Why are some people smarter than others, even though out brains are all relatively the same in shape and size?
Brains are NOT all of the same size. Brain size is hereditary, and there's a correlation - a very well known correlation that includes, but is not limited to, our species - between intelligence and brain-to-body size ratio. Brain size is a race-related variable. Black Africans average about 1350 cubic centimeters of brain volume. Whites average about 1500 cubic centimeters. Most of the size difference occurs in the cerebrum, where abstract thought is believed to occur. The heritable difference in brain size explains the observed differences in IQ and scholastic achievement. No environmental factor is necessary to account for intelligence differences. And, in fact, no environmental factor does account for intelligence differences. Poverty? Nope. Whites from the poorest socioeconomic status (SES) groups usually out-perform Blacks from the highest SES groups. Although environment probably does play a role in developing intelligence, the limiting factor is heredity. Recently published psychology texts assert that the heritable part of the variance in intelligence is only 40%. That's a politically correct lie. The true value is closer to 80%, leaving only 20% for environmental factors to play with. paprica0 made a mistake in her otherwise correct answer. What she said about synaptic connections forming because of practice or experience is true. But the increase in the number of synapse links is LEARNING; it isn't intelligence. Intelligence (the potential for learning) is correlated with THE EXTENT TO WHICH a person is able to develop those links. People who are able, with practice, to develop them in relative abundance are smarter, in general, than people who can only develop fewer links, no matter how much they practice. Everybody gets at least a little better at a mental job that they do repeatedly, but some people can take practice to higher levels than others can.
Why are some people more intelligent than others?
I don't know what you mean by "Since there is no place in the world for dumb people, why is this? Isn't it wrong?" There is a place for everyone in the Universe. And people have different types of intelligence and learn in different ways and at different paces. Rather than being jealous of other people (like I was when I was younger) I now try to observe them and learn from them. We are all each other's teachers and have different gifts from God; some of us are more cerebral, creative, mathematically inclined, good communicators, good with our hands, etc. I try not to be judgmental and I know people who did not go to college but have leveraged their skills to build successful businesses. If someone is good with their hands at fixing things and has emotional intelligence about other people and can handle their vendors, clients and employees well, I think that's more than enough intelligence to be really successful. I was fortunate enough to go to college and graduate school but frankly, the dumbest people (and most highly personality disordered) are found there--hiding behind a bunch of framed diplomas, with little to no "common sense" or "people smarts". "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5) means to me that those people who are the most authentic (and least personality disordered and manipulative) and are letting go and letting God (or the Universe) "run the show" are rewarded with the most happiness in this lifetime, and possibly beyond. . .Even if someone reading this is not religious or Christian, I hope you can see my point. Intellectual and academic intelligence is often a crutch that people hide behind and lean on, falsely believing that letters after their surname translates into some kind of security and control. The only real security in life is having resilience. We can control nothing because "We make plans and God laughs"--not at us but with us, of course!
Why do some people think it’s wrong to keep people out of the USA without a visa?
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with keeping out illegal immigrants. It’s not xenophobic, it’s the law. The citizens of any state have the right to define how others may join and contribute to their community and reap its benefits. Anyone not using this premise in their argument probably has some ulterior motive, building a new voting block perhaps?There seems to be this attitude that since the US is a nation of immigrants that we shouldn’t have any laws regarding immigration or “have no right” to keep some out and let others in. It certainly does mean that we as a nation need to think clearly about why we’d oppose unlimited immigration and remind ourselves that our ancestors probably faced opposition as well. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a right to regulate the flow of labor in and out of our state. Usually when someone feels anti-immigration talk is xenophobic in the US, they are channeling this assumption about our right as former immigrants to stop others from coming in.The irony for me is that often the people who are against free trade often tend to be for mass immigration or amnesty for current illegal immigrants working in the US. Usually the argument against free trade goes that it hurts working class wages. What is ironic is that low-skill immigration has a very similar effect. Really, free movement of labor or capital have complimentary effects on the home economy.So, just like how we should recognize that free trade has undermined the American working class, we should also be aware that people working below minimum wage in the US in manual jobs and service jobs only hurts the working class.In the end, this debate is about weighing our perceived moral responsibility to “pay it forward” by helping the next generation of immigrants join the American nation and all the benefits that entails while also protecting the people we already have here. The collapse of working and middle class wages over the past 30 years should be all the evidence we need that we have failed to protect the standard of living of our own people.What I think some people take issue with is when anti-immigration talk is laced with implicit arguments of racial and cultural superiority and purity. This is where you cross the line from legitimate concerns to xenophobia. This is what I think people are saying is “wrong” about the current immigration dialog in this country and I would have to agree.
Does God love some people more than others?
