Because they reflect chronic deficiencies or incapacities, linked to the most advanced thought that human beings can achieve, which is rational thought: reflective, self-critical, self-aware, objective, impartial, thoughtful... Which best enables us to improve our true understanding of the world... Because they reflect emotional instincts projected into language, in which they take the form of words and concepts and emulate human intelligence, hiding their much simpler and vestigial nature: an atavism of the mind, as if an animal of another species acquired the ability to learn our complex language but used it only to reinforce its instinctive impulses. In this case, in the real world, when dealing with humans themselves, a very common and little understood mismatch, often considered as an exclusive social or cultural phenomenon and not, or mainly, as a cognitive and evolutionary phenomenon, of something deeper that does not affect us equally if this also depends on the predispositions we present, to which some, or many, are more susceptible than others. Therefore, the more irreducible the individual is regarding his personal beliefs, especially those that are categorically irrational, the more guided or dominated by his emotional instincts he is. Wouldn't there be logical reason to believe in nonsenses that can even be easily refuted or at least severely problematized, from the belief in eternal life and divine existence to the secular belief in absolute human equality, for example. If the only logical reason I have found to explain this support for irrational beliefs is the apparent or felt personal benefit of doing so, but also because it reflects a self-projection of expectations and personality traits of the person themselves, of something they believe as a reflection of themselves, like an intoxicating state of excessive self-confidence, which leads to a less sober state. That is why it is so dear to a person afflicted by this delusion of grandeur to criticize, test and/or give up even their most irrational beliefs, if for them it would be similar to mutilating their own body, cutting and throwing away their own pieces of hope, dreams, motivation for life and sense of reality, even if falsified, and making room for facts or truths that they would not like to have in their mind as part of their personal belief system, which do not share their way of being and thinking.
Minha lista de blogs
quarta-feira, 30 de abril de 2025
O fanatismo ideológico e o fundamentalismo religioso são expressões atávicas do comportamento humano
Pois refletem deficiências ou incapacidades crônicas, atreladas ao pensamento mais avançado que o ser humano pode alcançar, que é o pensamento racional: reflexivo, autocrítico, autoconsciente, objetivo, imparcial, ponderado... Que mais nos capacita quanto ao potencial de melhorarmos nossa compreensão verdadeira sobre o mundo... Pois refletem instintos emotivos projetados na linguagem, em que os mesmos assumem a forma de palavras e conceitos e emulam a inteligência humana, escondendo sua natureza muito mais simples e vestigial: um atavismo da mente, tal como se um animal de outra espécie adquirisse a capacidade de aprender nossa linguagem complexa só que a usasse apenas para reforçar seus ímpetos instintivos. Nesse caso, no mundo real, tratando-se do próprio humano, um descompasso muito comum e pouco compreendido, frequentemente considerado como um fenômeno exclusivo do social ou da cultura e não ou principalmente como um fenômeno cognitivo e evolutivo, de algo mais profundo que não nos acomete igualmente se isso também depende das predisposições que apresentamos, em que alguns, ou muitos, mostram-se mais suscetíveis que outros. Portanto, mais irredutível é o indivíduo quanto às suas crenças pessoais, especialmente as que são categoricamente irracionais, mais guiado ou dominado pelos seus instintos emotivos, ele está. Se não haveria razão lógica de acreditar em desvarios que podem ser até facilmente refutados ou ao menos severamente problematizados, da crença pela fé na vida eterna e na existência divina à crença secular na igualdade humana absoluta, por exemplo. Se a única razão lógica, que eu tenho encontrado, para explicar esse suporte à crenças irracionais, é o benefício pessoal aparente ou sentido de fazê-lo, mas também por refletir uma auto projeção de expectativas e traços de personalidade da própria pessoa, de algo que ela acredita como um reflexo dela mesma, como um estado inebriante de autoconfiança excessiva, que leva a um estado menos sóbrio. Por isso ser tão caro a uma pessoa acometida por esse delírio de grandeza, criticar, testar e/ou abdicar mesmo de suas crenças mais irracionais, se para ela seria semelhante a mutilar seu próprio corpo, de cortar e jogar fora seus próprios pedaços de esperança, sonhos, motivação de vida e senso de realidade, mesmo se falsificado, e abrir espaço para fatos ou verdades que não gostaria de ter em sua mente como parte de seu sistema pessoal de crenças, que não comungam com o seu jeito de ser e pensar.
terça-feira, 29 de abril de 2025
Sobre a nova "branca de neve" e uma velha suspeita/About the new "Snow White" and an old suspicion
Por que empresas renomadas do cinema estão fazendo filmes ("remakes") que custam caro já sabendo que muito provavelmente serão fiascos de audiência??
domingo, 13 de abril de 2025
The most realistic is like Neo from Matrix
Because he is the one who definitively awakens from human fictions, from its deepest and most recent lies. From the most obtuse and the most engaging. That even when he was still asleep, he suspected that false world. He already had an instinct, a nose for the truth. And when he woke up, he saw that he would never be able to return, that it was a path of no return. That nothing is everything. That there is the essence and the superficial. The static and the statistical. The aesthetic and the meaning. He saw that no side is more right. That the politician is like the Architect. That Agent Smiths are not just white men with sunglasses and suits. That he was just another brick in the great wall of power. That when he fell into the deep well, he stopped being just another pile of belief. And that he did not choose the red pill. Just another metaphor. He did not choose the path that had always haunted him, that he had always followed. The only path to truth, to the only philosophy. From the desert of reality. From the emptiness of solitude. From every body that is spirit. That has the flame of an absolute and infinite desire. That a fact is no more beautiful than raw. And that after stripping away all alienation, the most important thing remains: to live. Not for others, but first for oneself. Not for a society, even if it continues to be so dependent, if we never stop being united. Not for a fake ideal. And even if they continue to be just as deaf, blind and mute, to continue fighting against their demons (their myths). And even knowing that there will be no prizes, nor consolation, that there is no greater victory than to remain true to what is most important. To continue carrying the torch of human evolution, even without a collective with which to share this responsibility. Of a true vocation. A calling that cannot be avoided, that cannot be ignored and answered. The calling that calls at every moment in which one lives. The most constant calling of existence.
