October 1, 2016

"The [Trump] family subscribes to a racehorse theory of human development."

"They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring."

Please watch the video at the link before commenting.

119 comments:

campy said...

Ah, eugenics. This discussion will go well for the lefties.

Known Unknown said...

Ha ha ha ha ha.

JT said...

I didn't hear anything in those clips of Trump that came even remotely close to the suggestions made b "Mr. Racehorse Theory" who was speaking about Trump and his family in the video. Nothing Trump said that I haven't heard voiced by countless other people over the course of my lifetime.

tcrosse said...

Submitted in evidence: the wedding announcements in the Sunday New York Times.

Rob said...

What Trump says about genes is pretty unexceptionable; indeed, to say otherwise is to be a science denier. But there is also the phenomenon of regression toward the mean, and Donald is The Mean.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

He's proud of himself and his genetics. Proves he wants a master race! omg - He is Hitler!

Thanks for showing us the light, Huffpo.

Laslo Spatula said...

Video wouldn't play on my old spastic computer.

I did enjoy the following at the end of the text:

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

I'm glad that they cleared that up. Otherwise I figured this was about Hitler.

I am The Replacement Laslo.

Gahrie said...

1) The Progressive movement also believes in Eugenics. If you look at their writings from the turn of the 20th century, they do so explicitly and in a racist manner.

2) Humans are animals. If selective breeding works in the other animals, as we know it does, why wouldn't it work for humans?

Anne said...

I was rolling my eyes at the clip, wondering how on earth the makers of the video were going to justify their denial of evolution...

...until the last quote.

Damn, that *is* some effective propaganda. My hat's off to the artist, who should be dissuaded from using their powers for evil like this ever again.

Amexpat said...

He's lacking the wisdom gene. The self restraint one as well.

PB said...

But, but, doesn't the left believe in evolution and genetic traits?

I'm still finding it hard to understand how homosexuality can be genetically based as it seems to have natural selection working against it.

Ann Althouse said...

"Video wouldn't play on my old spastic computer."

I couldn't get embedding code that would work on my newish computer.

I couldn't find a YouTube version. I don't know why they make video aimed at influencing the electorate and then don't make it easy to share. Possibly something genetically wrong with them.

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Nothing surprising in Trump's statements. Smart parents tend to have smart children. Dumb parents tend to have dumb children. Children largely inherent traits and abilities from their parents. The ability of parents to teach their children greatly influences childrens' development. This truth is anathema to the Left and is considered pure racism.

"The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life is a 1994 book by psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray, in which they argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by both inherited and environmental factors and is a better predictor of many personal dynamics, including financial income, job performance, birth out of wedlock, and involvement in crime than are an individual's parental socioeconomic status, or education level. They also argue that those with high intelligence, the "cognitive elite", are becoming separated from those of average and below-average intelligence."

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Trump said he is proud of his German heritage. To the Left this proves Trump is a Nazi.

Sprezzatura said...

Is it possible that DJT is missing the point of a particular phrase in the Declaration?

Or, maybe he's right and the Declaration was written by folks w/ genes that weren't as good as Trump's.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The people who believe the son of two academics is the smartest president ever don't believe that there is anything heritable in IQ?

Darrell said...

The Lefties make you use Windows 10 to view the video--the one with all the trackers and invasions of privacy built in. That's how little they think about the common man. Fuck you, Lefties! Fuck you, Hillary!

William said...

The Germans have a genetic predisposition to believe in eugenics, and God knows what else. People with such evil genes should not be allowed any office of power. Haven't we learned from the lesson of Hitler? Who will Trump come for first: the fat girls, the immigrants, the Moslems, you?

traditionalguy said...

Another case of a compilation of overacting by moby plants. The Establishment Psyops team has many hired actors on call and they money for travel expenses.

We are drowning in a Propaganda tsunami saved up for destroying Trum in October.

Wince said...

Any genetic benefits ascribed to "associative mating" is not eugenics.

Ask Chelsea Clinton and her husband, or a thousand other political dynasties.

If anything, Hillary advocating repeal of the long-standing bi-partisan consensus of the Hyde amendment is closer to eugenics.

What could such a change bring except more government terminated pregnancies among the lower income strata?

Eugenics is a social philosophy advocating the improvement of human genetic traits through the promotion of higher rates of sexual reproduction for people with desired traits (positive eugenics), or reduced rates of sexual reproduction and sterilization of people with less-desired or undesired traits (negative eugenics)...

Darrell said...

Yes. Trump chose Ivana, Marla, and Melania to bear his children---Nobel Prize winners all. After Olympic glory . . .

