BOOMERBUSTER

BOOMERBUSTER
OLD CELLO

Monday, October 14, 2019

DAVID REICH NEXT QUESTION

"...What makes the issue of mobility, and the related issue of ability, so fraught, in my opinion, is this.  History shows that in any complex field of endeavor, a small minority of people are much better than anyone else. I have written an entire book showing how true this is in baseball, and I have seen it in my own profession and as a spectator in many other fields.  These people are different not because of their race or gender--much less their sexual orientation--but because of almost unique personal characteristics that are scattered more or less at random throughout the population..." DK

This view is flatly contradicted by works in various fields, although it may be true. 

The work that springs to mind for me is Randall Collins' The Sociology Of Philosophies.

If one looks at physical prowess, rather than creativity as such, then questions about natural selection spring up.

The Blind Side is also a good example of what DK refers to.

If one distinguishes individual physical from complex intellectual endeavors, very different contexts, causes and criteria spring up, and the work of Reich is relevant to both.

So, what questions are raised here for Reich? Reich poo poos natural selection in favor of other mechanisms or causes, at many points.

No comments:

Post a Comment