O mais realista é como o Neo de Matrix
Por ser quem definitivamente desperta das ficções humanas, de suas mentiras mais profundas e das mais recentes. Das mais obtusas e das mais envolventes. Que mesmo quando ainda vivia adormecido, suspeitava daquele falso mundo. Já tinha um instinto, um faro pra verdade. E quando acordou, viu que nunca mais conseguiria retornar, que era um caminho sem volta. Que nada é tudo. Que existe a essência e o superficial. O estático e o estatístico. O estético e o sentido. Viu que nenhum lado está mais certo. Que o político é como o Arquiteto. Que agentes Smiths não são apenas homens brancos de óculos escuros e ternos. Que era mais um bloco de tijolo no grande muro do poder. Que quando caiu no poço fundo, deixou de ser mais uma pilha de crer. E que não escolheu a pílula vermelha. Apenas mais uma metáfora. Não escolheu o caminho que sempre o perseguiu, que sempre seguiu. O único caminho da verdade, da única filosofia. Do deserto do real. Do vazio da solidão. De todo corpo que é espírito. Que tem a chama de um desejo absoluto e infinito. Que um fato não é mais bonito que bruto. E que depois de se despir de toda alienação, lhe resta o mais importante, viver. Não para os outros, mas primeiro para si próprio. Não para uma sociedade, ainda que continue tão dependente, se nunca deixamos de estarmos unidos. Não para um ideal fajuto. E mesmo que continuem tão ou mais surdos, cegos e mudos, de continuar lutando contra os seus demônios (seus mitos). E mesmo sabendo que não haverão prêmios, nem de consolação, de que não há maior vitória do que se manter íntegro ao que é mais importante. De continuar carregando a tocha da evolução humana, mesmo sem um coletivo com o qual possa compartilhar essa responsabilidade. De uma vocação verdadeira. Um chamado que não pode evitar, que não pode deixar de ouvir e atender. O chamado que chama a todo momento em que se vive. O chamado mais constante do existir.
A possível origem da "lacração"
Lacrar no sentido de fechar, finalizar...
Trump e o de sempre da "direita"/Trump and the usual of"right wing"
Sabedoria? Ponderação? Razão?
domingo, 6 de abril de 2025
The Brazilian media is 1984 "ingSoc"
In all the newspapers: morning, afternoon, evening and dawn. In almost all the television programs, even on the most popular channels. In productions of the seventh art: national and international movies... Also on all the radio stations in the country. Possibly on most YouTube channels. Even those who say they are against this orchestration of the same speeches and the same narratives. Every day, the talk about racism, homophobia, misogyny... Every day, it's the same litany, as if an entire country were reduced to these supposedly well-intentioned abstractions, but with clearly totalitarian intentions and consequences. Every day, Big Brother reminds us of its political and im]moral agenda: Machiavelli's divide and conquer, the bread and circuses of the Roman emperors, as a thousand years ago... Now we have TVs, computers, cell phones, A.I. Everything to continue what they started from the beginning. From sacrifices to the Sun King, from servitude to the clergy and nobility, from endless wars, from artificial divisions, from fictions as certainties. And the cycles are renewed, and the executioners may even be different, but humanity remains the same...
A mídia brasileira é 1984 "ingSoc"
Em todos os jornais: da manhã, da tarde, da noite e de madrugada. Em quase todos os programas de televisão, mesmo nos canais mais populares. Mas produções da sétima arte: filmes, nacionais e internacionais... Também em todas as rádios do país. Possível que na maioria dos canais de YouTube. Mesmo aqueles que se dizem contrários a essa orquestração dos mesmos discursos e das mesmas narrativas. Todo dia, tem discurso sobre racismo, homofobia, misoginia... Todo dia, é a mesma ladainha, como se um país inteiro se resumisse a essas abstrações supostamente bem intencionadas e que têm intenções e consequências claramente totalitárias. Todo dia, o grande irmão te lembra de sua agenda política e moral, imoral: o dividir para conquistar de Maquiavel, o pão e o circo dos imperadores romanos, como a mil anos atrás... Agora temos TVs, computadores, celulares, I.A. Tudo para continuarem o que começaram desde o início. Dos sacrifícios ao rei sol, da servidão ao clero e à nobreza, das guerras intermináveis, das divisões artificiais, das ficções como certezas. E os ciclos se renovam, e os algozes podem até ser outros, mas a humanidade permanece a mesma...
Pattern perception as a basic cognitive expression of rationality (and one more thought on the same topic)
I have already talked about this in other texts. In this one, I try to be more objective.