God loves all and hates sin. Something’s gotta give, God made a way to change sinners into saints thru the cross.Look at the best person who ever lived dying on the cross. Yes, the physical suffering is horrible but the spiritual far surpasses it. His agonized cry of abandonment by God for our sin is best understood as real, and the more keenly felt in His soul because of His previous constant full experience of His Father’s Presence!!!“My God, my God” (note the change from “Father” to now God). From being the sinless, dearly beloved Son of the Living God, always pleasing the Father in every thought, word and deed, He now hangs naked and exposed, bearing the sin of the lowest form of humanity, guilty as sin before the Holy One. Jesus PAID it All! His body, soul, spirit and mind were completely shredded on the cross by the wrath of God.Everyone who trusts God’s word that He gave His beloved Son to take away our sin before His all-seeing eyes enters fully and forever into God’s eternal love, made worthy by the blood of Christ, spilled out over the record of our sins in Heaven.This is real. The debt is paid, the offer from God to forgive and transform us is valid and marked RSVP.Say yes and enter into life and love forever. Say no and become guilty of the death of Jesus and the spurning of His love. As true as the promise of eternal life so is the promise of Divine wrath for rejectors.“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.John 3:18 - Bible Gateway passage: John 3:18 - New King James Version“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.John 5:24 - Bible Gateway passage: John 5:24 - New King James Version
Can people in general handle the truth?
There once was a toad who went around asking princesses how he looked. Every princess told him he was beautiful. Then he asked for a kiss. Every princess denied his request and made up one excuse or the other.Finally a princess came who complimented the toad and kissed him. He turned into the beauty she had seen within him.Most people can handle the truth. Almost every princess knew they didn’t want to kiss the toad. Yet none of them would tell him what he already knew: They thought he was ugly.Then came the one princess who saw the toad for something he didn’t even see in himself.Our history is full of stories like this:An old hag visits a castle and asks a prince for shelter, only to be denied. The hag warns the prince to reconsider her offer. The prince again refuses. So the hag turns herself into an enchantress and puts a spell on his entire castle. He is to remain a beast until he can demonstrate an act of true love.You see, as the story goes, the spell didn’t break after Belle entered the castle (the same thing the hag was requesting). It broke after he fell in love with her. Belle brought forth love from the beast.I think it’s the absence of love which people cannot handle. But you cannot love someone if you’re not honest with them. Love is dependent upon truth. What people try to protect with lies, is love. But the person who loves you, is no longer loving you, if your identity is a lie to them. They’re loving that identity.
Why do people think throwing money at the poor helps to bring them out of poverty better than getting them a job?
Because wealthy parents who throw money at their kids’ colleges help make those kids much more employable and less likely to be poor.Because when angel investors throw money at budding companies, some of those companies will expand and prosper.Because when a government agency or a private company needs something done, they invest in the effort—in other words throw money at it—rather than slash its budget.Because most people get off public assistance after three years—but need to eat and live somewhere every day in the meantime, and can’t do so unless someone throws money at them.As for getting poor people jobs: contrary to the prevailing right-wing BS, the working poor are not a fantasy and do not comprise mostly teenagers. UC Davis Center for Poverty Research Some companies pay workers so little that the employees still qualify for public assistance. Working, but Needing Public Assistance Anyway Half of America’s childcare workers need food stamps, welfare payments or MedicaidFor the rest of the poor—what jobs are you talking about? For the elderly? For the disabled? For the psychotics that Reagan deinstitutionalized and left to the streets? For the numerous poor children? Some people are poor because they are unemployable.More importantly, our economy needs a small percentage of its labor force to be unemployed so that the costs of labor don’t skyrocket. What do we do with the necessary needy? Let them starve?For decades now, the Republicans have been selling the fantasy of the welfare queen driving around in her Cadillac. Meanwhile, in the real world, life on welfare is meager and difficult, but it allows families to survive the months—or years—it can take for their breadwinners to find jobs.
Why are people so sensitive?
Firstly, the nature of the Internet, 24/7 politially biased news coverage, and America’s two party, ‘Us and Them’ political system probably play a large part in ‘promoting and highlighting’ both hostility and sensitivity, and I don’t doubt that this ‘apparent’ sensitivity is probably much less evident in the real world.Having said that, in a very general sense, the main reason why people become hyper-sensitive to criticism is that they perceive they are being attacked.In the US there also exists a strong belief in ‘Freedom™’. Unfortunately, this all too often seems to be interpreted as - I can do or say whatever I want, I have the right to do so, and that means that my actions or words MUST also be right.For example, some religious people want to discriminate against, or impose religiously motivated laws on, people who don’t fit into or share their worldview. They believe they have the ‘Freedom™’ to do so, whether from a religious or constitutional viewpoint, and perceive any pushback as an ‘attack’ against them. On the other hand, the people on the receiving end of their actions obviously feel under attack from those actions and that they have the ‘Freedom™’ to oppose them.You now have an intractable situation with both sides believing their ‘Freedom™’ is being attacked and the only viable resolution being through the courts. The nature of legal resolutions generally being absolutely the worst sort of ‘I win - You lose solution’. Issues immediately become polarized into ‘Us and Them’, and out come the battle flags.Another time when people can become hyper-sensitive to criticism is when they are defending an indefensible position. For example, look at the pro-Trump evangelical Christians, willingly supporting a President who is the very antithesis of everything their ‘good book’ and beloved Jesus supposedly teaches. Of course they will be ‘offended’ when they or their President are criticised and do everything they can to ‘defend’ against their ‘attackers’.There are of course many other issues, but these seem to be, currently, the biggest issues to which people have become ‘sensitized’.
