A Response to a Specific Quote by Steven Pinker

This post concerns the concept and role of eugenics in this age of genetics. Steven Pinker, responding to a “conventional wisdom among left-leaning academics that genes imply genocide”, proffers the following (it is quite an old quote dating from 2002):

“But the 20th century suffered “two” ideologies that led to genocides. The other one, Marxism, had no use for race, didn’t believe in genes and denied that human nature was a meaningful concept. Clearly, it’s not an emphasis on genes or evolution that is dangerous. It’s the desire to remake humanity by coercive means (eugenics or social engineering) and the belief that humanity advances through a struggle in which superior groups (race or classes) triumph over inferior ones.” [The other, unmentioned in this quote, is fascism]

While he is not arguing, per se, for genetic determinism, he gets this partly right. It is not that dealing with genes inevitably implies genocide, but the concept he seeks to highlight as a retort to this is a little more complex than what he is suggesting. There must be two mental steps: first, the ideological perception of the superiority of certain (insert noun here, genes/traits/race/class/anything), then the ideological condemnation of inferior (noun) as somehow undeserving of the same treatment/rights/humanity. It is this condemnation of inferior (noun) that led to the genocides and which continues today to lead to social/racial/ethnic stratification and discrimination.

While the first step establishes the space for the second to “operate”, the second is the one that is the “action” step. You can think you are superior, but you don’t necessarily have to condemn/ostrasize/etc, though of course, it probably happens more than naturally in most cases. Both steps may well be equally important, however, when there is no actual ground for establishing the superiority of one over the other. If there actually is such a ground (i.e. actual, not perceived superiority), then only the second is relevant.

—

Admittedly, I struggled with this for a while – a key question was: does superiority contain the implicit assumption that the inferior was undeserving, or are the two steps I mentioned consciously separate? Question is open to discussion.

The Story on the Paper

If anyone asks… this is the random “story” I penned to fill up the piece of paper photographed for the entry below, spelling errors included.

The time is late afternoon. The setting sun projects a warm hue across the Meditterranean. The breeze that playfully ruffles my hair makes the sea undulate gently. The chatter of other caf’é-goers fills the air with a cacophony of language as I still my thoughts staring into the strong dark brew that seemingly whispers back that it hid within its black heart the deepest secrets of the universe… or the deepest secrets of great-tasting coffee.

(Yep. It’s the word Mediterranean.)

…By Request (Cont.)

A piece of thick cream-coloured paper sits lazily on the table, its surface awash with warm diffuse light. The first brown strokes are added to the spaces neatly demarcated by faint lines running across. More soon follow, the glissile nib melodiously snaking across the paper, feeling buttery smooth and soft. Before long, the piece is covered, rustic brown against rich cream, mellow, earthy and evocative. Inspection reveals the ink’s crisp tonal quality and width variation of the strokes laid on the paper…

Again, the pen has performed remarkably, an ageless implement, simple yet effective, its construction itself a work of art, precise and measured: the reservoir, piston and feed fitting within a compact barrel, working together to deliver just the right amount of fluid to the nib – a piece of precious metal alloy carefully crafted and shaped, with a slit and point putting ink to paper, responsive to the writer’s every push, pull and weave.

Satisfaction… is what it’s all about.

By request…

The mellow afternoon light shines through the window, warmly illuminating the row of glass bottles in front of me. I gaze over each, neatly arranged, and pick one, swirling its contents, satisfied with the choice of colour: a rich, rustic brown.

A pen sits on the tabletop, ready. A closer observation reveals the depth of its resin pattern in the light, its swirls and specks sparkling faintly in hues of gold, blue and brown, complementing the lustrous shine of its lacquered finish and the striking metallic accents of its clip and cap band.

I twirl the cap off, revealing its most important component, wearing a two-tone colour palette of gold and rhodium, decorated with the fine engravings of nib art and its manufacturer’s logo. Down it goes into the bottle, and its reservoir is eventually filled using an integrated piston.

A piece of thick cream-coloured paper sits lazily on the table…

[to be continued]

Tiananmen

A few years ago China called for Japan to apologise for killings during WW II and remove references in textbooks neutral to/positive of Japan’s actions.