Sprezzatura said...

Frontline is about as good as the tube gets, imho.

traditionalguy said...

All Trump has to beat is two established political party apparatchiks, 6 MSM teams using Kamikaze tactics, all the dying Newspapers, and billions of dollars in facial donor money.

By God, he is going to win.

Wince said...

PBandJ_Ombudsman said...
Is it possible that DJT is missing the point of a particular phrase in the Declaration?

No, the founding fathers were talking about "equality before the law," a principle anathema to the Clinton crime family.

Bob Boyd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

PBandJ_Ombudsman: "Is it possible that DJT is missing the point of a particular phrase in the Declaration?"

LOL

PB&J opining on how someone else might be "missing the point".

It doesn't get much richer than that.......except for just about everything "lifelong republican" Chuck offers up.

Michael said...

The little beta male telling us the racehorse theory is a nasty little man who I can guarantee believes he is smarter than you. Or me.

M Jordan said...

The high school coaches I used to work with would get up at Awards Night and extol the virtues of the so-called "Mental Attitude Award," and give it to the hard-working kid who did everything the coach told them. In private they'd all say the same thing: Give me the horses and I'll win.

That's all Trump is saying: Nature trumps nurture. Lefties, in their typical diabolical way and in this clip, try to smear Trump with their own sin of eugenics which might be stated, Nature corrected by nurture ... our nurture, our way, at our discretion.

This video is filth.

Anonymous said...

They seem to have left out the part where Trump suggests that allowing inferior people to reproduce is a social problem-- which is what you'd need to turn his beliefs into eugenics as opposed to mere genetics. Not to deny that eugenics has been raised as an issue in this election.

"If heredity were not overwhelmingly more important than environment, you could teach calculus to a horse." -- Robert Heinlein, dba Lazarus Long

Laslo Spatula said...

"Son, I have something to tell you."

"Yes, Mom?"

"Do you ever wonder how come you're so smart and yet your father is barely a half-step above mentally retarded?"

"The thought has crossed my mind..."

"I only married your father because I was pregnant. I was pregnant by another man, and your father was the only one willing to marry me and save me from the shame of unwed motherhood. It was a different time, back then."

"Okay, Mom..."

"Your father is dumb as can be, but -- God love him -- he has a heart of gold."

"So who is my father?"

"The truth is, son, that I was raped by a rocket scientist."

"You were raped?"

"Yes. By a rocket scientist. I worked as a secretary at the college lab, and one night he held me down with his scrawny rocket-scientist arms and raped me."

"So I am the son of a rocket scientist?"

"Yes, son: you are the son of a rocket scientist rapist. Rocket science and rape."

"I've always loved science."

"Yes, and your father thinks the TV remote control works because of magic rays."

"Do you ever wish it had been different, Mom? You know, being raped and all?"

"No, honey. I got the best of both worlds. I have a devoted husband, even if he is dumb, and I have a son conceived from rocket scientist sperm."

"Thank you for telling me, mom.... Mom?"

"Why is my sister black? Dad isn't black."

"That's because I was later raped by a black man. He hit me over the head, dragged me behind the gas station, and raped me. The police caught him after he stole a car."

"So THAT's why Lisa is so good at stealing cars."

"Yes, son: that is why Lisa is so good at stealing cars."

"Is that also why Lisa likes watermelon so much?"

"Now son, that is racist. Your sister just happens to like watermelon, that's all."

Okay, Mom."


Laslo would know where to go from here.

I am The Replacement Laslo.

Drago said...

JT: "I didn't hear anything in those clips of Trump that came even remotely close to the suggestions made b "Mr. Racehorse Theory" who was speaking about Trump and his family in the video."

Most leftists feel the burning need to simply assign certain beliefs and quotes to non-leftists in order to help people "understand" what is really going on.

It works like a charm on the sheep who, like PB&J, immediately run with whatever the latest made up item happens to be.

Mary Beth said...

I got a genetic analysis from the University of Michigan Genes for Good. (Free if you answer enough survey questions first.) They just give you the raw data but you can get that analyzed for a few dollars online.

I was surprised at what can be told from your genes.

HT said...

Certainly intelligence has a role in everything. As far as the gene thing is concerned, it's a rather self-limiting thing to "believe in." And will set someone up for a lot of frustration and even failure if you are constantly sizing up people's genetic situation.

The underlying assumption that I think we're all supposed to have is that he is/was a successful businessman and that is just not true.

Freeman Hunt said...

The video's creator has good cleverness genes, but he won't admit it.

Sprezzatura said...

DTJ was clearly misunderstanding what was meant by that phrase in the Declaration. It's interesting to speculate why some folks in this thread are unable to mentally comprehend this.