Why do most people not like black people?
Hmm... I can answer this from my perspective & no one else's, but here goes: I like black people, but initially in life I have to admit that I was a bit nervous around anyone of color. Why? Because I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood & we were taught to always be oh so politically correct. The teachers, parents & media told us that we had to be politically correct or that we'd be "bad" people. We shouldn't ask too many questions or we'll offend someone & get them mad. Needless to say, I was always nervous that I'd offend someone & that they wouldn't like me. Looking back, I really feel sorry for anyone of any ethnicity that went to any of the schools in my area during that time period- they were literally put on display as a "look how tolerant we are" sort of thing, making them just as nervous as the rest of us are. Now years later, having had ample time to deprogram myself, I love talking to people of all nationalities, ethnicities & skin colors. It amazes me how different people can become- even if we live in the same city, heck... even if we were born & raised in the same state. But as far as other people go, here's what I've seen of them. Some people are just nervous like I was & weren't lucky enough to be able to deprogram that nervousness out of them. Others grew up with biased & stupid people who taught them that hate is ok. Some people are just plain mean & use race as an excuse- if it wasn't skin color then it'd be something else. This goes for people of all nationalities & skin colors- it's not just white people who can be racist. I've seen plenty of people from all ethnicities say horribly prejudiced things about innocent people just because they make their judgments based upon a stereotype. I don't think it's really insecurity in the way you phrase it, though. Insecurity plays a role, but most times it's how they were raised. If their parents & role models display racism, the child will be 100% more likely to mimic those behaviors. There's so many different reasons as to why people are racist that it's unfair to label it with just one reason. I like to think that it's because they're too freaking stupid to pull their heads out of their butts & stop being racist, though.
Feminists are supposed to respect and not bash others based on their personal choices. Is it safe to say...?
allegra: OK, here we go: "1. This forum has nothing to do with bodybuilders." Wrong. Whatever this forum is, YOU do not define it. "2. Insulting someone by calling him/her a janitor is no worse than the insulting garbage that issues from your mouth periodically." Two wrongs do not make a right. Most people learned this in grade school; I won't speculate on why you apparently didn't. "3. If you're concerned about some parents not being able to afford to send their kids to school, then you should be far more interested in feminism than you are." You have no right to dictate what another person should or shouldn't be interested in. Do you have a problem with boundaries? A counselor might be of help here. "4. No, cranks and trolls DO NOT respect others and therefore deserve no respect whatsoever." Again,
Why do some people have absolutely no desire to have or want money?
I'm going to tell you exactly why. Through personal example.Growing up, I was a kid whose parents had a relatively good financial situation, we always had just enough money, and a little bit above that. I had all I needed, and most of my wishes were also met, given the fact that I knew how to cross a line between what was absurd and, what was reasonable. And my parents being sweet parents, they rarely said no to me. If I wanted it bad enough and it would just require a little bit more effort from them in order to buy it, I would eventually get it. I was happy, I had a great childhood. I had all the things I wanted. It was all marvellous.Until highschool came around. Now, guess what. I also have everything I want -when it comes to material things-. There's nothing I want bad enough that I can’t get. And that should be great you say, your parents have money, you have money, you should be happy.Everything should be good. Execept that it's not. I get all the things I want. And so what? What fucking difference does that make? Does money buy me a better social life? Does money buy me a better brain? Does money get me more time on this planet? Does money make me more healthy? DOES MONEY, ACTUALLY BUY, ANY OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE?I mean, the truly important things. The answer is no. I have a lot to improve in all other areas of my life, except for my financial situation. I don't give a fuck about it. All I know is that if I could give up all the “not absolutely necessary” things in my life, in order to have richer experiences, more friends and more loved ones, if I could give up all the material shit, in order to gain knowledge and experience, I would do it in the blink of an eye. Without thinking twice. Instantly and without a single regret.Because money feed the ego. And the other ones feed the heart.Because money does nothing but making you a slave. You work, to earn money, to buy shit you don't need. You destroy your health in order to earn money, then you spend all that money in order to try regaining back health.It's a cruel, vicious cycle.