Today China continually refuses to discuss Tiananmen in spite of calls from its own people.

Today’s China is different. But to continually hold another country guilty for actions, in war, against your people, while sweeping under the carpet actions, in peacetime, in your own backyard, seems wrong, at least to me. Why is the subject of Tiananmen still taboo? Is China all too ready to blame another country for one civilian massacre while apparently not being ready to do some soul-searching for another civilian massacre?

Today’s Chinese administration may not directly be accountable for Tiananmen, of course, despite being the same party. But if today’s China is different – why is it not prepared to discuss mistakes of the past, of a past China?

Anyone else see a disconnect here? What is the message China is sending to ordinary observers like me? Certainly, for a country which cares a lot about “face”, juxtaposing these contradictory actions would seem to “throw face”. Here, China is only tarnishing its own image.

Additionally, it may be able to block its own bloggers and its own people – but it will not be able to block everyone else, and it will lose “face” not only with its own people, but with everyone else.

And as promised…

ALLL RIGGHHTT! As promised to -ben, here is his last troll piece for this blog. Folks, take it in jest. I had a good laugh, and pleinelune too. Presenting the one and only -ben, in response to my last comment on the previous post in troll fashion! I like the last part. It’s just so tongue-in-cheek. And he didn’t forget the postscript battle too!

Well I just copied and pasted it, but, I promised to put it up as a post and so I did =)

As a summary, this is what happened.

1. He trolled one of my posts (on abbreviations).
2. I got mighty pissed, this being a serious blog.
3. It continued for a while and culminated in this post on my blog and that on his.
4. I see that post and realise what he’s getting at.
5. I acknowledge the correct pointing out that I lack a sense of humour, and that he picked a good post to tear apart – the abbreviations post was not in very good taste.
6. Thus, in being fair, I give him a spot and tell him to make it the best troll post ever of his life (because this is after all a serious blog and I’m not going to let his posts through anymore).
7. Hilarity ensues below.
8. Enjoy.

And no, in case any of you folks were wondering, I do not wear over-stretched spandex shorts.

—–

Doesn’t mean I have to play though.

After all that work?

What do you think I’m?
Jake DeSantis?
Are Singaporeans that uncharitable?
Can’t you at least even pretend to be angry?
Like… I’m dying here — throw me a bone, man!

Unlike you I remember that there are real people behind the screen.

I take offense to that. If I didn’t know that, you think I’d have lifetime subscription plans to webcam girls? I maybe a troll, but I certainly can tell the difference between real people and hentai, ok?

Do you feel the need to denigrate other people

Umm… I think that falls under the general definition of a troll.

2. I neither know nor care who Gary Ng is.

Gary Ng? Gary Ng is to males what Octo-Mom is to females, except that while she receives, he gives.

3. I neither know nor care who sieteocho is. You can hunt him down youself.

I think sieteocho just re-appeared. Something about expensive Vietnamese brides and cheap lube

http://tomorrow.sg/node/view/9715#comment-6478933

Finally, get over it already, and stop stalking me online. TWO YEARS! You still haven’t got over Pleinlune’s blog? zomgwtfbbq

Dang it.
Stop painting me as a stalker.
Umm… I don’t even know who you are, nor do I wish to.
(No, seriously. Unless you’re Felicia Chin’s godbrother or something…)
Like I said, I’m bored, sieteocho has gone missing (damn fool last mentioned something about digging through a dam with a shovel in Jakarta or something), so I went through logs of our old tussles…

…and there you were

As for pleinelune…
I mean, honestly, who can ever get over that gal?
The diva-fashionista-one-hot-mama is forever prancing on and on about handbags, shoes, make up, epilators, vibra… err… moving on…, sweat-soaked tank tops heaving under the burden of 10 km marathons and swaying rain dances; gushing and prophetizing over TV plots, MTV plots, love plots with other girls (hubba! hubba!), lap dances, chiquita bonita Tila Tequila, LAWR and sex; with the occasional manicure-ruining, hair-ripping, make up smudging gripefest about memoirs, essays, exams, murderous professors (the sort that make you wanna stick a knife in their back and then throw yourself off a building), modules, fondues (and how they add on to her non-existent waistline); while cursing Heidi Klum, Kelman, Thio, associated rectum-pillager haters, and non-Obama supporters to eternal damnation. She’s every geek’s dream come true! But sigh… she won’t gimme the time of the day. And all this even though we have mutual friends (Oh, yes, we do, pleinelune, if you’re reading this. Surprise! Surprise!) So, the next best thing is to gather more mutual acquaintances to perhaps change her mind, and not discriminate against me just coz I’m one of those repressed, chauvinistic, Singaporeans who — through no fault of his own — happens to be a natural law theorist…