The Vault Dweller said...

I like how the creators of the video, at the end decide to cast aside all pretense of subtlety and post some clip of him commenting about his pride in having German heritage. I'm pretty sure that still fulfills Godwin's Law.

I don't think this is a winning strategy for the Democrats. It might help turn out some of their base which was disaffected because they were fervent Sanders supporters, but I don't think it helps in the middle much.

I don't think most people are as objective as they would like to believe when it comes to politics. If the left keeps trying to push the narrative that you can not vote for Trump because he is literally Hitler, the only thing Trump has to do to beat that narrative is not be Hitler. The redeemed or redeemable bad guy has a lot of emotional cachet with people. Because they really aren't a bad guy but they still have a lot of characteristics people liked about the bad guy such as being confident, tough, and unafraid to act. If the left's narrative is you can't vote for him because he is Hitler it isn't that hard to beat that extremely low expectation. And beating expectations is the name of the game in any kind of sales job, including politics.

Bob Boyd said...

"It is important to recognize what’s going on in this election." - Hillary Clinton

Achilles said...

These are Projections of a sick ideology. Planned parenthood is out there actually carrying out eugenics on a mass scale. The Huffpo has to string together a bunch of video clips and supply 2/3's of the inference to get trump to eugenics. I don't think trump has even proposed forced sterilization but the progressives have already done it.

James Comey has just admitted that the FBI is a fully ingrained arm of democrat progressive aristocracy and exists to keep democrats in power. This article is a joke. This election is going to determine whether this is a free nation or not. The Huffpo is just telling everyone what they wish they could do when the right people are in charge.

Fernandinande said...

his deeper belief in the inherent superiority of some people ― and not others.

Gosh.

Genomic prediction of adult life outcomes using SNP genotypes

Sprezzatura said...

"having German heritage."

I think he was specifically referring to having German blood.

3/4 of my grandparents were born in Norway, w/ one from Switzerland. So, Norwegian heritage is cool, but jabbering about pride in Norwegian blood sounds awkward, to my ears. Probably was just a poor choice of words by DJT. But, it doesn't sound right to me.

Achilles said...

10/1/16, 10:02 AM
Blogger PBandJ_Ombudsman said...
"DTJ was clearly misunderstanding what was meant by that phrase in the Declaration. It's interesting to speculate why some folks in this thread are unable to mentally comprehend this."

Trump believes that smart parents have smart kids. That is common sense and has nothing to do with the declaration. The declaration means equal opportunity. You think it means equal outcomes. You are the one that is wrong.

You support a person who has been put above the law and an FBI that has done mortal damage to the rule of law. This is actually directly contradictory to the declaration.

Darrell said...

Never fuck a Chuck.

---Old Norwegian folkism

Michael K said...

DJT is missing the point of a particular phrase in the Declaration?

Someone above has already pointed out the fallacy you seem to believe.

"The Bell Curve" came out when I was at Dartmouth and friends were asking me if they could borrow it when I finished as they did not want to be seen buying in at the Dartmouth Bookstore. Amazon has solved that problem.

Assortive mating was what Murray was worried about. It is now part of life. It is the chief attraction of Ivy League schools.

The HuffPo left may think that video is going to accomplish something but they are even more proud of their Berkeley or Harvard degree.

HT said...

"You support a person who has been put above the law and an FBI that has done mortal damage to the rule of law. This is actually directly contradictory to the declaration."

So either we support someone who has no experience in government or we are hopelessly corrupt - are those the rules?

Quaestor said...

Those who do not believe in the racehorse theory of human development believe in magic.

Sprezzatura said...

Presumably folks are having trouble seeing the video, hence they don't know that it shows DJT fact checking (as he sees it) the Declaration.


Tom from Virginia said...

There's always that unfortunate law of fillial regression ....

Bob Boyd said...

How many women go to a sperm bank and say, "Meh, whatever's on tap. Just give me a cold one"?

Darrell said...

Chuck thinks he has a point. And he is going to keep making it until he drives it in the ground sideways. KYA.

hombre said...

Interesting editor's note at the end of the article.

The video is nonsense, of course. Lefties are relativists in the worst sense, polluting morality, science, language etc., to achieve their political objectives. Who among us doesn't believe that science supports the conclusion that intelligence and other characteristics are strongly influenced by genes?

OTOH, who among us is stupid enough to look at Trump's wives and believe that he chose them primarily to produce children with superior intelligence? Answer: Clintonistas.

Next, the Clintonistas and their consorts among the mediaswine will call on the Peronist Pope to conduct a nationwide exorcism to cast out the demonic Trump.