I must have already mentioned that rationality can be considered a contextualization in the real world of pattern perception; in which those IQ test questions to find the pattern of a numerical sequence are replaced by questions and analyses of patterns of the most diverse orders in the real world. So, high rational capacity would also be a more developed capacity for pattern perception, but of true patterns, which would be its most important cognitive aspect: attention and the ability to perceive patterns of recurrence and variation, also in an abstract, statistical sense... extrapolating beyond the perception of physical or chemical phenomena. In other words, to perceive reality itself and to expand one's understanding of it beyond the basics that the senses can capture. But also to establish oneself in the most important or relevant perspectives, which is what matters most in a realistic sense. In other words, a perceptive capacity more directly linked to survival, but also in a more holistic, objective, impartial, preventive, medium to long-term sense than typically subjective, partial, remedial and short-term. The difference between seeking to understand the world in order to adapt or survive to it, and doing so in the opposite order, in which it is the mode of adaptation and survival that dictates what will be considered true or false. The example of religion, if its sensation, on average, is more pleasant for those who adopt it as a personal belief, usually contributes to the emotional and social adjustment of the individual, and then, it comes to be treated as an absolute truth, precisely because of the direct link that is established between personal benefit and determination of truth, by the logic "the thought that does me good, is because it is an absolute truth".
2. If I haven't said it before, again.
Relationship between levels of consciousness (realistic, surrealistic and hyperrealistic) and levels of rationality
The first is a thought of my own, about how consciousness would express itself in a hierarchy of qualitative and quantitative expression, in which its lowest levels (realistic) would be variably more instinctive: restricted, strict, pragmatic... And its highest levels, more contemplative and existentialist (hyperrealistic). So, the relationship between the two hierarchies of expression would be as follows: the lowest levels of consciousness, the first layer of attention and understanding of the world, would express non-rational levels*. These levels represent the "animal kingdom" of consciousness. The intermediate or surrealist levels, the second layer of attention and understanding of the world, would express lower levels of rationality, which represent the "ideological kingdom", common to most human beings. Finally, the highest levels, or hyperrealists (philosophical kingdom), would express the highest levels of consciousness, attention and understanding of the world, and therefore also of rationality.
* Based on my thinking that non-human animals cannot be rational, but neither can be irrational, if they have not evolved intellectually and cognitively to the level of reason, it would be the same as saying that humans are deficient in the ability to fly, after all, we have not evolved physically to become capable of flying either. And if irrationality is synonymous with stupidity, which makes no sense at the level of adaptive logic of other species, it would be the same as saying that fish are stupid because they do not know how to walk on dry land, even though the comparison of intelligence has its validity, but is restricted to itself, so that it is possible to trace a progressive line of cognitive evolution between species (humans are more intelligent than fish), but it is not possible to categorically state that a species is intrinsically "stupid" (fish are only stupid because they are less intelligent than humans). Again, the same idea that an existing context of possibility is necessary, otherwise it is not even a comparison between apples and pears, different within the same category, but between apples and stones, from different categories.
Percepção de padrões como expressão cognitiva básica da racionalidade (e mais um pensamento sobre o mesmo tópico)
Já falei sobre isso em outros textos. Neste, busco ser mais objetivo.
Eu já devo ter comentado que a racionalidade pode ser considerada uma contextualização no mundo real da percepção de padrões; em que aquelas questões de testes de QI para encontrar o padrão de uma sequência numérica são substituídas por questões e análises de padrões das mais diversas ordens no mundo real. Então, a alta capacidade racional também seria uma capacidade mais desenvolvida da percepção de padrões, mas de padrões verdadeiros, que esse seria o seu aspecto cognitivo mais importante: de atenção e capacidade de perceber padrões de recorrência e variação, também em um sentido abstrato, estatístico... extrapolando para além da percepção de fenômenos físicos ou químicos. Em outras palavras, de perceber a própria realidade e de ampliar a compreensão que tem sobre ela para além do básico que os sentidos podem capturar. Mas também de se firmar nas perspectivas mais importantes ou relevantes, o que mais importa em um sentido realista. Em outras palavras, uma capacidade perceptiva mais diretamente vinculada à sobrevivência, mas também em um sentido mais holístico, objetivo, imparcial, preventivo, de médio a longo prazo do que tipicamente subjetivo, parcial, remediativo e de curto prazo. A diferença entre buscar entender o mundo para se adaptar ou sobreviver a ele, e a de fazê-lo em ordem oposta, em que é o modo de adaptação e sobrevivência que dita o que será considerado verdadeiro ou falso. O exemplo da religião, se a sua sensação, em média, mais agradável para quem a adota como crença pessoal, costuma contribuir para o ajuste emocional e social do indivíduo, e então, passando então a ser tratada como uma verdade absoluta, justamente pelo vínculo direto que se estabelece entre benefício pessoal e determinação de verdade, pela lógica "o pensamento que me faz bem, é porque é uma verdade absoluta".
2. Se já não falei, de novo.
Relação entre níveis de consciência (realista, surrealista e hiperrealista) e níveis de racionalidade
O primeiro é um pensamento de minha autoria, de como a consciência se expressaria em hierarquia de expressão qualitativa e quantitativa, em que seus níveis mais baixos (realista) seriam variavelmente mais instintivos: restritos, estritos, pragmáticos... E os seus níveis mais altos, mais contemplativos e existencialistas (hiperrealista). Então, a relação entre as duas hierarquias de expressão se daria da seguinte maneira: os níveis mais baixos de consciência, a primeira camada de atenção e compreensão do mundo, expressariam níveis não-racionais*. Esses níveis representam o "reino animal" da consciência. Já os níveis intermediários, ou surrealistas, a segunda camada de atenção e compreensão do mundo, expressariam níveis mais baixos de racionalidade, que representam o "reino ideológico", comum à maioria dos seres humanos. Por fim, os níveis mais altos, ou hiperrealistas (reino filosófico), expressariam os níveis mais altos de consciência, de atenção e compreensão do mundo, e portanto também de racionalidade.
