Neanderpundit

No, I’m not channeling Wallace Shawn.

Once upon a time, Wechsler and Stanford Binet developed tests- originally to see if students needed specific help, but now used for all kinds of other reasons.

Also, originally, they used three words to indicate specific positions on the scale. Idiot referred to anyone under 20 IQ, imbecile was for individuals who tested between 20 and 49, and moron was betwen 50 and 69.

IQ is not a measure of how smart someone is, it’s a measure of the clock speed of their brain. Some people are working with a quad core CPU, some are muddling along with an 8088.

The bottomline in all this is that you can have the highest IQ and the benefit of the very best education money can buy, but if you don’t use that big brain and that education to make decisions based on verifiable facts, you damage yourself and those around you.

This is where the evil of Belief rears it’s ugly head again. Belief will dissolve all logic. Belief that Obama will “Fix” the country. Belief that people “Deserve” free health care. Belief that socialism will work this time if they are in charge.

Belief is fucking this country. if you can’t know, don’t believe. Never vote on belief.

I think we ought to co-opt those now disused terms and apply them in the following manner:

People who “believe” in UFO’s, socialism, vampires, the peacefullness of Islam, or ghosts, would be morons. Capable of near normal human function but not generally dangerous.

People who “believe” in UFO’s, socialism, vampires, the peacefullness of Islam, or ghosts, and want to proselytize those “beliefs” until everyone else is converted, would be imbeciles. They need to be monitored, perhaps with ankle bracelets, and kept away from the impressionable, like children or democrats.

People who “believe” in UFO’s, socialism, vampires, or ghosts and who want to use the law to enforce their beliefs on us all, are idiots, and should be segregated from the rest of the population lest they intermarry and breed other idiots.

One of the topics of conversation at the blogmeet was the transition in all literature towards sparkly vampire metrosexual wierdness; it’s taking over SF, it’s made it’s way into the former bodice-ripper genre, film is studded with it, and even commercials have crossed the line.

Tam even notes, yesterday, that the tivie is loaded with ghost hunting, paranormal supernatural horseshit. Even Discovery channel is loaded with it, as if it were some kind of hard science, “reality” shows loaded with Blair Witch scenes.

I have noticed that people who maintain a disconnect with reality often seek out the unknown for a good old fashioned scare.

Sorry, the known is plenty frightening enough for me. I don’t need people to make up shit for me to fear.

The spicy italian sammiches from Subway are the closest thing to actual food I usually get, but this week the wife sent me off with some of her most excellent homemade chili, which has helped improve my gustatory lot a good deal.

The combination therof has also done some things to my dreams as well.

Last night I dreampt that Alton Brown was staying in the hotel, and he brought a whole kitchen with him, in the form of a specially modified motor home. I got to sit in his mobile kitchen while he made couscous for the entire hotel.

Dork Turban, the wonderful scumbag from illinois, was actually here last week, and I tried to get Alton to poison him, but he wouldn’t compromise his food, for which I didn’t blame him.

On the other hand, Alton said, “if you can get him close enough I’ll stuff him in the Robot Coupe” (wherin he pointed to a blixer the size of a trash can, apparently a gift from Alton’s wife). He was apparently trying to rid himself of the implement, since he looked upon it as the ultimate unitasker and would have none of it.