Customer Reviews:
A Must-Read For Anyone Who Cares About This Planet.......2007-08-20
This book is both fantastic and worrisome in its import. Painstakingly documented, it sounds a warning call that must be heeded. As well-read as I consider myself to be, I was surprised at how much I didn't know about the extent to which we've ALREADY messed up this Earth, biologically. Knowing how seriously we've messed up other species, one wonders to what extent the lessons also pertain to us. That is: it makes you realize that a lot of what we see going on today might have been the results of the seeds we've been sowing. Very thought-proviking.
Too Much Information!.......2007-06-24
Reading this book is like reading a scientific paper...boring! I think the idea of collaborating and telling a story could be a good idea, but this one doesn't work and is a real snooze-fest. There was too many incidents cited (yes, we get it, DDT is bad)that it took too long to get to the conclusions. It also didn't help that the type was fairly small and difficult to read.
This would be a good book if you wanted to write a term paper and needed a source for your topic and bibliography.
An excellent "Things that make you go Hmmm...." book.......2007-05-02
While this is nearly 10 years old it shows that people had been connecting the dots (and vigorously denying) synthetic hormones (and other chemicals that mimic the effects of hormones) in the environment for more then 60 years. Now in 2007 this book is still a good read, if a little outdated. Currently the science has evolved FAR past "what if" to "what now?" When Native Innuit populations show traces of Teflon and flame-retardant chemicals in their blood and breast milk, one truly understands that the diaper this planet wears is forever and mommy isn't going to come change it any time soon.
Still, the pro-industry flunkies will cry and cry. "You'll ruin the economy!" they shout from the rooftops. Well my favorite part of this book so far is the allegory: "A robber sticks his gun in your ribs and says 'your money or your life' what do you choose? It doesn't matter if you're an investment banker, a soccer-mom or a homeless person, the choice is ALWAYS that no amount of money is worth your life; you can make more money later as long as you're still alive..."
4 stars instead of 5 for being 10 years old and not up with the more current research, but certainly a good place to start if you are interested in the subject.
the problems with artificial hormones.......2006-11-15
In their book "Our Stolen Future," Colborn and his coauthors paint a devastating portrait of all the woes that can arise when chemicals that act like hormones are released into nature; animals become impotent, suffer other endocrine disruptions, get cancer, or give birth to offspring with birth defects. The devastation they describe is not much different from the devastation described in "Silent Spring," and give reason to reconsider how we treat the environment. Sometimes it would be better not to do something until we are sure that it is safe, rather than to do something until we are sure that it is not safe.
I was slightly surprised that the book goes into great depth about the havoc that artificial hormones can wreak when they are released into nature, but doesn't contemplate whether artificial hormones may have a downside when prescribed as medicines. Perhaps this will be the subject of another book.
What, me worry? .......2006-06-21
Stolen future? What future? This excellent book documents the threat posed to human reproduction and fetal development by the synthetic chemicals first created in the '30s. Read this along with Christopher Bryson's "The Fluoride Deception," and you will agree with me: we are f***ed. But then, throw in a little eschatology from the Maya, the Buddhists, the Hopis, Edgar Cayce, Sir Isaac Newton, and the Book of Revelations (among others) and perhaps you will conclude with me: it really doesn't matter anyway. Why? Because we were already f***ed --- long before we started filling out bodies with toxic waste disguised as food and drink.
Dear Reader, if you pooh-pooh the notion that we have about 2,380 days left before the Big Finale (as of this writing), then take the message of this book to heart --- before it's too late.
Average customer rating:
- What I want To Know
- Not the racist book that racists think it is, or wants it to be
- Tuskegee Airmen -- I just have one question.
- The truth is hard to bear
- General Intelligence Isn't all there is, but it's definately important
|
Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book)
Richard J. Herrnstein , and
Charles Murray
Manufacturer: Free Press
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Similar Items:
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The Bell Curve Wars: Race, Intelligence, and the Future of America (A New Republic Book)
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The Mismeasure of Man
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Race, Evolution, and Behavior : A Life History Perspective (2nd Special Abridged Edition)
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Measured Lies: The Bell Curve Examined
ASIN: 0684824299 |
Book Description
The seminal book about IQ and class that ignited one of the most explosive controversies in decades, now updated with a new Afterword by Charles Murray
Breaking new ground and old taboos, Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray tell the story of a society in transformation. At the top, a cognitive elite is forming in which the passkey to the best schools and the best jobs is no longer social background but high intelligence. At the bottom, the common denominator of the underclass is increasingly low intelligence rather than racial or social disadvantage.
The Bell Curve describes the state of scientific knowledge about questions that have been on people's minds for years but have been considered too sensitive to talk about openly -- among them, IQ's relationship to crime, unemployment, welfare, child neglect, poverty, and illegitimacy; ethnic differences in intelligence; trends in fertility among women of different levels of intelligence; and what policy can do -- and cannot do -- to compensate for differences in intelligence. Brilliantly argued and meticulously documented, The Bell Curve is the essential first step in coming to grips with the nation's social problems.
Customer Reviews:
What I want To Know.......2007-09-25
After reading the book the one item that springs to mind is.....
Since the data was published what do real results show?
I see a lot of people either supporting or attacking the methods used in the book. To me this is unecessary if we just look at what the real world shows us. (I will admit I have not)
To me the analysis gives us a good place to start but unless true relevence is found one way or the other its meaningless.
Its like this, I can show you a whole range of things that you can do to (in theory) your car to make it run faster.However if we never measure the cars preformance all we have is me telling you a bunch of stuff. In the meantime we'll have a bunch of other mechanics come on and say, no what he is tellng you is wrong and here is why (debate)
Not the racist book that racists think it is, or wants it to be.......2007-07-07
I read this book after getting into debates with rabid bigots filled with hate, some of whom mentioned this book.
This book is a perfect example of precisely how a book can be misused and misinterpreted. Although I vehemently disagree with the authors (Herrnstein and Murray) regarding the validity of IQ testing, and whether such a test can accurately measure human intelligence, and believe their conclusions are simply in accordance with their presupposed notions, I suppose the book is worth a read.
The vast majority of the racists who quote this book believe that Blacks, and Latinos are *intrinsically* inferior to Europeans and Asians, and that there is nothing we can do about it. However, the authors attribute the closing of scores among Blacks and whites to improvements in school quality, economic condition, enhanced health, and the abolishment of hundreds of years of state-enforced racism. The infamous "15 point gap" that exists in IQ tests will probably close through environmental changes, the authors write, and credit the Flynn Effect to this phenomenon. They also acknowledge that an IQ gap does not make one "smarter", as they note that this generation's grandparents scores 15 points lower, yet one would be absurd to believe that their grandparents are "dumber" than their grandchildren.
As Thomas Sowell (a man I'm not fond of, but nevertheless) noted in his critique of this book, European immigrants tested poorly in the 1930s, as well as Jewish people during World War 1. However, once they assimilated into white society, and identified themselves as "white", and went to the best schools, had better jobs, etc., their IQ testing accelerated. Also, during World War 1, northern Blacks tested better than southern whites in "intelligence tests", which was apparently due to, yes, you guessed it...environmental factors.