* Baseado no meu pensamento de que animais não-humanos não podem ser racionais, mas tampouco irracionais, se não evoluíram intelectual e cognitivamente até ao nível da razão, se seria o mesmo que dizer que humanos são deficientes na capacidade de voar, afinal, também não evoluímos fisicamente para nos tornarmos aptos ao vôo. E se a irracionalidade é sinônimo de estupidez, que não faz sentido ao nível de lógica adaptativa das outras espécies, se seria o mesmo que afirmar que peixes são estúpidos porque não sabem andar em terra firme, ainda que a comparação de inteligência tenha a sua validade, mas restrito à si mesma, de modo que, é possível traçar uma linha progressiva de evolução cognitiva entre as espécies (humanos são mais inteligentes que os peixes), mas não é possível afirmar categoricamente que uma espécie é intrinsecamente "estúpida" (peixes são apenas estúpidos porque são menos inteligentes que os seres humanos). Novamente, a mesma ideia de que, é necessário um contexto existente de possibilidade, do contrário, não é sequer uma comparação entre maçãs e peras, diferentes dentro de uma mesma categoria, mas entre maçãs e pedras, de categorias distintas.
Even more directly: on the antagonistic relationship between capitalism and meritocracy
Ideal merit: each person is rewarded for how much they contribute to a society (except for individuals who cannot contribute for some health reason).
Current impediment: capitalism, because, in this socioeconomic system, most of those who are most rewarded are not, individually and proportionally, those who contribute the most to society.
For, according to ideal merit, the existence of super-rich and super-poor would not be possible, because most people, individually and proportionally, contribute in a more modest way to the society or community in which they live. Even individuals who are exceptionally proactive, who delegate a disproportionate amount of positive contributions (in a true or objective-impartial/rational sense), would still not be rewarded to the same extreme level as the ultra-rich of the past and of our era. So, what makes this false "mathematics" of greatly exaggerated proportions possible is monetary fiction, in which, through its fantasy, it "becomes possible" to multiply (imaginary) gains to the stratosphere. If, through proportional mathematics, rooted in the "world of realities", an ideally meritocratic society would come closer to the ideal of a socialist or communist society, at least in relation to its emphasis on social equality. In conclusion, it would not be wrong to think that monetary fiction has been used as the most important means of exponential accumulation of power, even as a way of imposing an ideology, structured in a hierarchy of symbols, in which ordinary individuals are indoctrinated to accept their condition of subordination and to treat as a concrete reality this distance forged between them and the top of the social pyramid, as if it were physically unattainable. Therefore, the capitalist system seems to maximize this very human tendency to treat symbols as concrete elements or real dimensions.
De maneira ainda mais direta: sobre a relação antagônica entre capitalismo e meritocracia
Mérito ideal: cada um é recompensado pelo quanto que contribui a uma sociedade (excetuando indivíduos que não podem contribuir por alguma razão de saúde).
On Gaslighting and the "Left"
Gaslighting is defined as a form of psychological abuse in which information is distorted, selectively omitted to favor the abuser, or simply invented with the intent to make the victim doubt their own memory, perception, and sanity.[2] Cases of gaslighting can range from the abuser simply denying that previous abusive incidents have ever occurred, to the abuser staging bizarre events with the intent to disorient the victim.
Source: Wikipedia
Ideologically bigoted individuals are significantly more likely to engage in fallacious thought patterns, including forms that can be classified as abuse, such as "gaslighting." Those on the "right" and those on the "left" are both more prone to these flaws. However, at least according to my personal experience, both from experience and observation, this type of fallacious thinking and psychologically abusive behavior seems to be more common, even characteristic of being practiced by so-called "left-wing" individuals, perhaps as a kind of retreat strategy in confrontations or debates, especially if there is an "accusatory tone" from the other part who is debating. In a situation like this, the "progressive" fanatic denies "everything", as if he were instructed by his lawyer to deny any participation or cover-up of crimes, in this case, of legitimate conspiracies euphemistically called "cultural or social changes". To deny that ideological indoctrination or "left-wing" brainwashing is taking place in the media, in education and even in the government. To deny that they are imposing their ideological manuals as public policies and that their main objective is not the practice of justice, if they are intrinsically unjust, but of cultural and political hegemony, of absolute power. To deny that so-called "socialist" countries are cruel dictatorships that subject their populations to censorship and misery. To deny that it is supporting or even actively participating in the promotion of ideologies that advocate the political and structural systematization of "reverse" racism, primarily against white populations of European origin, which are literally promoting their extinction (in their most racially purified forms that are very recessive), supporting mass immigration to their countries, self-hatred or collective and historical guilt, denial of the existence of human races and their differences and racial mixing. To deny that it supports or promotes the distortion of basic knowledge (such as the biological reality of human sexuality), made possible by its increasingly totalitarian dominance in academia. To deny that it supports or promotes the censorship of its opponents. To deny that it presents a double moral standard, evidenced by an extreme selectivity of indignation. From denying that it covers up groups and individuals who actively participate in their conspiracies, to creating specific terms that deny that they are promoting massively orchestrated conspiratorial assaults to progressively occupy spaces of power and remodel societies according to their truly shady objectives...
