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Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

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Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#171
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right and you are probably left leaning politically and are pro immigration, also you are probably not physically strong. The reason for your avoidance of competition is both environmentally affected and genetic. Your parents, maybe even grandparents, were probably raised in an environment where they didn't have to struggle too much at life. This kind of life changes genetic expression in a way that adapts to…

Sounds like a newer version of eugenics with a bit of social darwinism in it. Actually I come from a family of people who either hide during the war (jewish/polish origins), or suffered from it. Maybe you'd also label it as "didn't have to struggle too much at life". Eitherway, I don't think society was built to reflect the state of nature and competition. If you think struggle is good, I think you have some skewed b…

Your response is not surprising. "Struggle" is not definitive marker of said expression. Specific protein is, which can be detected if you wanted it. Those with the adaptation, either it is liberal, like you, or conservative, like me, always seek to sustain that environment. Because changing genetic expression is a slow process and not preferred by the body. And your behavior, including this comment, is a result of changed in brain areas more than result of information you have received.

So left vs right is a war between heritable different gene expression proteins on the most basic level. Different ideas and perceptions are only a byproduct of the effect these proteins cause.

And there's nothing inherently wrong with this expression. I'm just acknowledging that we are fundamentally different on the cell level and nothing can make us agree. Doesn't mean my expression is better than yours. These are just different evolutionary adaptations in animals that humans are part of. I have example of rabbits because they have furthered your type of "lifestyle" to more discernable level.

Also your eugenics argument is completely strawman, as is expected from you.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#172
post #94

This is completely anecdotal, but when I was back in the Middle East, tests essentially were games/competitions. Everyone knew everyone else's scores and they were often announced out loud as the results are handed back. Students who consistently get high scores are looked up to and respected. Your academic performance contributed significantly to your social standing in the classroom. Then I came to Canada and this…

You describe the exact opposite of a game - you describe a competition.

How's a competition not a game?

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#173
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You describe the exact opposite of a game - you describe a competition.

How's a competition not a game?

A game needs to have no consequences outside the game. If there are consequences beyond the scope of the game, people aren't playing, they are seeking those other consequences, and the game is no longer strictly a game.

> Everyone knew everyone else's scores and they were often announced out loud as the results are handed back. Students who consistently get high scores are looked up to and respected. Your academic performance contributed significantly to your social standing in the classroom.

All of which, we know from empirical evidence, replace intrinsic motivations of play.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#174
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that "nerd" is pejorative is linked to the way grades aren't read aloud. The "nerd" pejorative isn't about doing well academically, it's more about bragging and obsessing. It's about making academic performance part of your identity. That's what people think is uncool. It's not like the quarterback loses points if he happens to be smart. He just shouldn't flaunt it or obsess about it.

Hm Im an American (and a Nerd) and that doesn't sound at all right to me. The N word is used to denigrate anyone who does well academically. Its used to shore up self-image for those that don't do well I imagine - "Sure Joe is great at this subject but that's Nerdy so Ha! I'm superior to him" There was never any need to brag, to be called a Nerd. Just score well, and the bullies would whisper (and yell in the hall) N…

When did HN become a place for trite generalizations? Do people really believe that every case of nerd shaming is the same? We can go on all day about school-teasing name-calling.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#175
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How's a competition not a game?

A game needs to have no consequences outside the game. If there are consequences beyond the scope of the game, people aren't playing, they are seeking those other consequences, and the game is no longer strictly a game. > Everyone knew everyone else's scores and they were often announced out loud as the results are handed back. Students who consistently get high scores are looked up to and respected. Your academic pe…

>If there are consequences beyond the scope of the game, people aren't playing

Ah like the NBA or NFL? Those big multi-million dollar contracts and random drug tests are just part of the game.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A game needs to have no consequences outside the game. If there are consequences beyond the scope of the game, people aren't playing, they are seeking those other consequences, and the game is no longer strictly a game. > Everyone knew everyone else's scores and they were often announced out loud as the results are handed back. Students who consistently get high scores are looked up to and respected. Your academic pe…

>If there are consequences beyond the scope of the game, people aren't playing Ah like the NBA or NFL? Those big multi-million dollar contracts and random drug tests are just part of the game.

You are playing semantics instead of trying to understand what I'm saying.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#177
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like or dislike, you would be the first to die in 99% of societies, human or otherwise. This may get downvoted but don't shoot the messenger. You can't "hate" something that just "is".

So does that mean I'm part of the 1%? Because I'm an unemployed man on welfare.

Which is why you dislike competition.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If there are consequences beyond the scope of the game, people aren't playing Ah like the NBA or NFL? Those big multi-million dollar contracts and random drug tests are just part of the game.

You are playing semantics instead of trying to understand what I'm saying.

What you are saying is semantics.

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#179
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So does that mean I'm part of the 1%? Because I'm an unemployed man on welfare.

Which is why you dislike competition.

But do I dislike competition because of my social status, or is that the other way around? Which caused which? Is that really sufficient to sum up my opinion through my subjective point of view ? Look at the politics of dealing with losers in our society, it's not pretty.

I think that at some point, if there is more competition than cooperation, a lot of people will get alienated, and that won't always be a good thing. I mean trade in general feels more like competition than cooperation.

I agree that competition yields benefits thanks since the economy manages itself, but it also has huge costs. I mean I don't like society for its competition, I like it for its cooperation. If I'd really like competition, I'd live as a hermit. And to be honest, if society become less and less cooperative as a whole, what's the point of it ?

Re: Told reading tests are a game, boys score higher

#180
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sex is the biology; Gender is the identity That's only a very recent distinction, and still a contentious one. According to Merriam-Webster ( http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gender ) and the OED ( http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/gend... ), it's far from clear.

Based on what the dictionary says? The idea that gender and sex mean two different things isn't contentious amongst the people who study the phenomenon academically.

The general statement "they mean something different" is a pronouncement on language as a broad concept. The OED and Merriam Webster are about as authoritative an answer as you can get on that in English, which for the sake of HN, will have to do for now. That's not to say one day the differences won't evolve (linguistically) into fairly concrete and well-understood distinctions across all languages, but we're definitely not there yet.
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