As I stated earlier, there are many unsatisfactory elements about The Bell Curve, such as their reverence to Philippe Rushton, a psychologist (NOT a biologist, zoologist, and anthropologist) who claimed that Black men had small brains because they had large genitals. Anyone remotely familiar with Rushton's "work" knows his obsession with Black/African sex, for some reason, and his manufactured correlation between brain power/[...] sizes is absolutely absurd and unscientific. Again, he's not a scientist, yet is venerated in this book. Also, a few years after this book, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, using the very same longitudinal database that Murray and Herrnstein used for their research, looked at the same data and were able to take what Murray and Herrnstein didn't mention in their book from the data, which was that when African Americans in the US go to college, they raise their IQ four times faster than whites who go to college and in the process close the average IQ gap between whites and blacks in half in just four years. That would not be possible if IQ was fundamentally related to biology and yet it is exactly what the very database that Murray and Herrnstein used, actually demonstrated the average gap, which used to be back in the old studies, fifteen points between whites and blacks.
Anton Batey
Anton_Batey@yahoo.com
Tuskegee Airmen -- I just have one question........2007-05-29
I just have one question. Why is it that the Tuskegee Airmen all scored an average of 95% to 100% percentile(must I mention,scoring higher then their white counterpart)to be allowed near fighter planes and then accused of having cheated all took the test again to score 100%? How does that the bell curve merde, factor this fact in?
The truth is hard to bear .......2007-04-02
This book has raised enormous controversy. One reason it does is that its findings violate one of the premises of the American democratic creed. i.e. that it is only social discrimination which prevents all individuals from achieving high levels of success in life.. A corollary of this is that through social programs each and every ethnic and religious group can be made equal to others in achievements.
Herrnstein and Murray making detailed studies of Intelligence come up with a different in a sense more painful truth.
There are genetic differences in ability and intelligence between various groups which can be clearly measured , and these have profound influence on the subsequent achievement levels of the individuals who belong to these groups. Moreover in the United States today there is an increasing stratification whereby the more intelligent associate more with, work more with , marry more with the more intelligent. The groups of lower intelligence suffer in many ways including in terms of criminal behavior.
Herrnstein and Murray point to the dangers of a two tier society , but inherent in their data is a sense of its inevitability.
This book is impressively organized, argued and written.
Its conclusions will not make a lot of people happy, but it seems that they are largely correct.
So far as I know no major research has emerged which refutes them.
General Intelligence Isn't all there is, but it's definately important.......2007-03-08
THE BELL CURVE is about the importance of general intelligence, sometimes derided as "book smarts," to real life experience. The idea of a general intelligence factor that is variable, substantially heritable, and likely has a heritable variability between ethnic groups is heresy to both Left and Right.
The Left dislikes the ideas in THE BELL CURVE for obvious reasons--if general intelligence is real and important, and variable between ethnic groups (and its components variable between the sexes), much of the moral element of left-wing and social constructionist ideology gets exposed for what it is: moralistic B.S. Open borders, multiculturalism, radical feminism, and constant, radical increases on health care and education spending go out the window. This is not to say that THE BELL CURVE automatically means closed borders, much less white, Ashkenazi Jewish, or East Asian supremacy, but it does mean that expecting (for example) that the average Mexican peasant (or even the average person of European or East Asian descent) will be able to get a degree at an elite univeristy in the natural sciences, or even become an effective Assistant Manager at Wal-Mart or Target, is ridiculous.
Many people on the Right will also have a big beef with THE BELL CURVE. If general intelligence, and other forms of inherited ability (not discussed in THE BELL CURVE itself, but certainly related and relevant), are major factors in life success, it questions much of "rugged individualist" right-wing ideology. Success isn't necessarily due to "free will," "just working hard" (though working hard certainly helps), or "pulling oneself up by his bootstraps," and it's certainly not related to staying away from the "evils" or sex, drugs, and rock and roll, let alone other religious fundie demons like junk food and violent or war-based video games and "sleazy" TV shows ranging from "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill" to "South Park."
To sum it up, what psychologists call intelligence or g is real. It is substantially heritable, and it varies between ethnic groups. The sub-components of g (e.g. Math, Verbal, and Spacial Intelligence) vary between the sexes. While "g" is certainly not all there is to life, heritable factors, as well as environmental factors (though not necessarily obvious ones), are very important. To ignore the heritability and importance of general intelligence, or other forms of intelligence that are harder to measure, is to waste your and others' resources.
Book Description
This is a much-needed, hands-on manual for the gardener who wishes to work in conscious partnership with the overlighting nature intelligences. Based on the author's many years of experience, The Perelandra Garden Workbook is filled with practical techniques, fresh perspectives on traditional organic gardening methods, and an infectious sense of joy and humor.
Interspersed throughout this book are many direct communications from the different levels of nature intelligence. Each reveal universal natural law and a cosmic wisdom applicable not only to gardens dug in soil, but to every garden planted in the larger soil of life experience. Truly, a book for everyone seeking to connect into the larger picture of life.
Customer Reviews:
Grounds-up teaching and learning.......2007-08-27
Terrific explanations and a palpable enthusiasm for nature as well as gardening. I learned so much and am feeling much more confident about gardening than I ever would have believed possible. I think the concept of "co-creative" work with nature is positively the way we need to go.
Reality Check........2006-04-22
If, like most people, you're a weekend gardner and don't have a lot of time, then this book is not for you. And if you do have a lot of time to spend on your garden, then you don't need this book.
Amazing and Enlightening.......2006-04-21
This is an absolutely amazing book that allows anyone involved with gardening to create a perfectly balanced garden that is in perfect harmony with nature.
The author describes useing kinesiology which is a type of muscle testing (virtually the same as using a dowsing rod or a handheld pendulum which i prefer) to contact and communicate with various earth intelligences such as Devas and nature spirits.
The gardener essentially puts 100% of his faith into the hands of these nature spirits and allows them to make virtually every single decision involving the design, planning, implementation, maintenance of the entire garden project! Although it sounds insane, it apparently provides a highly balanced and successful garden compared to the typical human dictatorship over nature typically utilized by 21st century gardeners and farmers.
While reading this book i couldn't help but realize early on that this book has very far reaching implications into many various aspects of humanity such as healing for example. It can be used in so many different ways that could be applied to any subject matter with slight modification of the basic techniques.
I plan on using the processes in this book on a new garden project and find out for myself just how effective it really is. Apparently the author has been doing it and perfecting the techniques for the last 30 years successfully!
I especially would recommend this book to anyone interested in contacting any nature intelligences such as devas, nature spirits, faeries, elementals, etc.. It appears to me that this book (possibly unknowingly) bridges a huge gap between the science behind co-creative gardening and the mystical and magical worlds of the faeries.
The other part of life........2006-02-23
Unless we open up, we will never begin to understand life in all its forms.
A great book for learning and practice with Nature........2003-12-02
This book is higly beneficial to
get practical goals with Nature.