…and there you were

I’d buy her brain ( http://pleinelune.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/because-we-all-need-to-laugh-at-ourselves ), but I like the rest of her too

I will block further attempts though so it’d better be good. Oh, I’m feeding the troll, gasp.

What?
NOOO000ooo!!!
I bet you’ve been talking to sieteocho, and this is his idea, that no good, bean-counting, penny ante, antisocial jerk

Let me quote a partial definition:

“Trolling is a game about identity deception, albeit one that is played without the consent of most of the players.” (Judith S. Donath)

Oh, I’m feeding the troll, gasp

No, you’re not. Feeding the troll means getting all riled up, worked up, blood pressure skyrocketing, unable to sleep, and complaining to anyone who would listen on the internet (kinda like sieteocho doing a Robert Ho impression on Tomorrow.sg). You are not. Dude, what you are doing is like giving Kryptonite to Superman. You are supposed to get angry, mmmmkay?

Btw about your post, I’m not trying to steamroll you, I’m just…,/i>

See? See? You are not getting it! No explanations! Just get angry! Like look like an über starved big bird, bald from stress-induced hair loss, and threaten to chop my balls off or something. See example below:

http://tomorrow.sg/comment/view/11443

So far I’ve been kind to you *gives you an angry face*.

Honestly, man… I don’t think you’re allowed to make a troll work so hard for so little.

In the case of your comment about NTU – I did not share the same sentiment, or exactly the same sentiment, as you.

What?
How can you not?
The misspelling was hilarious!

[Hey, I like NTU too! I often go there on weekend mornings to heckle passing spandex-clad, logo-emblazoned, pretentious, cliquish, Lance JuiceStrong wannabe poser cyclists — hurtling along at the mind-numbing speed of 3.2 km/h (2 mph) — with screams of, "Yo! Yo Yo! Your pants are too tight! TOO TIGHT!" ... right before they get, oh, overtaken by foreign workers on Urata bikes.

So... yeah.... Set up an outdoor espresso bar on campus to attract more of those atas closet-crossdressers-on-wheels or something. Trolls (and hecklers) love caffeine.]

Hmm… Okay, gotta give you that: differences. Differences. (But you must agree that some people just don’t belong in — over-stretched — spandex, no?)

(Note: if you do indeed wear over-stretched spandex shorts, I get bonus points.)

4. Didn’t you realise the café invitation was sarcastic.

What?
So, no free coffee? (You do realize that this exchange is fueled by overdoses of caffeine, right?)
I know the New York is expensive and world economy is in recession but this is getting ridiculous…
Cheapskate.
*grumble*
This is that penny-pinching, car-transmission-destroying, stall-on-parking-lot-ramp-and-freak-out, sieoteocho’s doing again, isn’ it?

Hahaha… okok I give you time. Haha I manage to stress you ah! Can I count that as +1 for me lol.

Wah gan! You think this is power-leveling ah? Like that also can!!

-ben

P.S. (ow, yeah! Just one! )

———

[9:23 AM]
CHERYL: MORNING CUZZ!
BEN: mornin
CHERYL: how r u my sporty cuzz?
BEN: oh, ok loh, was trying to troll some dude, but he stopped playing after 2 posts. He stopped getting angry, and is now playing along and laughing instead. He just doesn’t get it. He is supposed to get angry — which makes me laugh. Him laughing doesn’t make me laugh. All that work for nothing. Chey!
CHERYL: hai yoh u ah..all out to kacau ppl again ah
BEN: HAAHHAHAA
CHERYL i feel like sleeping
BEN:ya, i was bored coz a little tired from juggling work and doing ride reports, so i found this link from an old heated online discussion. His blog address was on it, so I went to his blog to stir trouble. Now he not only calls me a stalker, but declares that I am harmless as well