Automatic_Wing said...

Genes can't be very important in determining life outcomes. Otherwise, all these liberal social engineering programs that are based on the idea that everyone is a blank slate wouldn't work so well.

Oh wait...

Lewis Wetzel said...

You know, I can see why Lefties would refuse to believe in any heritable traits. It would mean that something was not able to be controlled by them. There is a common thread that runs through a lot of crazy liberal positions. They believe that they can control the weather. They believe that they can control the sex of human beings. They believe that they can control history. They'll believe in any religion that says that believers can control the god or goddesses.
Progressivism in the 21st century really is Boomers acting out children's fantasies.

Unknown said...

Mark Cuban on Fox News yesterday described how he used to be a friend and supporter of Trump, but changed to support Bill Clinton (Hillary too, but mainly Bill) because Bill has built a better "brand", through the Clinton Foundation, that will make Cuban more money than continuing to support Trump. Cuban further explained that the Clinton brand is international and therefore would win out over the Trump "brand" that is American based. Cuban predicted that the elites will stop staying at Trump facilities and playing golf at Trump courses as they see Trump soiling his "brand" by representing the non-elites. Cuban further predicted that Trump would go broke in 9 years as a result of his misguided presidential run.

Since we all know that Cuban was featured by the Clinton campaign at the debate we know that his message on Fox is an approved part of the Clinton narrative. I am not a target of the narrative so I guess it makes sense that I don't get it.

Looking at Cuban's message in Scott Adams terms (what are the "persuaders"?) I think it is an appeal to the sensibilities of the college-educated, females especially. Never mind the economic and defense issues, the key issue of this campaign is: Will the elites (which, if you vote right, will include you) continue the march toward (good) globalism and elitism or will Trump result in (pick your version of hell on earth) (evil)? This video must be a part of establishing the narrative. It's intended audience can be assumed to have Windows 10.

Could it be like the old "radio" and "radar" jokes and I should pretend to "get it" or I will be marked as a non-elite? Meanwhile, the insiders like Cuban are chortling that the suckers are eating it up? Naaaahhh...

hombre said...

HT wrote: "So either we support someone who has no experience in government or we are hopelessly corrupt - are those the rules?"

Correction: "So either we support someone who has no experience in government or someone who is hopelessly corrupt."

One need not be corrupt to support Hillary, merely amoral.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Robert Fulton said...
Meanwhile, the insiders like Cuban are chortling that the suckers are eating it up? Naaaahhh...

I don't think they are chortling any more than farmers are chortling when they slaughter live stock. To them, it is the order of things. They have power, you don't.

Sprezzatura said...

RobF,

Dude, why getting so much wrong?

Cuban has been pushing the 7 year (not 9) bankruptcy countdown.

And, the following is not what he said on Fox:
"...that will make Cuban more money than continuing to support Trump"

And, he didn't say that the elite's problem with DJT was that he represents non-elites.


Lying or mixed up?

Laslo Spatula said...

"Mom?"

"Yes, son?"

"Was my rocket scientist rapist father by any chance a pedophile?"

"No, son: not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

"Well..."

"You can tell me, son, it's all right..."

"It's just that I have fantasies of having sex with young girls. I see them everywhere, in their little girl clothes, and I find myself consumed with lust and longing for their tender soft flesh."

"Oh my..."

"I was hoping I could blame that on Dad."

"I don't think your father is to blame for that one, son."

"Mom?"

"Yes, son?"

"I steal little girls' panties from the laundromat."

"Son, you know not to act on these fantasies, right?"

"Sure, sure. It's not like I think about it all the time. Just sometimes, that's all. And if the urge gets too bad I just watch Natalie Portman in "The Professional" and, um... take care of things."

"Okay... You know, now that I think about it, your Uncle Charlie liked the young girls. He was always offering private pony rides at kids' parties. He never missed any kid's party."

"So it IS genetic! I'm not a creep, my genes are!"

"Maybe, son: maybe."

"God, what a relief. I'd hate to think there was something wrong with me that was my own fault."

"Sure, son. But son...?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"I'd really like it now if you didn't spend so much time babysitting your nieces..."


Laslo would know where to go from here.

I am The Replacement Laslo.

Paco Wové said...

To those on the left half of the lefty bell curve, genetics == eugenics == Nazis! It's pretty much Q.E.D. for them.

Quaestor said...

Chuck thinks he has a point.

He does! He see it in the mirror every day.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Did Trump ever say that Palin was remiss in not having an abortion when she discovered her unborn child had Down syndrome? I remember quite a few Leftists making nasty comments to that effect in the HuffPo comments sections back in 2008.

