|
Re: The Book A list of all posts pertaining to Unnatural Selection, the book I'm writing.
Welcome world to Critical Section, my weblog. I started this weblog for two reasons. First, I think they're a great means of communication; I spend a lot of time reading other blogs (see my favorites on the right), and felt like I have things to say myself and that it was time to start saying them. Second, I am planning to write a book. No, I have never written a book before, and no, I don't know anything about it. So it will be a learning experience, please come along for the ride... I plan to post daily about computer software, medical science, business, politics, philosophy, and notes on book writing (!)
Here's the plan... and my plea for help!
The clouds enveloping the foreign world of non-fiction publishing are breaking up a little - I'm getting glimpses of the landscape...
Well, time for some baby steps toward the book... Yeah, that book.
In which the author meets Ms. X in an elevator, and delivers the pitch for Unnatural Selection...
In which the author revisits the evelator pitch, and ponders whether dumb = bad...
In which the author discusses Unnatural Selection with Ms. X, and describes the target audience... (hint: it's you)
I am an iterator. When I make something, I don't just make it and go on. I make it, then I remake it, then I remake it again, and iteratively improve it until I'm happy. I annoy myself sometimes, I am so unwilling or unable to leave something as it is...
Here it is! - the Unnatural Selection outline, for your reading pleasure...
Combining National IQ data from Richard Lynn's and Tatu Vanhanen's "Intelligence and the Wealth and Poverty of Nations" with world population data from the U.S. Census, we can quantify the decrease in world IQ over time. The consequences of this overall decrease in world IQ have yet to be quantified, but they are bound to be significant...
Back-to-school pop quiz: Why do poor children, and especially black poor children, score lower on average than their middle-class and white counterparts on IQ tests and other measures of cognitive performance? That's the lead question in a Washington Post article about a new study that appears to show that IQ heritability varies significantly with socioeconomic status. This would be a very important finding if true...
razib and godless are bored, so they plot and graph "religion important" vs. IQ for different countries. The bottom line: "religion and IQ are strongly negatively correlated (-.886)."
Sometimes a picture is worth much more than 1,000 words. The Economist ran a great story recently about global economic inequality: More or Less Equal? The graphs which accompany the story are terrific, and thought provoking...
There are people who do not believe the theory of evolution is sufficient to explain the existence of the world as we know it. They prefer to believe in creationism, the idea that there is a deity who created the world. I have no problem with people who wish to believe this, it is their prerogative, of course, just as they may chose to believe the Sun orbits the Earth, or that the Earth is 6,000 years old. I only ask that they admit they are choosing to believe in “magic” instead of rational facts and logical reasoning. Please click for more...
I found this cool presentation by Keith Goodnight: Kin Selection and Inclusive Fitness. It begins with the problem of altruism, examines group selection (and rejects it), makes the key distinction between genes and organisms (replicators and vehicles), examines the greenbeard effect, explains Hamilton's rule (conditions under which gene for altruism will be favored by selection), and finally ends up with inclusive fitness:
If you're at all interested in these things, check it out!
On August 31, 2003, I posted IQ and Populations, which to this day remains my second most popular post. Unlike Tyranny of Email, my most popular article, the reaction is not generally positive. The post is popular in the sense of being widely linked, but unpopular in the sense of being widely disputed. While Tyranny asserts opinions that nearly everyone agrees with, IQ and Populations reviews facts with which nearly everyone disagrees. So, is this really true? Yes. Is this uncomfortable? Yes. Is this important? Yes.
© 2003-2008 Ole Eichhorn |
Home Greatest Hits |