this is terrible!
I have a reputation to maintain!
How can he do this to me?
must… find… new… victims… sigh
CHERYL: hahahahahahhahaahhaa
failed ur mission ah
BEN:: yeah man
what is worse
he is mocking me
i mean
i am a mok!
i do the mocking
he is saying, “ok, i give you ONE CHANCE. ONE ONLY. To post one more troll on my blog. It better be good. It better be your best. Coz’ that’s it. After that, I’m ignoring you.”
CHERYL: lolz
wat rubbish! hahahaha
BEN: I’m the one who should be dishing out the stress here. Not him!
WTF, man? Talk about performance anxiety! He think this is Eminem song ah?
CHERYL: LOLOLOLOL

———

All right, back to the regularly scheduled serious posts. End.

As requested, for “-ben”

As requested.

The ball is in your court now.

Unlike you I remember that there are real people behind the screen. I am also not afraid to leave my real ID/email address/something that actually identifies me (such as the profile to the right which you so easily got my uni from) when I say something, because it is my word. How about you? Do you feel the need to denigrate other people… or what you think are just nicknames of no one displayed on the screen… anonymously? Who the heck is Ben anyway? The one who cycles? Who, anyway?

I’ve got a real great idea too. Shall we take it to the next level instead of waiting to run into each other? Huh? Let’s have a good discussion at a café when I get back from the US in about 2 months. I might even bring that forward, just for you, if I deem you important enough to forgo the travel plans I have. Or in NYC in about 2 months if you happen to be in the US at that time.

If you’re unwilling to match, get out of my blog and keep your trap shut if you’ve got nothing of reason to say.

Ah, another thing, if I’ve said it before to you somewhere, obviously you’ve tried to track me down and post your garbage here. Kudos to that (edit: for taking the effort it must have took since I don’t know you) but I’ll say it again because you’re proving the point:

I see no worth in you.

Addendum: I don’t know this Ben figure, but it seems from his words in his comments on What Does That Stand For…? WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR!, that I’ve said something to him somewhere that really hurt his ego some time ago: “I see no worth in it, nor in you”. It would appear thus, that there are people like him who go around tracking others down – inferred so, since I don’t know him at all – even after weeks, just to say something in spite. One really wonders what such people get up to in life. I cannot be sure since I have forgotten, but I have a feeling it was in an online game, called DOTA, where I was hosting one game and probably got very angry at his actions, and for good reason, because he was, again, putting others in the game down, or making the chat quite uncivilised or both, which are pretty much the only reasons why I get angry while hosting a game. If that is true, though, Ben’s actions to date would be simply incredulous!

Addendum 2: As for those reasons in the above addendum about me getting angry in games, I’m not alone in expecting people to behave in-game (or on the internet for that matter) like they would in person. I could write another whole post about it, but simply speaking, have a read…

——
Shot is cropped to leave out the barcode and number of the licence. Post is continued from comments in the post What Does That Stand For…? WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR!

We Pay, You Deliver.

Look at all the regulations universities have. Look at some of the lecturers universities have. It’s always been way too top-down, and some people take advantage of that. Somewhere down the road students should produce a Students’ Bill of Rights. And two of the clauses will be:

• Homework shall be graded and returned in time for and solutions posted prior to exams. It is not just for your amusement at having a chance to take points off our final grades.
  (US students will find this clause handy)

• Lecturers shall possess good presentation skills and be well-versed in the medium of instruction to be able to put together an effective delivery.
  (My Singaporean friends will like this bit)

Tuition fees going up, universities moving towards “privatisation” (I know NTU is), but that means that…
IF WE PAY (MORE), YOU DELIVER (MORE).

Otherwise… would you like to sign in black and white, individually for each student, a mutually acceptable contract that includes the terms above that we can hold you legally responsible for should you fail to meet such terms, or hold you accountable in a court of law for misrepresentation, should you fail to meet the standards you advertise (”university of global excellence” comes to mind…) ?

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to sue a university. Should I try? Since the fashion of our time seems to be the commoditization of everything; even education is being commoditized now. It’s ugly and it sucks and I’ve pointed it out before, that education should not be some kind of product. But since that’s the way it is now, then play by the rules. I’m not satisfied. We pay, you deliver.

