Why don't you let me get my head above water for two seconds....
He's right about one thing though. Reading is the key to smart.
Thanks for all the good thoughts and recommendations in the comments.
Mike
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Featured Comments from:
Sean: "Re 'Reading is the key to smart': Is it possible he has the causality reversed? Intelligent people read more. Children may receive books from their parents, but they also inherit their genes. Twin studies suggest heritability is the main driver of reading ability and uptake. I’m not suggesting books don’t provide knowledge—they do—but that’s not the same as understanding, analysing, interpreting, and synthesising what’s been read, all of which require cognitive ability. Reading lots of books might be more of a marker of intelligence than the key to it."
Mike, I’m a little surprised this wasn’t the first thing you posted this morning:)
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdX8-3RC81/?igsh=aG91ajM0c2ZzOXI4
Posted by: Ned Bunnell | Monday, 24 February 2025 at 09:36 AM
"Shadows of Glory" by Owen Parry, or his real name, Ralph Peters.
Publisher's Weekly: "Second in Parry's praised Civil War series (after Faded Coat of Blue), this uncommonly engaging historical drama, the second to feature Abel Jones. A Union officer, reluctant detective, and loyal confidential agent for President LincolnA stirs the imagination with its vivid color, gripping suspense and wartime historical accuracy. In the winter of 1862, Major Jones, an immigrant Welshman now in the Union Army, is sent to northern New York to investigate rumors of an Irish insurrection among those who oppose the war. Two federal undercover agents have already been brutally murdered, and Jones knows this will be a delicate and dangerous mission. He boldly sets out for the prosperous town of Penn Yan, N.Y., with no disguise or cover story, proclaiming to all that he is there to investigate the murders and the rumors of rebellion. His presence is at once feared and welcomed, and he naturally becomes the target of the Irish troublemakers...."
Posted by: Frank Petronio | Tuesday, 25 February 2025 at 04:08 AM
"Reading is the key to smart."
In the vein of Sean's comment:
This used to drive me a little crazy while raising a couple of boys. All sorts of material for kids, games, tests, etc. conflated knowledge with intelligence.
I think it's more accurate to say "Reading is a the key to knowledge, although less predominantly so than before video sources. Doing a lot of reading is associated with intelligence, although causality is unproven, in either direction."*
It still goes on, of course, but those boys are middle aged adults, so I'm not responsible any more.
* One of the problems with people who are both knowledgeable and smart (esp. if pedantic) is that they don't tend to write punchy titles or bon mots.
Posted by: Moose | Saturday, 01 March 2025 at 11:50 PM