Of course, as was said before, it is not only those on the "left" who practice forms of psychological abuse and fallacious thinking. But the practice of gaslighting, again, seems to be much more characteristic of this "side".
Sobre gaslighting e a "esquerda"
Definição de "gaslighting": é uma forma de abuso psicológico na qual informações são distorcidas, seletivamente omitidas para favorecer o abusador ou simplesmente inventadas com a intenção de fazer a vítima duvidar de sua própria memória, percepção e sanidade.[2] Casos de gaslighting podem variar da simples negação por parte do agressor de que incidentes abusivos anteriores já ocorreram, até a realização de eventos bizarros pelo abusador com a intenção de desorientar a vítima.
terça-feira, 25 de março de 2025
Replication of a pseudoscientific finding
The supposed (almost causal) correlation between IQ and rationality, in this new study below:
https://www.psypost.org/twin-study-suggests-rationality-and-intelligence-share-the-same-genetic-roots/
But why is it a pseudoscientific finding??
Because rational capacity is not well assessed by questions about hypothetical and specific situations, but by the factual quality of an individual's belief system, a much more objective way of accessing it. In other words, more is known about a person's level of common sense by their beliefs than by their answers on a test. Also because, generally, there is not just one "right" or "most rational" answer to specific everyday situations that require decision or judgment, if personal contexts can/usually vary, as well as the way we deal with them (influenced especially by our most intrinsic characteristics: personality, cognitive style...). And last but not least, because this is yet another correlation, even in the case of the "most rational" in "rationality tests", it seems that the number of people with high average IQs, especially verbal IQs, who have a high level of ideological fanaticism for certain irrational beliefs, such as the belief in egalitarianism, one of the most common in this population, seems to be disproportionate, demonstrating that a high cognitive capacity alone is not enough to function as a protective factor against chronic irrationality, nor that rationality is basically a discrete facet of cognitive capacities, as this study is claiming, even though it is believed to be a combination or recruitment of certain capacities, both cognitive and non-cognitive, that contribute to its expression and development, precisely a type of modulation (and that irrationality would logically be an opposite modulation).
This type of study is based on certain postulates that do not seem to match the observed and practical reality of human intelligence. The most relevant point here is that there is a g factor of cognitive abilities that results in a non-modular expression of intelligence, the opposite of what is perceived in reality. For if it is true that human intelligence is more generalist than that of other species, perhaps the most generalist of all, this is true in a comparative sense, because we continue to be more inclined towards cognitive specialization, even if less strict. For there is abundant evidence that corroborates this thesis, that human intelligence has a more modular nature, and that this diversity of specializations, consequently, tends to manifest itself in a more irregular manner among human groups. For example, the cognitive differences in visual-spatial and emotional abilities between men and women.
For even if it is possible to confirm the predominant occurrence of a regularity of individual performance in cognitive tests, it must be reiterated that this phenomenon is limited to psychometrics. This would explain, for example, an individual with high verbal-linguistic ability also presenting excellent mathematical performance in more general or superficial cognitive assessments, but, in practice, ending up developing more of his most prominent cognitive facet and still presenting a very average performance in non-verbal skills. However, this does not mean that intelligence differs individually only through channeling in certain capacities and that it ends up affecting other capacities, as if everyone presented the same initial potential and were to differ based on the process of choosing domains, but rather that these channeling or specialization tendencies are much deeper, structurally predetermined, according to the morphological/cerebral characteristics, in short, the physical-chemical characteristics of the individual, that is, cognitively reflective of these characteristics. It also means that there is a varied, but always limited, level of modulation of capacities and that, while this flexibility does not have an infinite or indefinable potential, there is a tendency in which the expressive emergence of certain cognitive (and psychological) capacities or characteristics tends to be related to a variably reduced expression of other characteristics or capacities, which seem to present a more antagonistic relationship. For example, visual-spatial capacities, much more developed in men, and socio-emotional capacities, much more developed in women; the difference between having a brain that pays more attention to inanimate elements and one that pays more attention to people and other living beings.
A translated excerpt from the text in the link shows the type of test that was applied to supposedly assess rational capacity, and that, in fact, it is a test of logical thinking, which is not exactly the same as rational thinking* and
which, in my opinion, can only be best assessed in real-world situations.
* Rational thinking is about the perception of facts, evidence or even a more impartial and objective analysis always aiming for greater understanding. Logical thinking, a priori, is about finding the underlying logic in a given context or situation, that which makes specific sense, although also related to the perception of an objective truth, not necessarily the same as rational thinking. This is the difference between finding the most correct answer to a problem and knowing that Cuba is not a democracy from any possible conceptual angle.
"Cognitive rationality was assessed using a specific test known as the Cognitive Reflection Test. This test presents individuals with problems designed to trigger an intuitive but incorrect response. For example, a question asks: "A bat and a ball together cost $1.10. The bat costs $1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?" The quick, intuitive answer is 10 cents, but the correct answer, which requires a little more thought, is actually 5 cents. The Cognitive Reflection Test uses several of these questions to see how well people can resist misleading intuitions and arrive at the logically correct answer."
As I have already mentioned and will say again in this text, a true test of rational capacity would precisely assess the level of rationality, which is very redundant, and, for this, nothing is more intuitive than doing so by assessing how centered on facts, evidence and consideration an individual's (personal) beliefs are, since they are much more important and influential, including in terms of intellectual discernment, of perceiving what is true and what is not, than getting correct answers on a test about hypothetical and very specific situations.
