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We are searching other planets for “intelligent life,” our fingers crossed that aliens will have solved the enigma of how to manage progress without tending toward self-destruction.

The economics of intelligence

I enjoyed reading “San Diego Smart” by Thomas Larson (“San Diego Smart”, Cover Story, February 9). But I do get nervous when the subject of human intelligence comes up, because it has such a tragic history that continues to this day through various IQ and personality tests such as Stanford-Binet and Meyers-Briggs.

I would like to suggest another way to look at the cases Larsen describes. The French social theorist, Pierre Bourdieu, sees the Western preoccupation with defining and measuring intelligence as inseparable from the history of capitalism. In short, it provides one way in which capitalist systems work to position individuals differentially.

What Larson describes as types of intelligence Bourdieu would call forms of social capital or cultural capital. Take, for example, Larson’s case of Randy Philipp who became a math prodigy because he intuited a “pattern recognition procedure” at a young age. But he was solving math problems in ways not taught to him. This ability was treated by his teachers as what Bourdieu would call a form of capital and thus had value. Had he been in an educational environment that did not value his approach, and instead penalized him for failing to follow traditional math procedures, he would have been unable to “capitalize” on this intuition. Thus, for Bourdieu, the important thing to know is how, or whether, various abilities are valorized within capitalism. How, or whether, such abilities originate in the brain or in education is less important to know than how they function as capital.

Bourdieu says that attempts to distinguish between inherited (or genetic) capacity and acquired abilities are futile. In a capitalist system, scarcity determines value. And so, someone who is great in something like calculus is valued as having a certain kind of intelligence, or to have some inherent, or genetic, ability that cognitive scientists would like to be able to measure. But if everyone was good at calculus, its value as social capital would be diminished.

While not disagreeing with any of what Larson wrote, I think that Bourdieu’s approach to the cases he describes would give us another useful way to understand ourselves.

• Gerald E. Shenk
• Hillcrest

Trumpian indisputables

I don’t know which is more frightening, the idea that, knowing what we know about him, there could be people with their heads so far in the dark that they actually believe Trump is the one telling the truth, or that these people are allowed to vote. What is indisputable is that Trump was born rich and has done nothing but try to get richer his whole life. He dodged the draft with 5 deferments, which is exactly what John Fogerty was singing about in “Fortunate Son,” rich kids not having to serve their country.

Why any veteran would support him, I have no idea, and yes I am a veteran. And now, besides him just lying about all that “birther” nonsense and claiming that, despite all facts to the contrary, he didn’t actually lose the election by over 7 million votes, we now know why he didn’t want anyone to see his tax returns. He pays little or no taxes while his supporters do have to pay. One last thought: it’s okay to be awake and it makes it easier to not be bamboozled!

• Concerned Citizen
• Spring Valley

No Trump hate, just abhorrence, fear, and pity

In a recent edition, a Trump supporter said essentially that they have not heard a “Trump hater” intelligently, factually, articulate a reason for “the hatred” (“More Stumping for Trump”, Letters, March 2). Setting aside the terminology, I don’t think for one minute that the writer really wants someone to detail their problems with Trump. And, Trump fans and other right-wingers tend to be averse to facts, and live in a bubble cut off from the truth. But here I go.

Personally, I can’t muster the energy to hate Trump. The predominate emotion is abhorrence. And fear for the damage he has done, and could still do if allowed. Also, I can’t help but pity him, to a degree.

It an all-too-common refrain from Trump followers, this idea that progressives/democrats just hate Trump for no reason. This is just a lazy way to dismiss criticism of Trump without having to come to grips with it. So let me state the problems people have with Trump in a way I believe is intelligent, factual, and articulate.

Let’s start with what first attracted people to him in the first place. It’s a fact that Trump loves to insult people; it’s one of his defining characteristics. Many, but not all, Trump lovers like to hear those insults, which are childish and a national embarrassment.

One of the main things that attracts people to him is white grievance. You want to know if he’s a racist? Ask a Proud Boy. For the record, look up the objective 2020 USA Today fact check that found a dozen of Trump’s comments to be racist, while giving him the benefit of the doubt on many other borderline ones. It included his first campaign utterances when he called Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. Even some Republicans thought it was racist. The fact is Mexican immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the rest of us. But such facts don’t get Republicans elected.

One of the worst things about Trump as President is that he was/is completely unqualified and incompetent. The prime example is his handling of the Covid crisis. The enormity of the problem had him frozen in inaction. His only response was denial. Instead taking action to address the matter, he made things worse. With any other President, Republican or Democrat, fewer people would have died. This has helped to amplify the existing right-wing antithesis to dealing responsibly with public health, or science, or facts; a problem which has grown to be one of the greatest dividers in our nation today.

The man is a mentally ill. Countless mental health experts have diagnosed his problem as “narcissistic personality disorder.” His psychological profile will be studied for decades. He is a pathological liar, completely incapable of telling the truth. He is also incapable of admitting his mistakes. He demands his underlings to grovel. A president should, in all respects, be a better person than you and I; not a worse one.

His mental illness is not just an annoyance. It leads him to make dangerous decisions like alienating our allies and cozying up to authoritarian figures like Putin. Despite his famous slogan, he simply is not capable of putting America first.

He is incapable of accepting the fact that he lost the 2020 election, the biggest lie of them all. Despite the fact that there is not one bit of evidence that would affect the outcome, he still can’t accept the fact that he lost. All of this has eroding faith in our democracy and causing more division.

Trump is completely amoral, lacking a conscience, a true criminal mindset. He only avoided Senate conviction in both impeachment cases because the Republican Party is petrified of him and his followers. He put his own interest ahead of the nation’s and violated his oath by attempting to withhold badly needed military support to our ally, Ukraine, in order to help him win reelection. He incited a violent mob to try to overthrow the U.S. government, and then stood by gloating. And he pressured public officials to subvert the results of the election to try to stay in power.

Trump obstructed justice in the Mueller case. He tried to politicize the Justice Department. He used the power of the president to issue pardons to his friends and accomplices.

He has been credibly accused by multiple women of sexual battery and worse. It strains credibility (and experience) to believe that all these women are lying. And, the man bragged about it.

Trump is corrupt though and through. All other presidents in the modern era have disclosed their taxes and avoided financial conflicts of interest. Trump used the presidency to enrich himself at every opportunity. Foreign governments booked rooms at the Trump hotel as a way of bribing him. He stayed at Trump properties on the government dime, helping promote them. He welcomed Putin’s help in the first election, and would welcome it again.

There’s more, but that’s the main stuff we know about. Reasonable people will have gotten the point by now.

With Trump’s lies, he lies so much it’s difficult to keep countering them. It’s kind of like that with his crimes. However, I believe Trump will be brought to justice for at least a few of them. I have to believe it. But, it won’t matter how times he’s convicted, and by whom, and for what. Trump apologists will keep on saying that people hate him for no reason at all.

• Tim Taylor
• North Park