Plants and flowers can really grow
higher and more beautifull than normal.
These are excellent books to read and
practice -Garden Work Books I and II.
Average customer rating:
- A work of art
- Beautiful and Profound
- for those hungering to travel deeper
- The missing secrets of the plants
- Overall ok, not consistent, not visionary
|
The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature
Stephen Harrod Buhner
Manufacturer: Bear & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Accessories:
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RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device
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ASIN: 1591430356
Release Date: 2004-10-27 |
Book Description
Reveals the use of direct perception in understanding Nature, medicinal plants, and the healing of human disease
• Explores the techniques used by indigenous and Western peoples to learn directly from the plants themselves, including those of Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, and Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One Straw Revolution
• Contains leading-edge information on the heart as an organ of perception
All ancient and indigenous peoples insisted their knowledge of plant medicines came from the plants themselves and not through trial-and-error experimentation. Less well known is that many Western peoples made this same assertion. There are, in fact, two modes of cognition available to all human beings--the brain-based linear and the heart-based holistic. The heart-centered mode of perception can be exceptionally accurate and detailed in its information gathering capacities if, as indigenous and ancient peoples asserted, the heart’s ability as an organ of perception is developed.
Author Stephen Harrod Buhner explores this second mode of perception in great detail through the work of numerous remarkable people, from Luther Burbank, who cultivated the majority of food plants we now take for granted, to the great German poet and scientist Goethe and his studies of the metamorphosis of plants. Buhner explores the commonalities among these individuals in their approach to learning from the plant world and outlines the specific steps involved. Readers will gain the tools necessary to gather information directly from the heart of Nature, to directly learn the medicinal uses of plants, to engage in diagnosis of disease, and to understand the soul-making process that such deep connection with the world engenders.
Customer Reviews:
A work of art.......2007-05-14
This book is truly a beautifully written work of art. For those who are ready, it can open doors to a new way of being in the world. It will change much more than how you see nature........it will change your relationship with yourself and the world.
Beautiful and Profound.......2007-03-05
This is an intriguing book about our essential connection with the plant kingdom. Herbalists around the world are lamenting the loss of plants that have medicinal properties, some of which have not yet been discovered.
There is a great, and little explored puzzle: virtually every known group of humans has developed sophisticated plant-based medicines and agents for altering states of consciousness. Many are only used in complex mixtures. Too much of one ingredient and not enough of another, and the concoction is either inert or toxic. Yet to have found all these plants and all of their combinations by trial and error would have taken armies or researchers and hundreds of thousands of years. Throughout the world, traditional healers report that they learned about these properties from the plants themselves. They speak of using intuition and the "intelligence of the heart" for the direct perception of nature. Stephen Buhner suggests that this perception comes from the neural network within the physical heart that beats in our chests.
Throughout the book he presents countless examples of people from Thoreau to Luther Burbank and Goethe, who saw deeply into Nature, not through the intellect, but through the heart. He shows us how these people obtained their direct knowledge. It is very clear that Stephen Buhner is not reciting something that he read, but he is telling us about his own direct and deep perception of Nature. He explains how we can all share in this communion with Nature. He goes on to teach us how we, like the shamans of old, can learn the medicinal uses of plants directly from the plants themselves. He also shows us how this opening up to the world of plants can have profound effects upon us.
The fundamental premise is extremely interesting and the second part of the book is excellent. So why "only" four stars? There are two reasons. First, I am not convinced that the connection between living beings can be reduced to electromagnetic fields. The author had some excellent material, but seems almost to lose his nerve, and to try too hard to find a "scientific" explanation for his observations, while not giving enough credence to the evidence suggesting that the web of life is a more subtle underlying property of the Universe.
The second is the style of his writing. He describes the first half of the book as linear and the second half as not. He calls the two halves systole and diastole, to reflect the major cycles of the heart. And he invites the reader to read the book in any order. He tries quite deliberately to move away from a linear, verbal and analytical presentation. Many of the pages are broken up by italicized words or phrases on separate lines and quotations, poems and comments that don't always seem to be in the right place. It may be that he is trying to stir us up and make us think. Or rather to not think: to apply our intuition to his words. But it can make reading a little difficult.
Despite my two quibbles, I hope that this book is widely read for its stories, anecdotes and Buhner's encyclopedic knowledge about plants. It is an interesting but not always an easy read.
for those hungering to travel deeper.......2007-01-16
SECRET TEACHINGS is equisitely written, inspiring and offers new hope for the human species and ultimately for the planet. Buhner's poetic writing is often trance inducing. He superbly describes the territory of the sacred and makes navigation of interspecies communication easily accessible. He lays out the map so all we have to do, is the work. Reading this book, I kept hearing a voice inside saying, "I want this." I knew to what the voice was referring, a life of vastly rich and varied experiences that went far beyond the surface of ordinary daily life. The teachings in this book have become my life guide.
This work is an integration of well documented research on the heart as an organ of perception, writings by those, such as Kabir, Geothe,Thoreau, James Hillman, and others, past and present, who have travelled this way as well as the authors own poetry and life experiences.
SECRET TEACHINGS is a must read for anyone who is intersted in deepening their life experience, who is inclined to go beyond reductionist methods of being in the world and for those who hunger to feel the touch of spirit on their body.
The book is easy to read and easy to skip around in from section to section, following your heart and interests. Buhner lays out in fine detail the process of depth perception; of seeing beyond the surface of things with "the unworn sides of your eyes."
At the end of the book there are several exercises to enhance your awareness of the world while reclaiming the parts of you that have been sequestered away so that with practice, we can once again walk in the world as an integrated 360 degree personality, with joy and sponteneity.
The missing secrets of the plants.......2007-01-09
If I could, I would give the following title to this book: the missing secrets of the plants. The book is beautiful, full of poetry and quotation. But, but and but. You can buy it to reading at the airport, with long lines... If you are, like me, looking for the secret teachings of the plants, feeling the soul of it when you read it, you can not find here.
Overall ok, not consistent, not visionary.......2006-08-17
This is generally a good book to serve as an introduction to the consciousness of working with plants in a sacred manner. However the quality of writing, though well researched, does not inspire. You don't find yourself absorbed in the writing, just reading facts and stories.
There are a few practices buried within the book but they are buried. There should have been seperate areas to emphasize these practices. As an example of the writing style the chapter on healing and death talks about death and how shamans approach it for along time. Then the story about how animals created diseases and how plants offered to help people is relayed. Then the content switches back to the death topic again. The writing shows a general lack of polish and very much lacks telling you how to enter the sacred relationship yourself.
A good book, but did not live up to its potential.
If you are looking for something in this genre with much better writing ability check out Connie Grauds' Jungle Medicine (www.junglemedicine.net). From Connie you will get information that is first hand rooted in the world of shamanism.
Book Description
This national bestseller exploring the complex emotional lives of animals was hailed as "a masterpiece" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas and as "marvelous" by Jane Goodall.