A replicação de um achado pseudocientífico
A suposta correlação (quase causal) entre QI e racionalidade, nesse novo estudo abaixo:
sábado, 15 de março de 2025
Why didn't I root for the movie "I'm Still Here"?
Why didn't I root for the movie "I'm Still Here"?
Because it would be the same as rooting for hypocrisy, cynicism, fanaticism...
Because it would be the same as rooting for the victory of a billionaire director, heir to a bank, who profits from the misery of many Brazilians, and who "fights against fascism" by making films that also make them money, which he already has plenty of...
His "class consciousness" seems quite impractical, because if he was truly progressive, he would seek to _help_ NGOs, individuals or groups directly, which, in very capitalist language, means "with LOTS of money" (which he has plenty of)...
Because it would be the same as rooting for an average actress, the daughter of privilege and nepotism (who benefited immensely in her career from being the daughter of well-known actors), and who is only interested in the fires in the Amazon and the Pantanal or the suffering of the Brazilian people when the government is "right-wing"... Extreme selectivity of indignation that many of his ideological peers have They also practice it. And that says a LOT about a person's character...
Because it would be the same as rooting for yet another mediocre film to win an award undeservedly, and which, let's say, has lost much of its prestige in recent years (or decades?), because of its very "subjective" way of evaluating film productions, prioritizing the political character of the film over its objective qualities, and which has become even more biased recently, practically a private "party" for "rich and fake progressives"....
Because it would be the same as continuing to honor an award that has been dominated for a long time by a certain "tribe" and that, currently, also dominates a good part of politics, education and the Western media, not for our delight, practicing its ethnic nepotism in a shameless manner in this award (see certain suspicious "victories", such as the one for "best actress", this year), while practicing other of its evil deeds* (slaughter of a certain people; brainwashing of ideologies) harmful, especially in Western countries, and the imposition of such policies with serious consequences, such as mass immigration and "multiculturalism", two extremist or radical policies that aim to destroy the cultural and ethnic homogeneity of nations in order to establish atomized, excessively individualistic societies, while remaining united and cohesive**...), with the almost absolute complicity or connivance of precisely the "institutions" in which it has wrapped its arms ("connections")...
* Obviously they are not the only ones, in fact, it is difficult to find a human population that does not commit irrational acts that can be classified as unnecessary, senseless, extreme and/or cruel. But, as politically hegemonic in our time...
** Even if it were the case of building more plural and/or less collectivist societies, it would be done correctly and not as has been imposed, in which an exponential increase in conflicts can be seen.
Because it would be the same as rooting for a film that rightly speaks out against the military dictatorship, but knowing that its creators, and many of those who supported it until its "victorious" Oscar run, also blatantly support "left-wing" dictatorships, as well as dictatorships that, without a clear ideological position, place themselves politically against US interests, instead of coherently positioning themselves against any type of totalitarian regime... Not to mention that they also support other types of dictatorship, more indirect, such as the thought police in force in the Western world...
In short, because it would be the same as endorsing the chorus of this hive of absolute conformity and lies posing as "emotional blackmail"...
Por que eu não torci para o filme "Eu ainda estou aqui"?
Porque seria o mesmo que torcer para a hipocrisia, o cinismo, o fanatismo...
sexta-feira, 7 de março de 2025
About an old discussion: who is more irrational, the left or the right, and a new thought
What is more irrational, mediocrity or madness??
I have already written some texts based on this question in the title, more specifically two texts. In the first, I compared the left and the right based on the historical context of colonial Brazil and concluded that it is the right-wingers who are more inclined towards irrationality, not only because they are more likely to justify slavery, but also because they are more inclined towards religious belief, an extra and traditional dose of adherence to magical thinking. In the second text, I ended up concluding that the more rational ones would be more likely to not become so ideologically biased, contrasting an older text of mine, about highly rational individuals, in which I stated that they would be more likely to adopt progressive beliefs more vigorously, also based on the long history of embracing obscurantism by the other side, the right.
A new thought about this discussion, according to what I have been thinking, is that the comparison between those on the right and those on the left, in rational terms, is equivalent to the comparison between different doses of rationality, or rather, irrationality, in which the first group would be excessively restrained in their intellectual approaches, and therefore more conservative, expressing a more mediocre way of rational thinking, while the second would be excessive in its intellectual approaches, and that, without a quality filter of thoughts and ideas, becomes a more risky and mistaken way of rational thinking. Therefore, it is the clash between mediocrity and madness, between going too little beyond primary good sense, which is usually called "common sense", and going much further, but more in a sense of inverting it, reiterating the condition of the left, which has given itself, as an antithesis of the right, and not as a synthesis or a true moral and intellectual transcendence, as it seems to proclaim.
But this does not mean that right-wingers are, on average, less irrational than rational. It does mean that they are less irrational than left-wingers. Nor does it mean that conservative thought is perfectly cautious. Traditional religious belief alone shows us that this is far from true. (Still, it is interesting to think that, if from a thought I had about it, it is possible to consider it radical, in the sense of imprudent or hasty, and also conservative, depending on the perspective. If from a purely rational perspective, traditional religion, but also any other form of magical thinking, is tacitly an extraordinary statement without extraordinary evidence, a speculative leap without any logical basis, treated as absolute truth. And if from a historical-cognitive and evolutionary perspective, religious belief among humans would be the conservation of the universal and extremely basic modus operandi of living beings, self-centeredness, of primarily perceiving reality from one's own perspective, instead of doing so in a more objective way, shifting perception to the objective instead of self-projection).
