Motus Mentis

8 Comments

1. Jason says

   Neumann: I can remember all the words of many of the great works in the Western canon.

   Interlocutor : Yeah, right. So recite Hamlet for me!

   Interlocutor: (after listening to two pages from Shakespeare’s classic cited verbatim): Ok ok Johnny I believe you!

   Posted April 20, 2024 at 8:35 pm | Permalink
2. Jason says

   Speaking of Shakespeare, there’s perhaps an interesting way of distinguishing tribes 4 and 5. Someone like myself who is in the former would have to actually read the Bard’s play (and a commentary) first before attending a performance – otherwise I just wouldn’t get it. Somebody like Malcolm on the other hand (Tribe 5) could enter Titus or Richard III fresh and pick up on what’s happening with basically full comprehension.

   Posted April 20, 2024 at 9:27 pm | Permalink
3. Malcolm says

   Thank you, Jason! — but I can assure you that if I’m going to see a Shakespeare play I’ve never read, I’ll read it first.

   Posted April 21, 2024 at 12:48 pm | Permalink
4. Anti-Gnostic says

   Thanks that’s a good reference. The harsh truth is everyone below 90 IQ is going to be ruled, one way or another, 90 – 100 IQ can manage but need strong familial and social guard rails, and you really need a solid 105 IQ to be a fully engaged citizen in a self-ruled republic.

   Speaking of civic engagement, my impression is the Bright and Eminent are withdrawing from a lot of civic engagement. They have completely disappeared from electoral politics; Eisenhower and Nixon were probably the last Brights in elected office. I don’t think they like C-suite positions either. The Brights and Eminents I know become professionals with their own firms or burrow down in technical specialties in government or corporate bureaucracies. (They are also prone to depression and alcoholism.)

   What’s also disturbing is how many wealthy people are not intelligent at all. They get money and unmerited influence from being good looking or super athletic or can sing but are otherwise dumb as posts.

   Posted April 23, 2024 at 12:06 pm | Permalink
5. BV says

   https://www.edge.org/conversation/daniel_c_dennett-the-bright-stuff

   Posted April 23, 2024 at 10:57 pm | Permalink
6. Anti-Gnostic says

   I definitely blame people like Daniel Dennett for our current predicament. He lived like an Amish deacon but did not preach what he practiced.

   Posted April 23, 2024 at 11:18 pm | Permalink
7. Malcolm says

   Intelligence is a force-multiplier when it comes to wrecking things.

   Posted April 24, 2024 at 9:00 am | Permalink
8. Jason says

   Forgive me Malcolm, but I just happened to come across this today. (Chesterton: coincidences are spiritual puns). Great minds like yours and the Derb’s think alike! https://vdare.com/articles/derb-s-february-diary-10-items-courageous-politicians-in-spain-defund-some-police-from-biologism-to-culturism-to-anti-whitism-etc#05

   Posted April 24, 2024 at 9:19 pm | Permalink