The popularity of
When Elephants Weep has swept the nation, as author Jeffrey Masson appeared on Dateline NBC, Good Morning America, and was profiled in People for his ground-breaking and fascinating study. Not since Darwin's
The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals has a book so thoroughly and effectively explored the full range of emotions that exist throughout the animal kingdom.
From dancing squirrels to bashful gorillas to spiteful killer whales, Masson and coauthor Susan McCarthy bring forth fascinating anecdotes and illuminating insights that offer powerful proof of the existence of animal emotion. Chapters on love, joy, anger, fear, shame, compassion, and loneliness are framed by a provocative re-evaluation of how we treat animals, from hunting and eating them to scientific experimentation. Forming a complete and compelling picture of the inner lives of animals,
When Elephants Weep assures that we will never look at animals in the same way again.
Customer Reviews:
Insightful and fresh.......2007-09-27
Most people cling to the belief that we are the only species on the planet with the capacity for thought or emotion. In our daily experiences with animals we know that this is absurd but keep it ourselves for fear of ridicule. This book challenges those musty, Old World thoughts and fears. Even if you have already developed an enlightened compassion and ethic regarding other species, "When Elephants Weep" offers a refreshing, stimulating look at the life.
Not so great in the first place, it is now wildly outdated........2007-02-03
As someone who is studies emotions and decision making, I was looking forward to reading this book. While the author offers (and repeats, and repeats) considerable anecdotal evidence for animal emotion, there is little concrete science to support the claims.
Furthermore, the field of emotion-cognition study in humans is still coming into its own and has grown exponentially since 1996. Indeed, we now understand many human emotions better than in 1996. Naturally, when comparing humans and animal emotions, these advances dramatically change our understanding and therefore draw into question many of the inferences made in the book.
Not a great book to begin with. However, a decade after its release, it is borderline useless.
Had potential, but fell short.......2007-01-03
Having been intrigued by the title alone, I was greatly looking forward to reading this book. The book, however, did not measure up to my expectations. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson has written several books, so I would expect much better writing coming from a veteran author, but the book was poorly written and poorly put together.
The book's title and subtitle appears as though it will be simply explaining the emotional lives of animals. Seems like a fairly simple concept. The author takes a different-than-expected approach by spending much of the book putting humans down and elevating animals to an almost god-like stature in comparison. Case in point, one chapter is called "Unfeeling Brutes" in reference to humans. The book seems to be aimed at convincing the skeptic rather than simply explaining the emotions of animals. One who already recognizes the feelings in animals would read this and say "I already knew that!" several times.
The author is incredibly redundant, saying the same things over and over again, proposing the same ideas, and using several of the same examples multiple times, perhaps with different wording, to prove his point.
There are plenty of stories to provide examples of animals' emotions, some endearing, some disheartening. That said, the storiesgo into very little detail, which seems unusual for a book of this sort. For one trying to prove the importance of emotions in animals, you'd think the author would find it in his best interest to provide as many details as possible. Instead, examples are shortened anywhere from a sentence to a mere paragraph. They also hop around a lot with no real sense of connection except for the emotion they shared.
Each chapter focuses on particular emotions, and they are broken down into sections within those chapters. It gives the *appearance* of organization in the book, but doesn't follow suit. For example, one chapter focuses on shame, blushing, and hidden secrets. Each part is broken into a different section within the chapter, starting with blushing. While reading about shame (which came next), the author took a sharp turn by ending the section by discussing blushing again, having not made any prior mention of it in this "shame" section. It was very jarring, and didn't flow at all. Such is the consistency of the entire book. Some sections are entirely useless in the sense that hardly any information or evidence is given, except to ultimately say "we don't know" and telling a story or two that proves absolutely nothing. The section on religious impulse is a perfect example of this.
The end notes are also confusing. Rather than puting citations within the book, you simply have to assume that any story the author is telling will have addition bibliographic information in the end notes. You find them by referencing the page number in the end notes, and lotcating the first line of the story next to the page number. This, however, seems to be more the fault of the publisher than the author, though the author can't seem to make up his mind if he will reference a work within the chapters or leave it for the end notes as he does both.
I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, particularly his intent on proving the "equality" of man and beast (though he fights for this equality throughout the book, he tries to almost cover it up by saying that we're simply "distinct" from one another). It IS wonderful to see a piece of work out there where the title alone may get people to open their eyes and see that animals can and do feel. The book might have been more widely received, however, had the author taken some time to clean it up a bit and spend more time focusing on the animals and less time on the humans he argues about so much. The author is clearly passionate about this subject, judging by the other titles he has and by this book. I am hoping that he will work on his skills as an author so that his next book on the subject will be much more refined. He has a lot to offer.
Looking for animal anecdotes?.......2006-10-31
First off, I am an animal lover. I've had pets most of my life so this book is very much like preaching to the choir. It would be hard for me to believe that my pets, and animals in general, do not have emotions. I thought this book would be black & white concerning that issue but it is very fair to the opinion that animals do not have emotions. The title suggestions that the opinion of this author is animals are emotional however she offers several stories and possibilities to keep the book balanced. I learned quite a lot from this book. It leans towards "animals are emotional" but it's not as black & white as I thought which made the book very interesting
I got this book because I wanted to read lots of stories of animals and their emotions but I didn't exactly get that. The first couple of chapters are void of emotional animal stories and once the book finally does start with the stories, they are lacking details. I felt as though the author wanted to get as much in as possible. Quantity over quality.
I'm still giving this book a good rating because I did have a great time reading it.
Activism Masquarading as Science..........2006-10-20
Knowing the author by name and by reputation, I borrowed this book from a friend rather than contributing to him financially by paying for it. It's just the kind of pseudo-scientific garbage I'd expect when someone schooled in Philosophy is allowed to write a book on a scientific topic. The serious question of whether - and to what degree - nonhuman animals experience emotion should be entered into not only with skepticism, but with knowledge of how Science should be carried out, and how to go about evaluating the data that results. Masson is qualified to do NONE of these, and seems utterly unaware of that handicap.
It's precisely what I'd expect from someone who romanticizes the barbaric acts of the Animal Liberation Front, however, a terrorist group that firebombs research facilities and university labs, then enters high schools and teaches those same tactics to our children. To my mine, Masson should share a prison cell for supporting them in his idiotic writings.
Amazon.com
When Eugene Linden was writing The Parrot's Lament--a book subtitled "And Other True Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity"--he enjoyed joking around with his 2-year-old daughter Sofia. "Are you a rutabaga?" "I'm not a rutabaga!" she would giggle. "Are you a waterbug?" "I'm not a waterbug!" Soon, Sofia learned to riff off her father's teasing: "I'm not a rutabaga; Daddy is a rutabaga!" or the truly insightful, "I'm not a rutabaga; the baby is a rutabaga. I'm a waterbug!"
