[extropy-chat] it's all understandable, except

[Lee Corbin]

Eugen writes first about education.  In another post I'll reply to his
remarks concerning how totally Doomed we are.

> Genes are meaningless, if you're looking at poorly socialized kids
> with a migrant background entering the school system, which is already
> contaminated with a couple of decades of similiar toxic problems.
> Teaching is traditionally a well-paid high-prestige job in Germany,
> but the schools have gotten so bad it's hard to find new personnel,
> especially in hard sciences.

I have to take your word for it in the case of Germany.  Very
interesting. Perhaps others will comment.

But bad in what way?  Compared to German schools of the 80s?
Of the 50s?   Just how have they deteriorated.  Dropping standards
to accomodate immigrants?

> For genes to wield their full potential you need a stable, supportive
> environment even pre-birth, and an educational system which challenges
> each kid individually.

Ah, another idealist off in dream-land.  Please, stick to what is
feasible.

> The genes have remained basically the same, 

Yes the genes have stayed the same.  But the skills that are needed
have not.  We don't need manual laborers so much anymore.

>> And furthermore, contrary to what Eugen states, the limiting factor
>> *is* what is between the ears.  Researchers on intelligence admit,
> 
> Correct, but irrelevant. The bottlenecks are elsewhere. As long as
> the environment is the same no amount of perfect genes will matter.
> You don't need perfect genes to be a highly productive individual.
> Yes, for some things you need genius, but only in trace amounts.

Right.  I'm not talking IQ 150 and above.  There are so few of them
anyway. And they're very idiosyncratic to boot.  I'm talking about
the great dearth of people between 120 and 150 that are in such
short supply.

Only 1 person in 20 is as smart as George Bush (IQ about 125 or so).
And you can dream-up all the ideal schools you want, and you aren't
going to change this.  Only GE or eugenics can change this.

If in the 1870s the west had listened to Francis Galton instead of
Karl Marx, the west wouldn't be in the predicament it's in.

Lee