Now they're concerned about eugenics. Uh huh.

Quaestor said...

Trump is foolish to believe the racehorse theory of human development. Even racehorse breeders and players don't believe it, even when applied to racehorses. It's a little known fact that the really knowledgable breeders stand their best mares to plough horses. They may record Empire Maker as the sire, but it's just part of the Grand Conspiracy. Breeding to a sleepy beer wagon dray gives the foal a certain plebeian fortitude, a hard-scrtabble drive to win in spite of being not fast and aerobically inefficient. This is also why the NBA is dominated by white guys with MBAs.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...


Quaestor, you've reminded me of this possibly fictitious story, as I have also read a version ascribing the exchange to Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller:

"Dancer Isadora Duncan wrote to George Bernard Shaw as follows: ‘My dear Mr. Shaw: I beg to remind you that as you have the greatest brain in the world, and I have the most beautiful body, it is our duty to posterity to have a child.’ Whereupon Mr. Shaw replied to Miss Duncan: ‘My dear Miss Duncan: I admit that I have the greatest brain in the world and that you have the most beautiful body, but it might happen that our child would have my body and your brain. Therefore, I respectfully decline.’"

mtrobertslaw said...

Don't expect to see any single, intelligent women looking for a mate down at Bozo Bill's Bar at any Friday night to watch his weekly belching contest. I wonder why.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"Frontline is about as good as the tube gets, imho."

It was in the '90's. Then, like everything else in Liberaldom, it went pants-wetting, foaming, bat-shit, insane. So, less quality, but more entertainment.

cubanbob said...

I'm not overly concerned about Donald Trump's views or alleged views on human development. They do not represent a threat to the country if he were elected. I do worry that the Democrat Party and it's candidate for president believe in magical thinking, that they can give everyone what the party thinks the people need for free and it can power the country on carbon free, pollution free unicorn farts.

Jupiter said...

I'm sorry, Professor, but I have tried three different browsers, and none will display that video. The Internet ate my homework! Probably because Obama just handed it over to the UN.

Despite my lack of preparation, I would like to point out, that when a bunch of slave-holders who were rebelling against an aristocratic monarchy declared that "all men are created equal", they were not talking about biology.

MadisonMan said...

Is that why they think Chelsea is really corrupt?

Alexander said...

Women, of course, never ever select a man based on his family's overall success or based on his genetic characteristics, such as intellect or height.

Men never do this either.

Therefore, this is an issue that will alienate Trump from everyone. Finally, he has been stumped!

William said...

I'm pretty sure IQ wasn't their most readily visible quality when Trump came to choose his wives. I'm, nonetheless, interested in learning if there are any independent studies that correlate breast size with intelligence. Pretty much everyone agrees that blondes are dumber than most people and that red hair is a marker for high IQ. However, I don't think that there's any kind of stereotype associated, one way or the other, about women with large racks. This is a subject that is worthy of further research.

Captain Drano said...

EDH @9:44
"Any genetic benefits ascribed to "associative mating" is not eugenics.

Ask Chelsea Clinton and her husband, or a thousand other political dynasties.

If anything, Hillary advocating repeal of the long-standing bi-partisan consensus of the Hyde amendment is closer to eugenics.

What could such a change bring except more government terminated pregnancies among the lower income strata?"

Exactly. They laugh while they fund groups similar to BLM to hijack a legitimate concern and serve as a squirrel while they lure poor women of all stripes to the ever-expanding presence of abortuaries in the very same neighborhoods. I'm sick of women being exploited this way.

Hari said...

Why is Ivanka prettier than Chelsea?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Jupiter said...
"that when a bunch of slave-holders who were rebelling against an aristocratic monarchy declared that "all men are created equal", they were not talking about biology."
They meant equal in RIGHTS before the law, not equal in QUALITIES or ABILITIES. They were correct. Sure, they owned slaves, but who else came up with a principled affirmation of rights before them?

The video is contemptible. with it's little sound-bite snippets of Trump spouting off on "genes", a word he apparently used mostly colloquially, to tar him as a Nazi. A fair-haired man of German blood talking about inherited qualities! He must be a Nazi! He probably believes in that nonsense because of his racist genes.

khesanh0802 said...

Talk about science deniers. The world has been breeding better horses, dogs, cows, vegetables, etc. for centuries. We breed mice for certain genetic traits for scientific purposes. We breed cattle so there is more beef per pound of animal weight. We breed pigs to produce leaner meat. We breed tomatoes for better fruit and disease resistance. I could go on and on. Of course, now we can speed up the process by gene splicing - unless of course you have Luddite tendencies.