As a passionate and accomplished student of animal intelligence since the '70s, Linden--of course--couldn't resist comparing Sofia's reasoning to that of an ape, puzzling over the cognitive cusp upon which she teetered. And it's this affectionate but knowledgeable analysis, the gentle transition from rutabagas to metacognition and emergent symbolic ability, that makes The Parrot's Lament so satisfying, sentimental but still scientifically solid. The science of consciousness and animal intelligence is contentious, but many in the field--Linden included--deeply suspect that animals know more than we can verify. Linden lays down the science with clarity and good humor, but he leaves it to his animal coauthors, the amorous dolphins, escape-artist orangs, enigmatic cats, and lying hyenas that populate the book's scores of anecdotes, to make his argument. --Paul Hughes
Book Description
A gorilla shrewdly sells back a missing key chain to the highest bidder. An orangutan picks a lock to let himself out of his zoo enclosure and two elephants adopt a tag-team strategy to keep their handlers from putting them back into theirs. In The Parrot's Lament, noted environmentalist Eugene Linden offers more than one hundred true anecdotes about animal acts of cooperation, heroism, escape--even tales of deception or manipulation of human beings. Drawing on the first-person experiences of veterinarians, field biologists, researchers, and trainers, Linden has compiled a warmly entertaining and powerfully persuasive argument for animal consciousness that, while not human, far exceeds what humans usually grant animals. Scientifically sound and emotionally compelling, The Parrot's Lament contains remarkable stories that are sure to resonate with animal lovers, turning skeptics everywhere into believers.
"Eugene Linden reveals how animals demonstrate aspects of intelligence as they escape from, cheat, and outfox humans." --Time magazine
"These amazing true stories confirm what many of us always suspected--that animals would make better humans than most humans would." --Carl Hiaasen
Customer Reviews:
They're smarter than you think!.......2006-11-14
This is a wonderful book. Having had companion animals all my life, I've never had any doubt whatsoever that our four-legged and/or feathered friends have a lot more going on in their little heads than some people give them credit for. Just because an animal can't use human words doesn't mean they can't think, feel, or communicate; and this book demonstrates that very well. My only "complaint," such as it is, is that there was no reference whatsoever to a parrot's lament. This rather disappointed me since I have a companion parrot, have read a lot about parrots, and was interested to hear Mr. Linden's story about a lamenting bird. Other than that, it's a great book!
My Goats Bedevil Me!.......2005-05-31
I suspect that my goats have me figured and are now trying to outsmart me. Apparently they don't think it's very hard. Because of the steep hills, hollows and giant boulders here at Flying Goat Ranch, the goats' territory is not securely fenced. Down by the road, where there's little to entice a hungry goat, there's just a wire to let them know their boundary. If I appear when they are outside this line, they crawl back under the wire and scoot up the hill. On the other hand, at the upper end of the ranch, the neighbor's fence is more substantial, but quite old and full of holes. I've tried to patch them, but the goats always find a new outlet so they can explore those greener pastures. If I confront them outside of this fence, they play dumb and wander back down along the fence line toward the front of our place, as if they don't know how to get back inside. Even if I approach them sounding the dinner bell (in response to which which they normally fly straight to their food area), they will still take this indirect and ineffective route, rather than take the quickest way to the food--through the opening of the fence. I suspect they don't want me to know their secret outlet, So I hide while I ring the bell and trick them into taking the quickest way back--the fence hole they came through--and from my hideout I discover their secret opening.
A recent book has collected many stories better than to demonstrate that animals possess several aspects of intelligent awareness, including a sense of humor as well as the ability to deceive. The Parrot's Lament and other true tales of animal intrigue, intelligence, and ingenuity (Dutton) gets its title from a story about a African Grey parrot, Bongo Marie. Its owner had a number of birds at her house, including an Amazon parrot, Paco, that Bongo Marie especially disliked. One day, the owner was removing a roast Cornish game hen from her oven when Bongo Marie flew over and shouted, "Oh no! Paco!" in an excited tone. When the owner produced Paco to show he was still alive, Bongo Marie responded in a disappointed tone, "Oh, no!" and then broke out into raucous laughter. The author of the book, Eugene Linden, an award winning science writer, has collected many of his stories from professional animal handlers (zoo keepers, animal researchers, etc.) and has included research studies, both of which provide a factual and intellectually curious tone to balance the natural sentimentality.
Escape stories involve not only animal cleverness, but also deception. In one case, for example, Fu Manchu, a male orangutan, baffled zoo keepers by his ability to open a door that allowed regular escape. Surreptitious observation revealed that he kept hidden in his cheek a secret tool: a wire he used to pick the lock.
A story of double deception among the animals themselves comes from an observation station created by Jane Goodall in the wilds of Tanzania. Just at the moment that one chimpanzee found a cache of food, a more dominant chimp appeared on the scene. The first chimp walked away from the cache and acted nonchalantly until the second chimp left the scene. When the coast was clear, the first chimp went over to the food and began to eat. However, the second chimp had only appeared to have left. He was observed to have hidden himself in the bushes and spied on the first chimp to learn of its deception. When the secret was exposed, the dominant chimp returned to the scene and claimed the food for himself.
Pet owners often attribute to their animals more intelligence, awareness and cunning than psychologists think they deserve. In the academic community, animal awareness is still as much an anathema as ESP. I don't think the church is as against animal awareness as much as is the university, even though it was the church who invented animal dumbness to create a spiritual gap between them and us. But evidence is mounting to force a conclusion that animals do think, have feelings, and are creative. Some animals, such as chimps and parrots, are even able to learn how to use symbolic language intelligently. Their ability to deceive, as cute or unattractive as it may be, is a quite important clue about their minds. The act of deception shows an awareness of the mental states of others and an understanding of how those mental states can be misled. My goats seem to assume that as long as I don't see them walk through the fence, I won't know there's a hole in it, so they seem to act so as to plant a false belief in my mind.
At a time when threats to the welfare of animals abound, it's good to hear stories that speak to us about their recognizably human qualities. When we empathize with them, it helps us connect to them as beings like us. In that way they become as our teachers, inspiring us to develop a more sensitive and caring relationship with the critters with whom we share this planet.
A good book, with some unsettling errors..........2004-04-01
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this exploration of animal intelligence. Linden writes clearly and succinctly, and does a great job of weaving his stories together to support the points he makes. He has taken examples from both his personal experience, and from numerous print sources and interviews with other people. Most of the stories revolve around captive animals (as pets and in zoos - primarily because these are more easily observed), though some examples from the wild are included. In addition, an overwhelming number of these case studies involve the great apes (particularly orangutans and gorillas) and dolphins. This is to be expected, as these species are generally considered to be among the most intelligent, but there are also tales of birds, pigs, large cats, and others.
The book is divided into nine categories. He begins with "Games and Humor," in which he explores the ways in which animals amuse themselves. "Trade and Barter" was one of the most interesting chapters, detailing the elaborate systems captive apes have been taught, where they can earn "money" for performing tasks for their keepers, and then spend that money on items they want, such as treats or toys. "Deception" discusses ways animals have tried to fool both their human counterparts and others of their own species. In "Mind Reading and Mental Chess" Linden explores the extent to which animals can be aware of others' states of mind. "Cooperation in Work, Conflict, and Healing" is another particularly interesting chapter, offering examples of service animals that have gone beyond their training to help humans. Included are stories of animals that actually seek out ill and injured people in order to offer them solace. "Tools and Intelligence" concerns that very sticky topic of whether humans, as tool-users, are unique. It appears that we are not, and Linden shows us numerous cases where other species have made use of tools to achieve their aims. The seventh chapter talks of escape attempts - cases where captive animals have shown remarkable ingenuity despite all their keepers' efforts to dissuade them. "Empathy and Heroism" gives us examples of animal heroes, and finally "A Place Where Humans are the Novelty" takes a brief look at those few wild places that are still relatively untouched by humans.
