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Books and Intelligence

Good point. How about if we strike out the negatives AND the intelligent part? let's take a look...

jay said:
I have doubts you are an woman
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Doesn't he know that unless the noun begins with one of the phonemes a/e/i/o/u, then 'a' is the correct pronoun? Weird...
 
novella said:
Hey, help, I need a grammar nazi over here. Is this supposed to be a compliment?
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Oh come on. It seems fashionable to portray me as some tyrant that beats the hell out of his keyboard with fiery posts but this is a bit silly not too mention self-serving.
I would have thought _you_ (Novella) would have gotten beyond this. Gawd knows we’ve had a few back and forths and I even sent you a private message that was jokey, not ‘insulting’.

I appreciate the few exchanges we’ve had here - those that have no idea how to debate see me as combative. Not in the least, I feel.
My replies to you, obviously, are a little thought out (as opposed to just idiot-tennis like much of this morning) and when I do go on my longer themes I wish people like you would actually have something to say to them.
Instead I guess one or two lined messages are more your cuppa and then off to the General playground.
The Books section of the Book Forum is at a loss for this.

I think this is one of the many problems with the internet. This desire for a sense of community. One of the worst things that can happen to a web forum is to have General Shite area. This kinship that comes out of it immediately breeds some “personal” aspect. Bubby there may be a hell of a chap, but no matter how nice of a guy, his antics this morning were beyond pathetic. But many have an established virtual relationship with him, so *I’m* the asshole. Should I ignore him? Maybe. Do I take valuable time from my work to answer him? Not at all. The sad thing is I probably just get more people thinking that _I’m_ the bad guy. But I’ll live with it.

Anyway…
j
 
The quote in its entirety:

jay said:
No, Miss Editor / “professional writer for a very long time”. My “discussing” was not in quotes.
But yes, I made a slip of linguistic order. My apologies.
Although this mystifies me a bit more as in this context you are, apparently, specialist in “writing”.
Hmm.



As I said, not many would actually find this successful flaunting nor does it fulfill _any_ qualifications.
The *only* thing that matter is what you lay down *here* [the Book Forum].

As is documented history, I’ve worked circles around you, in your language, grammatically, in spelling, various definitions and logic. Several times.

And I *really* don’t care (nor do others), but when you keep getting up (this is all very “Cool Hand Luke”) and then, again, fall down -with a sinister smirk no less (so to speak)- one _really_ is left with befuddlement…

I’m all up for a debate of any kind (on books, reading, literature. I have no interest in debating politics or whatnot here – the thought alone is frightening).
My previous ping-pong matches with Monkey Catcher (who I believe is about ½ your age) showed some spunk and interesting thinking. I truly hope that she continues (not that I have any doubt that she wont) to rally against what she doesn’t believe in, calls people on their empty and/or thought out “opinions”, and fights mediocrity, well, better than I have.

-Novella, you may be great at your job, and I _sincerely_ hope you are. I have no doubts that you aren’t an intelligent woman. And I *completely* understand the occasional flub; to me emails and quick posts are a bit like messy Post-It notes. And I’m pretty sure you, like myself and others, slap down our posts while at work.

Although I do think posting continually mistakes is 1) telling and 2) disrespectful to any potential reader. Although I never point this out to people, but seemingly call them “stupid”. As I said, no need.

Your nit-picking (very often wrong -so much for “qualification”), when _one_ of my posts surpasses in not just thought and content, but obviously (not that this is a good trait) word-count, to the total of many a members’ week (or weak) accumulation, is tiresome. [and yes, that’s a horrible sentence but I really got to get some work done]

You or your company wants to cut me a check, as I stated before (this thread, I believe), I’ll make sure things are as close to ‘perfect’ as can be.
Until then, if you’re gonna edit me, edit me *correctly* and also find the post where you seem to think I ever proclaimed I make no mistakes.

This is all *so* terribly pathetic that it’s turned into some, again, “Cool Hand Luke” fight out in the yard. And usually, in only slightly serious way, I feel in-line with the Luke role (an extravagant failure), so this is an interesting role-reversal.

But apparently you like the attention.

I’ll be jumping off the list soon, so you can go back to whatever it was you were doing before peeking in on whatever I’m posting and those with no idea how to back up their own thoughts can stop, supposedly, shuddering in the corner waiting for the boogie man to leave.

But I still would never attempt to eat 50 eggs,
Dragline
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Admittedly, I did embolden the insult. It _was_ intended, _wasn't_ it?
 
