tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34302342.post2522143883735377547..comments2023-10-02T03:00:43.399-05:00Comments on Politics & Soccer: African narrativeAdrianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05953649845499754508noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34302342.post-13470157493289880422007-10-11T21:41:00.000-05:002007-10-11T21:41:00.000-05:00I suppose I should have made that clear in the ori...I suppose I should have made that clear in the original post... but it was more of a rant than a prepared essay anyway.Adrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05953649845499754508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34302342.post-44958664204031811142007-10-11T21:40:00.000-05:002007-10-11T21:40:00.000-05:00My claims are:low intelligence scores on tests are...My claims are:<BR/><BR/>low intelligence scores on tests are, rather than reflecting any lower intelligence, probably reflect lack of formalized schooling that teaches people how to do well on tests and is irrelevant for the governance of that country,<BR/><BR/>those African states that are weak, are weak to a large degree because of conditions imposed on them by the international community - silly borders, colonial economies, idealistic norms of conduct, etc.,<BR/><BR/>further international intervention to try to "fix" them, like the "shrink the gap" idea, is likely to further exacerbate the problems. Instead we should try to allow states to form identities around them, even if its a messy process (as it was in the Core). Similar to Edward Luttwak's article "Give War a Chance" in Foreign Policy - don't try to intervene in a big way, we will probably just make things worse.Adrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05953649845499754508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34302342.post-81234760152343378982007-10-11T18:18:00.000-05:002007-10-11T18:18:00.000-05:00Adrian,Sorry for letting my reaction to your post ...Adrian,<BR/><BR/>Sorry for letting my reaction to your post fall through the cracks.<BR/><BR/><I>(why would Africans be too unintelligent to turn failed states into functioning states without foreign domination, but other failed societies self-corrected independently?) </I><BR/><BR/>African general intelligence scores tend to be two standard deviations below developed standards. It goes without saying that a lot varies between Africa and the Core, but I've explored some possible causes on the blog.<BR/><BR/>That said, not every developed country got to be that on on its own. The entire western hemisphere, for instance, escaped the genocide trap only after complete Eurpean colonization. <BR/><BR/><I>but I don't have the necessary data to back up my own claims (I actually don't think the data exists to prove or disprove it yet). Essentially my argument is similar to Nassim Nicholas Taleb's argument in The Black Swan - You think you know a lot and I think I know very little, but since in reality we both know very little, I'm ahead of you.</I><BR/><BR/>What are your claims?Dan tdaxphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07205344738190870766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34302342.post-69511368729311003342007-09-14T15:21:00.000-05:002007-09-14T15:21:00.000-05:00I duno if he reads blogs, but I'm sure he doesn't ...I duno if he reads blogs, but I'm sure he doesn't read mine. He seems like a cool guy (only 2 classes so far).<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://courses.georgetown.edu/?CourseID=SEST-538" REL="nofollow">This</A> is the class I'm taking with him.Adrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05953649845499754508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34302342.post-4291358571903071582007-09-14T15:18:00.000-05:002007-09-14T15:18:00.000-05:00Kenneth Pollack is your professor? I wonder if he ...Kenneth Pollack is your professor? I wonder if he even reads blogs...aelkushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02250169760199903577noreply@blogger.com