While I really liked the book as a whole, however, there are a few things which cause me to knock my rating down to only four stars. First is that Linden undermines much of his own thesis by devoting an entire preface as a disclaimer that none of these stories can be used as scientific evidence. Perhaps the stories are anecdotal, but this is how much of scientific discovery begins - with pure observation of things. For those of us with wide exposure to animals, it is hard to deny that they do possess some remarkable mental capabilities, even without these stories as additional proof.
And secondly, Linden has done a very poor job of checking his facts. Many of his examples come from animals at the Woodland Park Zoo, which is very close to where I live, and which I have visited numerous times. The first error that leapt out at me is relatively minor - the orangutan Linden refers to as "Tawan" is actually named Towan. But more alarming, one of Linden's stories involves the gorillas at Woodland Park. He claims that the gorilla Jumoke, when separated from the father of her baby, repeatedly tried to climb out of her new enclosure to rejoin him. This is all well and good, except that the "father" is billed as Alafia. Anyone can check the Woodland Park Zoo's website (www.zoo.org) and see that Alafia is, in fact, a female. So something is not right with that particular story. It could be that Linden just mixed up the names - there are a LOT of gorillas at Woodland park - but errors like this make me question the accuracy of the other accounts included. Has Linden made other mistakes in his research?
Overall, though, I would still recommend this book to anyone with a casual interest animal intelligence. Some of the stories are heartwarming, others funny, and others downright amazing. The book is friendly to the layman and does not require any scientific knowledge. It is also well-written and easy to read. If you're doing a study or writing a paper, I would strongly advise you to double-check the specifics of any accounts you intend to reference (due to the above mentioned errors), but for general-interest purposes this book is good enough as is. It's a great testament to the often vastly underestimated intellectual powers of our furry, feathery, and scaly friends.
Witty and fulfilling.......2003-03-13
I enjoyed this book of anecdotes about animals behaving in smart, original, creative, and sometimes heroic ways. It was written in a very accessible style, and I enjoyed the author's sense of humor. The book was well-divided into sections: games and humor; trade and barter; deception; mind reading and mental chess; cooperation in work, conflict and healing; tools and intelligence; escapes; empathy and heroism; and a place where humans are the novelty. I would've liked to have read more about the last section, about animals who have no fear of humans in a virtually untouched jungle in Africa. The only thing that puzzled me about the book was the rather apologetic tone regarding animal intelligence. The tone tries to pacify scientists and other people who aren't convinced that animals possess intelligence. I have never doubted that they do. I'm sure most people who have pets or work around animals feel the same way. It's too bad that we have to be apologetic about believing that the important life forms that share our planet have the capacity to think and feel. As the author points out in the last chapter, based on what we're doing to the planet, it's sometimes questionable which species is really the one without intelligence.
Excellent.......2002-07-03
I have a bird myself, and though she doesn't display any higher intelligence, these stories were humerous and fascinating.
The tales of love and escape and the human qualities displayed by animals were touching, too. This book made me do something not not very many other books have done; I laughed out loud. It's a great book for those who have pets or are just interested in tales of animal empathy, deception, and cooperation and intelligence which are sometimes hysterical.
Book Description
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels around the globe-from the Amazon basin to the Far East-to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers perceive about the intelligence present in all forms of life.
Intelligence in Nature offers overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity. Indeed, bacteria, plants, animals, and other forms of nonhuman life display an uncanny proclivity for self-deterministic decisions, patterns, and actions. The Japanese possess a word for this universal knowing: chi-sei. For the first time, Narby presents an in-depth anthropological study of this concept in the West. He not only uncovers a mysterious thread of intelligent behavior within the natural world but also probes the question of what humanity can learn from nature's economy and knowingness in its own search for a saner and more sustainable way of life.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating as far as it goes.......2007-06-24
This book opens up some fascinating non-theological questions about the nature of life and how it evolves. The point of view is of an anthropologist who has studied shamanism in the Amazon and who seeks to find parallels in scientific inquiry. In doing so, he is moving from a subjective, experiential point of view of the shaman, who claims to communicate with animal spirits, to an objective observer's view of one working under the discipline of the scientific method. The first few chapters concern field trips he has taken to the Amazon basin, and the remainder deals mainly with discussions with scientists in different parts of the world who are pursuing studies that are directly concerned with intelligence in nature.
The main part of the book ponders the question of how certain brainless organisms apprehend their environments in a way that suggests that they know or can compute efficient ways to adapt. How does a slime mold solve a maze? How does ground ivy know not to sink its roots in non-nutritous ground? In order to survive and extend itself, all of life cannot afford to make poor choices on how to use its energy. But how does life, especially the simplest forms without brains, make the correct decisions? Somehow, they know how to proceed in an efficient manner despite complexity. A Japanese scientist, Toshiyuki Nakagaki, notes that most information processing in humans takes place in the unconscious, as in calculating balance in riding a bicycle.
I have not yet read the author's first book THE COSMIC SERPENT. So, perhaps I am missing something; but I thought the author left the trail he was following a bit too abruptly and lost some momentum in the last two chapters, which were mainly a recapitulation. I was looking forward to more examples from science or perhaps more about shamanism. But clearly the author is on to something here, and I enjoyed the clear, conversational writing style.
Thought Provoking.......2006-12-26
In "Intelligence in Nature" Jeremy Narby shares his journeys as he attempts to answer the question regarding whether or not there is truly intelligence in nature - Do animals have intelligence, or do they act purly on instincts alone? How about plant life, is there intelligence there?
Mr. Narby travels all over the world, to places like the Amazon, Japan, Tokyo, Great Britain, etc..., speaking with scientists & shamans alike - learning about, and sharing with us, the evidence & experiences related to this question about intelligence. What he finds is truly amazing! In the last decade or so, it appears that science is beginning to find out what shamans have said all along - that naure is intelligent, including animals, insects, plant life, and even uni-cellular organisms.
The author also discusses the benefits of science & shamanism coming together to learn from one another, as well as some of the problems encountered when attempting to answer questions dealing with intelligence, including the problem with using the word "intelligence", as it has become a "loaded word" in many countries, and the current scientific view that all things not human must by machine-like (although he also shows that this view is starting to change, with the abundance of research being contrary to this mechanistic view of nature).
Overall, I found this to be a thought provoking, interesting read. As such, I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the possibilities concerning intelligence in nature.
The intelligence: a valuated tool within the evolution! .......2006-07-09
It sounds quite pretentious to believe we are the only owners of this prodigious gift, as the intelligence is, just because we are the are the most advanced link of the chain or we have the faculty to articulate words, ideas and thoughts and to be conscious about the idea of our own death. The intelligence is a most extensive and dynamic concept.
