The December 17 New Yorker carries a review of a new book on IQ by Malcolm Gladwell. The book, by James Flynn, discusses the fact that IQ rises every generation, attributing this rise to the fact that IQ measures the ability to think abstractly and the world continues to get ever more abstract. Flynn reanalyzes the IQ measurements of Japanese and Chinese-Americans and finds that in fact, Chinese and Japanese do not have a higher IQ than white people. They simply work harder, requiring an IQ of only 90 to rise into the professional, managerial, and technical occupations, compared to an IQ of 97 for lazy white people.
Speaking of dumb, yesterday’s freezing rain turned the 2′ snow banks at the sides of our roads here in Boston into 2′ solid ice extruded pyramids. Sidewalks and driveways are sheets of ice. The temperature is around 20F and the winds were blowing up to 50 mph. This is still fall; winter does not officially start until next week. Could a Hollywood script have created a character dumb enough to pay $2 million to live in a draft 100-year-old single family wreck of a house here in Cambridge?
Coming from the other side of the IQ spectrum, an airplane sales guy called from Orlando, Florida. He works for a big company with an excellent reputation whose product mostly sells itself (back-ordered until 2012 right now). He pays no state income tax on his salary and bonus (probably around $350,000 per year, as I learned when budgeting for folks to sell jet time cards for our new aviation venture). He woke up to a sunny but chilly 40-degree early morning. Mid-day temperatures were more agreeable (mostly in the 70s this week).
Jesus, Phil. This posting was three punches straight to the gut for me. Maybe next time spread the good news out over a few posts.
In an attempt to justify the existence of my comment: I think one possible explanation for the IQ data is that while much of the IQ test is abstract, there actually is a verbal component to it that measures vocabulary and comprehension. Thus, somebody who is foreign born, or even had foreign parents, might be at a disadvantage on portions of the IQ test.
And, finally, to play Devil’s advocate: the only person dumber than the Cambridge owners of rotting Americana are people who bought McMansions in Florida during the housing bubble. Can you really imagine the flimsy houses thrown up by Pulte and Lennar out of cheap plastic siding and pressboard are going to even be around in 100 years, drafty or not? I wonder if we’re not going to be in for housing bubble fallout 2.0 in 25 years when the junk put up during the bubble starts to fall apart and people realize very little of the price of their new home went to materials.
Phil,
After reading your blog for a couple of years now, I cannot help but believe that you seem to have more than your fair share of problems with where you live. I understand your penchant for wanting to teach a bit at MIT, but save that, why not move?
Further south or farther west, you could enjoy much more hospitable climates for flying and such and with the tremendous advances we have now-a-days in communication, you could stay connected to a lot of your interests from almost anywhere.
Just a thought.
Season’s Greetings,
Mark D
We had that sheet of ice thing last year in DC. Fortunately for Christmas I received a gift that helped immeasurably in my attempt to stay upright while negotiating ice encrusted sidewalks with an old but still exuberant standard poodle – Yaktrax. I highly recommend them. They easily attach to boots. Orange are best since they do occasionally work themselves off and are easily spotted on the ground. Happy Winter Holidays.
Mark: Why do I still live here in Boston? My friends are here and we have plenty to talk about, like how miserable the weather is. Also my personality probably keeps getting worse as I get older, but no matter how grouchy one becomes it is unlikely that old friends will dump one (whereas potential new friends shy away from the grumpy).
Shane: I was at dinner tonight with some friends (reason to live in Boston!) and they raved about Yaktrax also. We should keep them at the airport. Pushing the helicopter around on the ramp is not easy right now.
Heh, call me old-fashioned, but there’s probably more to the aircraft sales guy’s story than you let on.
My guess is that he has at least two of the three:
1. Awesome Connections
2. A military or engineering background that practically anyone would be proud of
3. Worked like a dog making contacts in and out of aerospace for years
His high IQ probably may be what keeps him from being too tempted to run for elective office, though.
SuperMike: The jet sales guys whom I’ve met had some flying experience, including flight instruction, but no engineering background. The sales guy in Orlando mentioned to me that a guy who worked for one of the name brand companies could, once established in a territory, do nothing other than sit in an office and wait for the phone to ring and still take enough orders to earn $250,000 per year.
Before you move to Florida, investigate the property tax situation, and the homeowners insurance situation. Its been rough the last few years.