I suspect only the true believers are going to accept that there is something here. You have a couple of guys putting words in Trump's mouth. Who the hell are they anyway. Lucky to be born with some smarts? You bet. Were the chances pretty good that he'd have some smarts? Sure, his parents were smart and determined people. All of a sudden the Dems have decided that science is no good. I thought that's what they were always accusing the R's of.

walter said...

Hari said...Why is Ivanka prettier than Chelsea?
--
Then..Tiffany.

walter said...

As friends, maybe Ivanka and Chelsea chat about it.

mockturtle said...

As always, Laslo [or, 'Replacement Laslo'] has it pegged. Whatever the genetic predispositions toward behaviors, we are nonetheless responsible for what we do. And if some are blessed with high intelligence, others might be blessed with desirable traits of another kind. Intelligence does not make one wise, nor does it necessarily lead to more civilized behavior. Eugenics will always lead to genocide.

rcocean said...

Video equivalent of the ""ransom note method" of smearing. Plus, the favorite MSM technique to lying about Trump by saying he said something he never did.

Trump and "his family" believe in the race horse theory of genetics? Nothing supports that lie.

BTW did you know Bill Clinton has said that he never had sex with Hillary? Here's the quotes:

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman...Hillary Clinton...You can put wings on a pig, but you don't make it an eagle."

rhhardin said...

Genetic vs generic.

n.n said...

The Pro-Choice Church is a leading advocate for [class] diversity (i.e. "judged by the color of their skin"), abortion rites (i.e. denial of human rights), selective exclusion or congruence ("="), anti-native policies, and progressive wars.

readering said...

Sure the video does not support the statement (although he does himself say the racehorse thing, and I suspect there's a tie to something attributed to his dad). But the bizarre thing is all the video of him bragging about his smarts. I can't ever remember a presidential nominee who talked this way. Even Rhodes scholar clinton. And of course it's the polar opposite of way of the wasp Bush senior. The only candidates on this subject maybe were expert self deprecators Bush junior and McCain. No one videos me but if they did they could not put together a clip like that. Don't we recoil from those types in our daily dealings? The only thing that doesn't belong in the clip is the reference to his German heritage. Who isn't proud of his heritage? Just because Germans want overboard on master race thing....

Jon Ericson said...

Hari said... [hush][hide comment]

Why is Ivanka prettier than Chelsea?

10/1/16, 1:06 PM

I don't hear you.

Bruce Hayden said...

Assortative mating, long term, does scare me a bit. By now, I have probably read too much science fiction than was good for me. The smart probably really are getting smarter, and possibly the dumb are getting dumb. And being smart and well educated is getting ever more important getting ahead in this world. Compounding this are life choices - the smart are much more likely to have and raise their children in wedlock, and not through single parenting. Where do the college educated find their mates? Likely either in college, or in jobs requiring college degrees. And, of course, this is maybe even more true for elite education. Statistically, the most likely way to marry someone with an Ivy League degree is to have one yourself.

What may be part of the trigger here is that in the last 75 years, we have moved from a local to a national, or even international, marriage market for the cognitive elites. Before that, you tended to marry locally. And that put significant limitations on how much assortative mating you could have.

Maybe compounding this is that traditionally, one of the things limiting human intelligence was the size of the birth canal in mothers, and, thus the size of the human head at birth, and the amount of brains it could contain at that point. A bigger birth canal would make it harder for women to walk. We partially compensated by an extended childhood, but that too is limited. But with the mainstreaming of C-sections, that limitation may be greatly reduced. With the cognitive elite self-selecting for intelligence, I think that there is a distinct possibility that those limitations may be on their way out.

One of the things though that was somewhat scary from an assortative mating point of view is that one of the most statistically important predictors of autism spectrum disorders is apparently have two engineers as parents. It may be just a question of detection... but are ASD really disorders? Or, maybe precursors of an advanced man? A book title "the Speed of Darkness" by, I believe, Elizabeth Moon, looked at autism as granting its sufferers mental abilities that the rest of us don't enjoy. Dr Simon Baron-Cohen has theorized that ASD essentially removes the governor that the rest of us have on the speed of our brains. Is this where we are going - a small number of elites with super minds, and great power as a result, and the rest of us?

Beaumont said...

"They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring." Another example of where Trump parts ways with republican dogma, he is promoting concepts from the theory of evolutation.

Hari said...

Maybe Trump subscribes to the "money ball" theory of human development and postulates that a college degree is overvalued when selecting a mate.

Jon Ericson said...

@Hari
I think there is something to your hypothesis.

Jon Ericson said...


Jon Ericson said...

