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3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

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Re: 3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

#13
Pop-up Blocked by OpenCulture’s own Pop-Up JavaScript.

Running Firefox on iOS in portrait mode.

Turning phone around to landscape still rendered me unable to press any button much less read the pop up. Only got words like “ad-blocker”.

Nope, not running any ad-blocker.

Re: 3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

#14

We really are the same people. No measurable difference in IQ (as well as that can be "measured"). Only knowledge (some gained for us; some lost, too) and context are different. The tablet is a cool reminder of this.

> We really are the same people. No measurable difference in IQ (as well as that can be "measured").

There is definitely IQ variation in the same society on a short timescale and between societies and the same time, during the time when we have been able to measure it; given what we know about the wide variety of environmental influences on IQ, it stands to reason that Egypt 3,200 years ago would have significantly different IQ average and distribution than a society from today, even if the genetic factors were exactly the same as in some modern society being compared. Sure, we can't directly measure that for a past society, but that doesn't mean it is roughly the same.

Re: 3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

#15

> to embalm your brother If I'd used that excuse at my old work it would probably have triggered a 'difficult conversation' with my line manager.

I dunno, you probably get some sort of bereavement time off. Also, personal death care involving families seems to be creeping back somewhat.

Re: 3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

#17
Not surprising.

How many people have stressful jobs and overbearing bosses who would kill them if things weren't done just right? And when they come home, all they want is to eat dinner, watch TV, and sleep. Should any problem happen to interrupt that, they explode.

Go read the story of Potiphar and Joseph in the Bible.[0] Say what you will about it being real or not, that story is thousands of years old, and there are still people just like Potiphar today. You think bosses demanding perfection each time is a modern innovation? We have so much knowledge and rights, surely we must be so much better than people who lived thousands of years ago? We have better toys and are more prosperous, but we're still the same.

[0] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+39&vers...

Re: 3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

#18

> to embalm your brother If I'd used that excuse at my old work it would probably have triggered a 'difficult conversation' with my line manager.

It would probably be a difficult conversation for anyone today if they're the one doing the embalming.

Re: 3,200-year-old Egyptian tablet records excuses for why people missed work

#19

We really are the same people. No measurable difference in IQ (as well as that can be "measured"). Only knowledge (some gained for us; some lost, too) and context are different. The tablet is a cool reminder of this.

This is incorrect - iq has risen steadily with improvements in nutrition, public health, and medical science. It's mostly plateaued over the last 50 years, but it's evident that pre-industrial / pre-rnlightenment humans had a much harder life, including things that suppressed potential at an almost global scale.

We may see additional gains if there are globally adopted pedagogical improvements in both childhood education and standard parenting.

Our genetics are the same, but our quality of life is radically better, and that allows us greater potential.

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