I think this is getting a bit too silly. Does anybody know what is Jay's first language? In many languages a sentence like that would make sense and would not be an insult. It's very easy to slip when switching from one language to another.
 
clueless said:
I think this is getting a bit too silly. Does anybody know what is Jay's first language? In many languages a sentence like that would make sense and would not be an insult. It's very easy to slip when switching from one language to another.
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I totally agree, clueless, but it's jay we're talking about here. When a person constantly positions himself as the arbiter of intellectual rigor and the guardian of correct usage, and then continually says nonsense in his own posts, well . . . taking a poke at him is irresistable.
 
novella said:
When a person constantly positions himself as the arbiter of intellectual rigor and the guardian of correct usage
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No.
No such things were _ever_ self-asserted.
(do you people actually *comprehend* any of this stuff I write?)

As with much in life, generally we create our own monsters.
Which brings forth the question: what will you folks bitch about when I’m gone?

taking a poke at him is irresistable.
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Even when it comes across as *clearly* just avoiding the ‘continual’ “nonsense” that is in the posts...while making yet more fucking typos….

File under, we have nothing to say, so we’ll just bitch and kick sand.

j
 
For what it's worth, I made the same kind of post as Jay did on the U.S.S. Iowa thread. I tried to state something along the lines of -who would be against it? With an extra word thrown in, I negated what I argued for in a previous sentence. To me, Jay could have very well done the same thing. Like my error, his really sticks out and goes against the grain of what he was typing IMHO. I'd give him the benefit of a doubt on that one.

At the same time, I don't buy Jay's reasoning that people just don't "get" him and that the rest of us just don't understand how to debate or put together a coherent argument. It's easy to cut hairs on appropriateness and inappropriateness in a debate. I don't believe that Jay is completely wrong in this instance, but I doubt that the three/four people he's argued with during varioius points of this thread are completely mistaken in their responses to him. It's one thing if a conflict is between two people, you can say that someone just doesn't "get it" then. But when there's more than one, a time for introspection is needed.

Now to get back on the topic at hand from this mother of all thread-jacking-

There is nothing wrong with brain candy from time to time. One's intelligence is NOT indicated by what you read. There are engineers and computer programmers who read trivial fluff, but who can do things that the rest of us just can't comprehend. Intelligence is such a multi-faceted thing that we can't judge it by our standards(i.e.-books) I would quite frankly, be worried about the person who ONLY enjoys high culture literature and classics. I've met individuals like that, and they have the personality of a doorknob. The "mad" genius who can figure out complex equations, but who can't communicate in a room with other people. If that person is intelligent, I'll prefer to stay in the average range, thank you.
 
sirmyk said:
There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I'm tight-rope walkin'.
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Oh yes, I do agree that it is a thin line in general. Along with that, I'd have to say that I'm a fan of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory. Reading a given book says nothing of your native capacity at all. As stated previously, an engineer or talented mathematician may read all the pulp material they can find. It say nothing, and takes away nothing, of the given person's intelligence. Who here has the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence of a Baryshnikov or a Lynn Swann diving in the end zone? It's such a varied thing, intelligence. I doubt that what the two former mentioned individuals read affected them in the slightest way. Same things go for those who are gifted in speech, writing, and in the natural sciences.
 
it really annoys me when one is judged by what they read. its the same w/ music. i guess they can be judged to a certain extent.

i read books like HP for entertainment. *sigh*
 
I don't agree with the notion that the books one reads are a measure of that person's intelligence. My reading is all over the place - Peanuts, The Blank Slate, A Man Named Dave, The Giver, all Harry Potter books written so far, The Bell Curve, etc. Sometimes I read for fun (Robin Cook - corny-fest), sometimes I read to learn (Introducing Logic), sometimes I read to pass the time. I don't really pay attention at how smart a book makes me look, but rather I pay attention to why I want to read a book at the moment and pick accordingly.

By the way, I moved to the U.S. when I was 12 and the Archie comics helped me to learn English - I was constantly at my older sister's side asking why the jokes were funny.
 
I wondered what happened to this thread-glad to see it resurrected from the depths. You are not what you read, unless you read that exlusively over everything else.
 
SFG75 said:
You are not what you read, unless you read that exlusively over everything else.
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I'm so glad this is true. Otherwise, since I recently started Haunted, by Chuck Palahniuk, that would make me a piece of large intestine, sucked out of my ass by a pool filter...
 
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