Read this related material from the New York Times.

What Does That Stand For…? WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR!

Reference books. Reference texts. Any scientific book you can find in the library. These tend to be littered with abbreviations.

I was just in my school’s library today, and to do up a paper I had to do a little bit of searching for information. I had the following experience:

“…what does this stand for…” *flips a page in front* “… AGAIN.. what does it stand for…” *flips more pages* “… no!??” *throws (puts) book back on shelf* (well I actually found the answer but that’s just for dramatic effect).

Sad to say and (not) sorry to hurt your ego… but to all the scientific writers out there, PhDs (permanent head damage?) especially,

NO ONE. Repeat – NO ONE.

Is going to read your book cover-to-cover when searching for information. What we need is facts, fast. Facts, fast. Facts, fast.

So include a TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS USED. A detailed table of contents helps, too.

Edit: I should clarify that “permanent head damage” is a nasty stereotype and rightly so because some of the professors I’ve encountered have the unfortunate mix of having a PhD title and being in general very bad with people or students, BUT that does not apply to all professors. I absolutely adore (I like the alliteration) and respect some of mine.

NO! You can’t have audio with that! You’ve bought it, but no!

I happened to stumble on this: Legal ruckus over Kindle 2’s text-to-speech feature (reading this background required before this post makes sense). I trolled through some of the comments and found this, posted by a roadwort/Vinnie, from Cashiers, NC, USA (it’s comment #118 if anybody wants to check):

I hope the Authors Guild takes this to court and wins. I’ve been against the very idea of “digital books” since day one. I’m hoping to have a career in writing myself, and I feel that if you want to read a book you should BUY A COPY OF THE BOOK. What is so hard about that? Most people only read one book at a time, so you buy a copy of the book and carry it with you. Newspaper sales are declining, and now with this Kindle garbage, they’re trying to destroy books too. I will never buy into this and anyone who claims to love reading shouldn’t either.

I find that pretty amazing.  “I won’t make as much money” shouldn’t be an excuse for hindering progress. People have already paid for the book and are simply choosing how they want to consume the book.

And how about the visually-handicapped? Should they be second-rate citizens – when the technology exists to aid them – because you wanted to make a quick buck?

If I knew his/her real name I would never buy any of the would-be-author’s books, henceforth referred to as Distasteful. “I feel that if you want to read a book you should BUY A COPY OF THE BOOK. What is so hard about that?” – can’t accommodate how people choose to digest their literature? I can already see Distasteful’s books filled with egotism, hate and anger. Do a check there, people have already paid for A COPY OF THE BOOK even if they use Kindle to read it – just not in the format Distasteful likes, just not in the way Distasteful prefers them to consume their daily word.

Let’s just throw this in for argument’s sake: if the most popular book on the planet, the Bible, were to be Kindled – would Distasteful oppose it?

A career in writing? I hope not, because Distasteful seems to be an absolute disgrace to the community of excellent writers such as Paolo Coelho and Deepak Chopra whose works are written to illuminate and uplift, or in non-fiction, authors such as Noam Chomsky whose books are written to inform and enlighten, while Distasteful seems to care only about writing to sell.

Now as for the newspapers, let me set the record straight. Sales are declining because of the power, reach, versatility, connectivity and potential of new media, and because people are getting smarter at seeing through the agendas many of them push (and opting for new media which isn’t constrained that way, or is less constrained – citizen journalism anyone?), not because people are trying to destroy newspapers; nor is it about the destruction of books as is claimed. Distasteful should take some media studies before he/she slaps some ignorant views on people out there. It’s just the side effect of change, which happens all the time.

If anyone will check a few posts down, I did a piece on how much I love pen and paper. I much prefer holding a copy of a newspaper in my hands as well, over reading it off a screen. I like books too and would read much more if I had the time. But unlike Distasteful, I can reconcile that with technology and new media – see, I’m bloggin’! – adapt to be able to handle both and have no qualm with all that. In fact I’ve never had a qualm with that.

It’s really not that hard, as long as one opens his/her mind. And I’m sorry to disappoint Distasteful but I’m going to have to claim that I love reading.