Moreover, if you pay special attention around the paradigmatic essence of many invents, you will realize the human being has simply conveyed the paradigmatic model into the process of investigation and eventual development.
The inner mechanism of the bats and the radar; the magic of the flight of birds and the future airplanes, the nocturnal vision and the improved visual devices for troops at night. As a matter of fact, the camouflage in chameleons and other species, not only agrees with Darwin's theory but it props and affiances with major strength this statement.
On the other hand, the intelligence in the nature is just a matter of surviving, preservation and evolution of the specie; so under this perspective to deny forehand the existence of a primordial intelligence in many animal species, as soon to understand the different levels of development according the case, is just a sample of lack of perception and supine intellectual arrogance.
This book is a pleasant reading around this interesting issue, that recreates without those formal hindrances, relevant examples about this fact.
Intelligence in nature- Narby.......2006-06-05
highly recommended. this is an easy read which makes several striking points. It is quite different than his previous book, the Cosmic Serpent which is a little more academic. But Narby captures the same essence here with objective examples from the most recent research on a variety of topics. very good, the only reason it is not a 5 is because it is fairly brief. I found the footnotes to be a regirgitation of the text. I was eager to read this book because his previous one was great. But Intelligence in Nature is more of a one-two punch than a 10 round bout. But it is a potent one-two, I'd say Tyson just a little bit after his prime.
Intelligence in Nature.......2006-04-01
Readers of Jeremy Narby's first book, The Cosmic Serpent, might wonder as I did, after reading Intelligence in Nature, why he wrote this latest book. They might also wonder what happened to the spirit of personal discovery that was so present in his previous work. Where Cosmic Serpent fairly rings with the kind of unbridled enthusiasm that comes with uncovering splendid mysteries, Intelligence in Nature reads more like a transcription from the Discovery channel.
Narby's search for intelligence in nature takes us into the biology labs of a select group of scientists around the world who are trying to identify humanlike intelligence within the plant and animal life of the natural world. From the Peruvian Amazon to Japan, we meet scientists whose investigations are undoubtedly fascinating. But Narby's inquiry begins and ends with large questions hanging in the air. We learn interesting things about how slime mold, for example, appears to make decisions, or how certain tropical birds ingest clay to prevent disease in much the same way that we use antibiotics. But then what? Why is intelligence in nature such a puzzling question to science when it seems so obvious to anyone who regularly walks in the woods with a curious and observant eye? And why should it be left to mainstream science to decree the existence of something for which scientists themselves can reach no defining consensus?
Narby asks good questions in this book but he doesn't go very far with them. His tentativeness in the company of scientists is curious given the open-minded enthusiasm he brought to his experiences with shamans in the Peruvian Amazon, which he first wrote about in The Cosmic Serpent. There, far from his academic and cultural roots, he eagerly pushed the edge of conventional knowledge. Describing his experience with ayahuasca, the hallucinogenic healing plant of the Amazonian basin, Narby made a symbolic connection between the double-helix imagery of DNA and what the shamans described as the "language twisting-twisting" experience of ritualistically altered consciousness. Through their profound knowledge of the natural world, the shamans revealed a larger intelligence governing all life. Narby's experience and subsequent description of this revelation was truly inspiring.
But it's possible that The Cosmic Serpent was more than Western science could handle, which may be one reason why Intelligence in Nature is so tentative and inconclusive. Once bitten, twice shy, perhaps. In 1997, following publication of The Cosmic Serpent, Harvard biophysicist Jacques Dubochet roundly criticized Narby for insufficiently testing his hypothesis about DNA and universal intelligence. Accusing Narby of "blindly charging down the wrong path," Dubochet made it clear that in his opinion Narby had succumbed to the least responsible path of science.
But it was never meant to be a formal scientific inquiry. Jeremy Narby is an anthropologist, not a scientist, and his intent clearly was to use his own experience to inspire us to think more deeply about our intelligence and what our potential could be. Subjective experience is not admissible to established scientific methodology, which is fine for science. But for the rest of us, personal experience is the only real knowledge there is. That's where Jeremy Narby is strongest, and where he can be an inspiration for all of us. He's done it once, he can do it again.
- Swami Gopalananda
ascent magazine, Issue 27
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Science Through Multiple Intelligences: Patterns that Inspire Inquiry
Robert Barkman
Manufacturer: Zephyr Press
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Book Description
This resource helps teachers to help students become confident, competent, and responsible investigators of the world around them. Each activity is built upon an ecological principle, a scientific objective, and a national science standard. Each of the 36 outdoor lessons is accompanied by tasks, concepts, resources, and enrichment questions. Students construct knowledge from patterns they discover in lessons ranging from squirrels to leaves.
Customer Reviews:
Teacher Friendly Book.......2000-03-07
I just loved this book. I found it so easy to use. It brought the outside right into our classroom. There was enough background information in it so I could easily prepare and feel like "an expert" I don't think my students will ever go out into the woods and look at it in the same way! We became experts on mushrooms, lichens, squirrels, and much more. This book was a springboard to investigation. My students were using interaction, change, energy, diversity,human factor and adaptation when descibing their experiences with the outside. As a teacher I feel that I should always be aware of the different learning styles of children. This book made sure that I hit upon those different learning styles in my everyday teaching. A real goldmine!
Customer Reviews:
Provides Good Balance.......2007-05-16
No matter what you think about the Bell Curve Wars, it is an essential companion to the controversial Bell Curve, for it explains not only the reasoning behind it, but the motive for writing it. Several eminent intellectuals provide a panoramic perspective of the Bell Curve, and even offer some insights as to its impact on our society. Some of these BCW responses deserve special merit, like Thomas Sowell's contribution, "Ethnicity and IQ.",and "Cracking Open the IQ Box",by Howard Gardner. The book will challenge proponents and detractors of the Bell Curve alike.
Poor world.......2005-10-01
As far as I know a high IQ has never prevented anyone to rot under ground after death. Call it the great (and eternal) nothingness curve. So, just be a good person and be of some help to the people around you! World needs love not pedantic morons. Of that sort we have more than enough, dont you think?
Poor science.......2004-12-11
Though I agree with the general conclusion that environment, as religion as well as things like the quality of foods have considerable over intelligence, I do not think the authors have
rendered any particular service. The high Jewish performance
reported known thoroughout history can without serious doubt be totally explained by Judaism's teaching children to visually
"see" in the mind's eye sylogistic relationships (IF--AND--THEN as the right end, center shaft and left end of a balance). Likewise certain Hindu castes put obsessive energy and time into teaching children math to a degree that in such a study such Hindu elementry school children scored double the problems solved in a given time than the average of various countries' scores, which all gave about equal score results.
Fraser has come to a conclusion which is in essence a prejudice and has attempted to "prove" it. And the product Fraser puts out has much in common with the Ashley Montegue kind of nonsense.