Sobre uma velha discussão: quem é mais irracional, o de esquerda ou o de direita e um novo pensamento
O que é mais irracional, a mediocridade ou a loucura??
After all, is it the "far right", extreme, or especially who accuses it??
Who accuses it??
''Traditional media''??
Self-declared "radical subversives"??
The traditional media reflects and expresses the voice of power, which has never really been moderate and balanced...
Those who are always ready to "accuse" others of being intolerant, extremists... fascists, racists, xenophobes... basically repeat the litany of accusing others of being and doing what they themselves are and do...
Some examples of the "extremism" of the "far right" today:
- The "far right" only wants greater control over immigration, especially in countries that have experienced significant flows of immigrants, and because this lack of control generates very negative consequences, especially the increase in cultural conflicts, crime and the progressive demographic and cultural replacement of natives by foreigners... Not to mention that it does not solve the social problems of the countries where most of these immigrants come from.
Very "radical" and "extremist"...
- The "far right" only wants to combat the excesses of 'left-wing' identity politics, in which immigration policies with little control are also part of the "package", as is the reversal of institutionalized discrimination against certain groups in evaluation and selection processes in the labor market, particularly white men, in countries where this policy has been imposed, returning to the old common sense of prioritizing technical competence over subjective preferences (racial, sexual...).
Or even the ban on trans athletes in traditional sports, especially in women's sports, knowing that they tend to have natural biological advantages, particularly for "trans women" over "biological women" (and which reverses the situation when it comes to competitions between "trans men" and "biological men", exposing the first group to the risks of competing with those who are much stronger and more physically agile)...
Or that children can be subjected to irreversible procedures on their developing bodies when they express any level of mismatch between gender and sex identity (which seems that, most of the time, is nothing more than a temporary mismatch).
An affront to moderation and rationality, don't you think?
Afinal, é a "extrema direita", extrema, ou especialmente quem a acusa??
Quem a acusa??
Lacração é ruim. Mas as novelas antigas do Manoel Carlos...
Antes, as novelas brasileiras quase não tinham personagens LGBTs. Os que existiam, quase sempre faziam parte dos núcleos de humor. Pois era assim que muitos brasileiros conseguiam aceitar LGBTs na mídia, apenas se fossem para lhes causarem risadas, diga-se, especialmente se fossem suas próprias sexualidades a fonte principal para as piadas.
terça-feira, 25 de fevereiro de 2025
On the "final" and "politically incorrect" solution to the problem of violence
To understand the problem of violence committed by human beings, especially irrational violence, it is first necessary to understand human behavior: how it works, what factors influence it... To truly understand it, in the most scientific sense possible, based on the best that scientific thought and practice can offer. Because adopting narratives that supposedly explain it, including violence, just because they fit with personal beliefs or feelings, seems to be much more common, not only among non-specialists, but even among those who consider themselves such, just because they graduated in related areas, but demonstrate more ignorance than knowledge, precisely because they disregard legitimate scientific evidence on the topics of their areas of expertise; because they have limited themselves to the politically correct pseudosciences that have become predominant in their areas in the last half century.
So, first, let's talk a little about human behavior, which we can observe with the naked eye, its patterns or intersectional correlations, which are not just parallels between factors that share the same context of influences. This is precisely the first point, that human behavior is relatively predictable, because we can draw behavioral profiles of individuals, but also of groups and subgroups, in relation to their personality traits and intelligence. For example, we know that a person is more shy precisely because we perceive in them a constancy of behaviors characteristic of shyness. The second point is that we can observe, in addition to the patterns of human behavior that result in cognitive and personality profiles, that they are also more stable or difficult to significantly change, even though they also present a limited adaptive plasticity. That is, precisely because they are more stable they are also predictable. Even when chronic instability is observed, such as in the case of mood disorders such as bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder, they still express patterns of "stable instability" or predictable undulation. The third point is that it is common to find an apparently coincidental similarity of behavioral tendencies among close blood relatives, especially between parents and children, and siblings; that we can also notice this similarity between individuals from the same groups defined by race or ethnicity, culture, social class, IQ, type of intelligence, sex, sexual orientation... That we can see, for example, that adopted children do not tend to resemble their adoptive parents in temperament and intelligence, but rather their biological parents, even more so if they come from different social backgrounds, and even when they are raised from a very early age by their adoptive parents, far from their biological families. The fourth point is that we can see that human behavior is more intrinsically than extrinsically oriented, due to the perception of being more stable and predictable and because it manifests itself in a way that is more coherent with the individual's personality traits and intelligence than just in a way that is reciprocally reactive to external circumstances. The fifth point is that we can agree that we are not born as "blank sheets of paper", without pre-formed brains (not yet fully developed) and endowed with specific constitutions, if behavioral tendencies already begin to appear from the first years of life, and that we most likely inherit them from our parents, although more as a recombination of their characteristics, as well as from their closest relatives (siblings...), than as a direct and linear inheritance, based on the third point of primarily coincidental similarity and also by the basic logic that we do not inherit only physical characteristics from our parents. And finally, it is even possible to conclude that all these points corroborate the hypothesis contrary to the one that has become predominant, especially in the human sciences, that we are practically absolute products of the environments in which we live, whether led by sociology or in a more sophisticated way by epigenetics (if that is what this emerging branch seems to be serving, to be used as supposed scientific evidence that the environment is more important than biology in determining human development and behavior and, therefore, as reinforcement for ideologically biased narratives and public policies, based on them, that supposedly aim to combat social problems).