Sorry, didn't mean that last post.
Cat dander was making out the letters on the keyboard tuff.
All's well that ends well.

cubanbob said...

Bruce Hayden @ 3pm. Well said. I doubt your conclusion with respects to C-sections but the rest is obvious for anyone who wants to see (a surprising number refuse to see).
Scratch any parent that has or had kids in an Ivy and that is precisely why they wanted their kids there.

mockturtle said...

I sincerely hope no one here believes people are more intelligent now than they were, say, during the Renaissance.

Automatic_Wing said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Automatic_Wing said...

I sincerely hope no one here believes people are more intelligent now than they were, say, during the Renaissance.

Any particular reason why people, on average, couldn't have gotten smarter over the last 500 years or so? Intelligence is a heritable trait, so why not?

mockturtle said...

Any particular reason why people, on average, couldn't have gotten smarter over the last 500 years or so? Intelligence is a heritable trait, so why not?

I guess they could have but the evidence just isn't there.

Michael K said...

Talk about science deniers. The world has been breeding better horses, dogs, cows, vegetables, etc. for centuries.

Yes. Selective breeding is done in many quarters. Murray was also concerned that the stupidest people in the inner city seemed to be having the most children, then letting them grow up on the street. There is an experiment and a half.

I've been interested for some time in the idea of high IQ women going back to work and letting their children be raised by barely literate nannies.

One of the things though that was somewhat scary from an assortative mating point of view is that one of the most statistically important predictors of autism spectrum disorders is apparently have two engineers as parents.

You should read "The 10,000 Year Explosion" which is about genetics and evolution.

The authors postulate that intense evolutionary pressure on Ashkenazi Jews in the middle ages raised IQs and the skills of math but left the same population with ganglioside diseases like Tay Sachs. It is interesting to speculate that something like that could be affecting autism.

Michael K said...

"I guess they could have but the evidence just isn't there."

If you look at SAT scores, even with race-norming, it seems kids have been getting dumber.

Unknown said...

Trump has irrefutably established the fact that he can be treated shabbily (at the debate) and exercise self control. I wonder how many carefully crafted headlines and stories had to be spiked? What would have been your favorite? "Trump Totally Trips at Taunting?" "It's Over - Trump Goes BatCrazy at Debate", etc., etc.

The Dems knew that Trump was capable of behaving, they just didn't think that he was smart enough to take the hit at the first debate in order to set up subsequent behavior that can now no longer be sold as "uncontrolled". Whatever mileage "uncontrolled ______" had, it is now over and time for the DNC lies to move on. Is the Windows 10 stuff just a reinforcement of "Hitler"? And Cuban just another (separate) arrow?

I'm going to jump in and state that they are legs on the "October Surprise" stool that is being set up for Trump by the DNC. Remember Harry Reid's blatant lie about Romney's taxes? Joe Biden is well-liked and about to ride off into the sunset. He is relatively broke (very unusual for a retiring US Senator).

You can add up the rest of the story: 1. Trump believes in eugenics., 2. Trump had contracts with the most beautiful (and smartest...) women in "the Universe".,3. In order to pass on his genes, Trump (did something dastardly!). All discovered by Joe Biden on October 30th.

OK, I am not very good at putting these things together. But you must admit that something is being set up. It's my game of Cllue, I know "who did it" and "when" I just don't know how (or is it "what with"?)

Michael K said...

I hope Trump has a plan. I was not pleased at the debate but agree Holt was heavily siding with Hillary.

I do wish he would not bite at these big worms the Democrats keep dangling at him.

One thing that works in his favor is that everyone not a leftist hack knows he says what he thinks at the moment. There is no calculated lying like Hillary.

Freeman Hunt said...

My father was a blog reader, and I am a blog reader. Must have gotten the blog reading gene. He didn't comment though. That comes from my mother no doubt.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

The party of science.

David said...

A lot of people believe that. You can tell by how they choose spouses. Especially true among the "elites."

But please don't say it out loud.

David said...

"If you look at SAT scores, even with race-norming, it seems kids have been getting dumber."

Preceded by the educators, unfortunately and consequentially.

Automatic_Wing said...

If you look at SAT scores, even with race-norming, it seems kids have been getting dumber.

That's because you have a much greater proportion of kids taking the SAT relative to 40 or 50 years ago.

sdharms said...

if the trumps subscribe to that theory, why in the world would Trump father a child with Melania?

HT said...

"I've been interested for some time in the idea of high IQ women going back to work and letting their children be raised by barely literate nannies."

