studies so I do not know what is the best method to measure intelligence nor am I in the position to propose another. Talent and aptitude may somewhat prove intelligence, but where Xiang Yu (项羽) and Mark Anthony are talents when it comes to matters of conducting war, they definitely showed a lack of aptitude in matters political. In short, by saying that only graduates should marry graduates or else you should fear that your own offspring might not get to university is erroneous and myopic. What is the point of producing certain talented people whose aptitude is limited to specific fields? That is hardly going to give us an intelligent people as some freak occurrence in nature or rapid changing circumstances might render such talents and aptitude a handicap, much like a person who is nimble may become completely clumsy in the absence of light, where a blind man would out manoeuvre him. Would you thus consider blindness a positive trait and thus have them breed like wild rabbits?
Other than talent and aptitude, how fast a person learn a completely new skill and then put it to use to deal with the problems he face may also show how intelligent that person is… so does how one use his existing and even limited abilities to survive in the face of adversity may also prove it. And when we put all of these together, a person possessing all of these capabilities are far and few in between. In other words, the Monkey Mentor’s version of Eugenics may breed one kind with just a limited set of capabilities that he consider as being intelligent, while breeding out the rest of the ‘intelligent traits’ which are also useful.
And based on the above I object to the Monkey Mentor’s comments. And I reiterate, Eugenics is just plain dead wrong.
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集结号 (Assembly): 冯小刚导演的一部电影。画面的真实性和拍摄手法可以媲美好莱坞的《雷霆救兵》[Saving Private Ryan]。故事的背景是中国内战时期在汶河一带共军华中野战军 (中野) 对抗国民党军的一场战役。故事主角连长谷之地奉团长之命死守汶河一侧的阵地，主要目的是阻碍国民党军的进攻，让在华北的中野的主力能够有次序的撤退，不至于全军覆没。 结果是谷的部队完全被敌人全部歼灭，连发命令死守阵地的团长也战死。从昏迷中清醒的谷，由于身上穿着敌军的军服而无法证明他的身份。而且瞬息万变的战事以及部队不断的改编，使到上级无法证实谷的部队编号是否存在。唯一存活的谷由于无法证明部下的英勇牺牲和让他们得到应得的奖赏和追思感到的悲愤莫名、无奈和懊恼。无助的谷只好继续活下去，加入了援朝的自愿部队，希望他的忠诚能让上级调查他的背景来为他的部队平反。 虽然这换来了和他一起作战的部队的军官对他的信任和赏识，但这并没有令共党政治部撇开谷是穿着敌军的军服被发现的过去而给予他应得的礼遇。谷认为除非部队的遗骸被发现，过去的部下将永远得不到到应得的礼遇。所以谷回到了汶河，企图从记忆里找出当年埋葬部队尸骸的煤矿入口，把部队的遗骸挖出来证明他的过去… |
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《集结号》和《雷霆救兵》有许多相同之处。里面有面对战斗恐惧的指导员，有反对射杀战俘的士兵，有血淋淋的伤者和被炮弹轰掉了半身但还奄奄一息的士兵。电影的画面让人看到了战争丑陋的一面。但是谷的遭遇也让我们看到中国一贯对为国牺牲的人民如何的不重视。谷的遭遇让我想起了，过去几十年来大陆方面如何抹杀了抗日战争时期国民党部队的事迹。难道就因为政见不同，别人为国家为民族的牺牲就不算数了吧？国民党新一军阵亡战士的公坟今天被如何的糟蹋，让人痛心。 看看日本吧。就算战败，也虽败犹荣。当年的日本皇军今天还在靖国神社里被供奉为神呢。如果做不到对为国捐躯的死者尊敬，那么又让将来的国民为了什么来为他们的祖国上战场呢？ |
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