There you have it. If we can agree with everything that was said above about the behavior of our species, we can also do so in a more specific way, for example, in relation to violent behavior: that it is predictable, according to more stable patterns of behavior and correlations with certain groups; more intrinsic and, therefore, more dependent on the/quantity and level of self-control, and other qualities, of an individual, rather than primarily and exclusively on the circumstances in which he or she finds himself or herself; of being more hereditary and, consequently, more expressive/in certain groups and family segments than in others... A significant example of the more prominent role of biology on human behavior and specific to antisocial predispositions is the difference in the frequency of violent behavior between men and women, a universal pattern because it is repeated in all countries, regardless of their socioeconomic or cultural characteristics, and expresses significant hormonal differences between the sexes. But it is also important to keep in mind that there are classes of individuals in terms of their propensity for violent, aggressive or cruel behavior (as well as in relation to other types of behavior): from those who are less prone, through those in whom there is a variable propensity, which may be dependent on the context, to those in whom this tendency is more evident, without the need for a primarily logical context to justify it. Finally, based on the points raised, a series of measures can be drawn up on how to combat crime from its roots. These are:
- Through observation of behaviors, early identification and primary monitoring of individuals who exhibit a high frequency of irrationally antisocial behaviors;
- As a preventive measure, after identification and monitoring, possible social isolation, especially for those who are correctly diagnosed as having antisocial personality disorders and identified as a risk to society;
- As a remedial measure, potentially permanent detention of any individual who commits crimes, especially those considered heinous, which are committed without a complex context that could open the way for some type of logical and/or rational justification; - Subsequent sterilization of these individuals, based on the points above, aiming at the exponential reduction of the phenotypic frequency of individuals who exhibit constant irrationally antisocial behavior, which in turn reflects their own more intrinsic mental characteristics: cerebral, hormonal... Also based on the fact that there is no treatment or cure for this class of mental disorders;
- Improvement of the identification and monitoring of these individuals from childhood, with the possibility of starting to remove them from social life and restricting their rights before they become adults, but without necessarily treating them with compulsory cruelty, understanding that they present deficits in self-control, emotional intelligence and rationality.
Simply imprisoning all those who commit crimes or engage in illegal activities, although efficient in reducing crime, will not be enough in the long term, if there is a risk of an increase in the phenotypic frequency of individuals with antisocial tendencies, if they are not prevented from having descendants, as is the case with many prisoners, who have higher fertility rates than the population outside prisons, maintaining the cycle and reproductive advantage of this highly problematic group.
Finally, the main factors that, in my opinion, make it difficult or problematic for these measures to be fully adopted in a "democratic" society:
- The relative dominance: structural and ideological, of the "good" pseudosciences, biased to the left, which block or hinder any action towards public policy that, in fact, combats the problem of crime objectively and efficiently, but without going beyond the indiscriminate commission of abuses, which would be a contradiction of combating crimes by committing them;
- The problem of the historical legalization of antisocial practices by "elite" groups or those who find themselves in a situation of empowerment over other groups, such as the economic exploitation of workers, with exhaustive working hours, psychological abuse and low wages... Because the adoption of the recommended measures only with lower-class criminals categorically consists of a social cleansing that favors and even expands the power of certain "elite" individuals and groups that also greatly harm the social fabric, for example, due to their dominance in politics, in which they tend to impose measures that favor their personal interests to the detriment of the well-being of society itself, in general.
- The use of these measures as substitutes for those that seek to combat other social problems of great relevance, particularly social inequalities, job insecurity and political corruption... And don't doubt it if this happens, because, unfortunately, the only ones who are most interested in applying them are usually politicians on the right, if/those on the left tend to be averse to them, considering them inhumane or even inefficient and pseudoscientific (which they certainly are not). So, since the former, for the most part, are not interested in combating social inequalities, job insecurity and political corruption, it would be enough for them to send criminals from the bottom of the social hierarchy to be imprisoned, that is, applying the social cleansing warned about in the second counterpoint...
These counterpoints create a major impasse for a surely fair application of these measures, the only ones that can truly combat all forms of crime head-on and at all social levels, from blue-collar to white-collar criminals. Still, the mass incarceration of those involved in organized crime, such as drug trafficking, and other explicitly violent or illicit criminal practices, already alleviates crime rates considerably, as happened in El Salvador, a small Central American country that managed to reduce them from the highest to one of the lowest in the world, through the good sense of having started to arrest anyone who was involved in organized crime (disregarding here excesses that may be being committed, especially the arrest of innocent people who were unfairly associated with gangs). But, until when this mass incarceration will be able to contain crime, it is something to think about, after all, the detainees will eventually leave prison and return to circulate in society... That is why it is necessary to face this problem from all possible angles, to do so based on true scientific practice, seeking to understand what it is about (behavior, violence... origins, tendencies, characteristics and realistic possibilities of confrontation), based on reality and not just a supposed academic "good-naturedness", divorced from the rigor of scientific impartiality, but without disregarding that these are also human individuals, many of whom demonstrate, throughout their lives, a chronic inability to self-control and self-awareness, and to also take into account this aspect of the chronic deficiency of rationally directed behaviors that these individuals present. Finally, we must not forget the moral aspect of the practice of justice in situations of violent crimes: to punish according to the degree of violence, to take into account the level of contextual complexity in which the crime occurs, the characteristics of the individuals involved... To improve the practice of justice as much as possible.