I do think "The Bell Curve" has some significant insufficiencies, which I address in my review of that book, but "The Bell Curve Wars" gives a good deal of poor science or poor scholarship. There are plenty of examples of racially mixed populations in the world. And race mixing has consequences: psychological, biological and social, beyond
any test.
Not much real content-except for Sowell's critique.......2004-01-19
The Bell Curve sparked an outpouring of liberal/leftwing anguish, and it was valuable for doing such- especially in exposing the hypocritical and deceptive assumptions that
have held sway in black education, especially the farce of
"affirmative action". Much of the sound and fury deals with
"racism" for pointing out the obvious-sub par black educational performance. The torrent of liberal anguish also may have helped to bolster conservative racism. After all with the liberals so upset, there must be something to it-"methinks they doth protest too much...."
Conservative economist Thomas Sowell's analysis pronounces a pox on both houses. He welcomes the exposure of the hypocrisy surrounding Race and IQ, and notes that many critics are long on shrill emotion and short on hard analysis.
H&R he asserts, are quite accurate in their analysis and presentation of the stats. Speculative conclusions are another matter. The authors claim that the higher incidences of incarceration in black populations and their higher illegitimacy rate is largely explainable by their lower overall IQ. But this does not stand up to the record of history. Whites of similar IQ have similar anti-social patterns, but also to be remembered is the fact that there are white ethnic groups in the US that have long had a pattern of high incarceration, high out of wedlock births, high levels of crime and violence, and a general disinclination towards education and learning. These folks are conveniently forgotten in the haste of many to point the finger at blacks.
They are called the white Irish, and the patterns noted above were seen not just in America but also over in Ireland and among Irish immigrants in Britain. In Sowell's "Ethnic America" for example, he points out that the illegitimacy rates among the Irish in sections of New York in the 1800s rivaled that found among urban blacks in the late 20th century. And as for levels of violence, just one of the many Irish riots back then killed more that all the people that died during the black riots of the sixties. Phrases such as "paddywagon" or "donnybrook" "fighting Irish" are based on historical realities like these. And let's not get into historically high levels of substance abuse (alcohol) among the white Irish... Over time the Irish improved their lot and behavior over time. Blacks are no different provided they are left alone to get on with the job.
Others have used the Bell Curve stats stats to argue that black intelligence is declining- hence the high rates of illegitimacy and incarceration. None of these speculations stands up to the record of history.
In fact the intelligence scores of blacks (along with other initially low IQ whites) have been rising for decades. As Thomas Sowell points out, it is the "norming" of IQ tests from their earlier baselines so that increases are reshuffled to yield a "normal average" of 100, that has concealed black
progress. When progress is measured from the original baselines, in fact, whole nations have experienced rising IQs. This change over time does some damage to H&R conclusions. It should be noted as well that Jewish soldiers scored rather low on Army mental tests given in WWI, leading some Anglo experts to cast doubt on the mental capacity of Jews- but who's laughing now?
Nor are Jews unique as to the moving pattern of IQ scores. As far back as the First World War, black soldiers from northern states, places like New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio scored higher on mental tests than white soldiers from southern regions like Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi.
Some patronizing white liberals argue that blacks need special "help" and preferences to register improvement- hence the farce of affirmative action. But history shows nothing of the sort. Back in the Jim Crow era, when blacks were blatantly and systematically denied opportunities open to whites, blacks were making progress without any "special" help or "preferences" from whites. All they needed was an equal chance. And when they did, all black PUBLIC schools like Dunbar High in Washington DC, along with many others for example, consistently produced test scores for decades ABOVE the white average.
Sowell exhaustively documents the above in books like "Black Education", 'Ethnic America", "Race Ind IQ" and "Inside American Education".
The Other Side Reacts.......2003-03-10
This is actually an interesting reaction to the findings of the Bell Curve and I enjoyed reading the articles to see how they would attack the foundations of Hernstein and Murray's thinking. I think it's good to read several viewpoints on a subject and then make up an informed opinion from there. The arguments presented against The Bell Curve's conclusions will have to be answered by more scientific testing. I do agree that none of these people who disagree with the book are running their own scientific tests and coming up with factual conclusions that contradict The Bell Curve findings. --Who has the pseudo-science? Only time will tell.
Egalitarians have emotional reasons for accepting the conclusions that they do. They do not want to accept a rigid determinism that would suggest that improving the environment of a group of deficient learners is futile and will not improve IQs. They do not want to accept the tag of permanent inferiority. On the other hand, determinists may have emotional reasons for accepting their conclusions; they do not want to accept the conclusions that if some group has a low IQ, it is the result of white racism that whites are guilty of.
Although egalitarians speak evil against determinists, egalitarian viewpoints on race have their own detrimental results by loading whites down with guilt and shame that may not be their fault and filling blacks with resentment against whites for problems that may be their own responsibility.
One effective argument against The Bell Curve was a mentioning ofHernstein and Murray's hasty dismissal of counter-evidence against their theories such as the testing of black and white children of white mothers in Germany that ended up with the same IQ scores. Another argument suggests that there really is no rising of a cognitive elite in America. Others give anecdotal evidence of people who did brilliantly in school but ended up in mediocre careers suggesting that high IQ does not spell success. (The Bell Curve authors agree with this conclusion.) It is also mentioned that H and M could have focused on white differences in IQ, such as white ethnic group differences in completion of college graduation, or IQ differences between southern and northern American whites. H and M are accused of not confronting these white differences as much because that would be too politically divisive.
One argument says that the H and M's conclusions are pseudo-science and that such "science" has occurred before in history, suggesting the inferiority of blacks to justify the unequal status quo and that this pseudo-science is actually hate literature. (I'm generally against defining conclusions as hate speech because it censors free inquiry. It's too easy to define heretical ideas that someone doesn't like as 'hate" and then get the government to censor them.) Hernstein and Murray are also portrayed as neo-social Darwinists in one essay; they present ideas that give credence to the belief in the survival of the fittest ethnic group and the inability to raise up a lower ethnic group to a higher level.
Another argument was that there are multiple intelligences that can't be measured by just taking a test. Some wondered what was being measured in an IQ test. What is this mysterious "G" (general intelligence) that H and M talk about? Some said that the historically bad environment that blacks have lived in has lead them to be culturally deprived and more money must be invested to improve deficient IQs. There is also some evidence the black/white gap in IQ is closing. Blacks are improving and whites are staying the same. Of course, one could argue that the whites should be improving also and something is wrong with the education system if it is not. Some of the argumentation is dauntingly technical and although a layman can get the gist of the argument, the details may go over his head.
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Tropical Forest Census Plots: Methods and Results from Barro Colorado Island, Panama and a Comparison with Other Plots (Environmental Intelligence Unit)
Richard Condit
Manufacturer: Springer
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This book provides a detailed account of the methods used to establish the Barro Colorado Island plot - with records on 325,000 individual trees the largest original forest census in the world. It also reviews methodologies used at 11 other large plots that are part of the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) network. It includes numerous distribution maps as well as maps of key environmental variables. The book is the perfect guide for establishing new plots, including both budgeting and scheduling, and offers details on the required methodology.
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