Let me give a shout out to the nannies -- yes, they may be illiterate, that is true, but dumb they are not. The newly arrived Latino population are really quite adept in many many endeavors. Also when I look around me and search for a middle class, and middle class values, I find it in the Latino population.

Having said that, I am for much tighter immigration control, but don't think we need to get there by denigrating immigrants (not saying you necessarily were). There is a fairness issue involved that I think is a perfectly acceptable and logical argument, not to mention inviting in so many people who are not very committed/invested in civic life, as so many do not vote, further weakening the fabric of our society.

dreams said...

The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Liberals are just dishonest people who are pretending the gene pool doesn't matter.

Good looking parents have good looking children and smart parents have smart children.

dreams said...

"if the trumps subscribe to that theory, why in the world would Trump father a child with Melania?"

I guess you mean that as joke given Melania was already a successful woman pre Trump.

SukieTawdry said...

I believe Eugenists advocated for the elimination of the low end of the Bell Curve through programs like compulsory sterilization and euthanasia. Are these the kinds of things Donald Trump supports? Has he ever even suggested that end of the Bell Curve needs to be eliminated? "Selective breeding" is practiced by societal elites across the racial/ethnic spectrum. Even I, a decided non-elite, considered prospective suitors' gene pools.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Any particular reason why people, on average, couldn't have gotten smarter over the last 500 years or so? Intelligence is a heritable trait, so why not?

10/1/16, 5:38 PM

How, exactly, would one prove this? I don't know for sure if the average groundling who appreciated Shakespeare's plays at the Globe, or the average audience member who attentively listened to Lincoln and Douglas debate for 3 hours (with no mentions of beauty queens) was smarter than say, the average Women's Studies professor - but I know which way I would bet.

mockturtle said...

IMHO, it is lack of moral conscience, rather than lack of intelligence, that is destroying our country .

Robert Cook said...

"One need not be corrupt to support Hillary, merely amoral."

Or, either naive enough to think Clinton is sincere and will be a good president, or, well aware that they're both corrupt, and they like Clinton more than Trump or fear Trump more than Clinton.

I'm not voting for either of them, as I won't vote for anyone who is undeniably corrupt.

Robert Cook said...

"I sincerely hope no one here believes people are more intelligent now than they were, say, during the Renaissance."

Why draw the line at the Renaissance? Humans are no more intelligent now than we ever have been.

mockturtle said...

Cookie, I agree with you [Gasp!]. But it is easier to present evidence from the Renaissance than from, say, the Stone Age.

Robert Cook said...

"If you look at SAT scores, even with race-norming, it seems kids have been getting dumber."

I think SAT scores measure the quality of education a child has received more than the child's innate intelligence.

Robert Cook said...

"Cookie, I agree with you [Gasp!]. But it is easier to present evidence from the Renaissance than from, say, the Stone Age."

Expressed more positively, I think humans have always been as intelligent as we are now.

Leigh said...

Althouse says: "Please watch the video at the link before commenting."

I would only add: "Please read the editor's notes, at bottom, before spending any time watching the video."

Jon Ericson said...

As someone I can't remember typed somewhere: "Althouse commenters rock!"
I'll try to dig it up.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Expressed more positively, I think humans have always been as intelligent as we are now.

10/2/16, 12:30 PM

Didn't SNL's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer prove that?

Joe said...

This flip side of this is the "blank slate" theory of development, which was thoroughly embraced by liberals and the religious right in the 20th century.

What makes this theory so insidious in practice is that it diminishes, if not outright dismisses, the individual. It also allows the individual to blame society for their own choices.

(In connection with this, I'm continually amazed at people who claim to belief in free choice, but then who blame their bad choices on everyone, or everything, but themselves. Among other things, it's caused me to hypothesize that a significant percentage of the population wants to be told what to do.)

Joe said...

If you look at SAT scores, even with race-norming, it seems kids have been getting dumber.

That's because you have a much greater proportion of kids taking the SAT relative to 40 or 50 years ago.


This goes back to the blank slate theory of education. In short, the idea that "you can be anything you want" is demonstrably untrue. Yet, that hasn't stopped educators from encouraging--demanding--students do things for which they are profoundly unsuited.

The one size fits all approach of modern education is a monumental, and very expensive, failure.

mockturtle said...

The one size fits all approach of modern education is a monumental, and very expensive, failure.

Yes, it is. And Bush, Sr., only made it more so with his 'No Child Left Behind' program. University education should be based upon academic history and natural ability. And, frankly, it should be totally unnecessary for the vast majority of useful workers who repair vehicles, operate heavy equipment, do plumbing and electrical wiring, cook in restaurants and build roads. One's importance to society is not based upon intelligence or academic achievement but rather on the needs of society.