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The Psychology of Everything
سيكولوجية الذكاء
- يساعدنا كتاب "سيكولوچية الذكاء" على فهم المواقف والممارسات الاجتماعية المتناقضة فيما يتعلق بموضوع الذكاء والتي شهدناها على مر العقود، بدءًا من التصورات التي قادت إلى سياسات وإجراءات تحسين النسل في الماضي، وحتى رد فعلنا الحالي ضد "الخبراء" والتفكير النقدي. يوضح الكتاب كيف يؤثر نهجنا في التعامل مع الذكاء على حياتنا اليومية، في البيئات التعليمية والمهنية والطبية والقانونية، ويتساءل عما إذا كان من الممكن رفع المحاذير وتجاوز التحيزات المحيطة بالذكاء.
- GenresNonfictionPsychology
155 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2021
In Canada, where I live, federal and provincial human rights laws protect people against discrimination on the basis of various innate personal characteristics such as "race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability" (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms). As author Sonja Falck points out in this fascinating book, one innate personal characteristic that is not covered in most anti-discrimination legislation in the Western world is intelligence, particularly high intelligence. She suggests that, from about the end of World War II until fairly recently, people of high intelligence were shunned, ostracized, ignored, and even feared for being different. It was not always this way.
Falck's book is about how we think and feel about intelligence. She theorizes that Western society has gone through three "ages" of cultural attitudes towards intelligence and has just entered a third age. The first age, prior to World War II, was one where high intelligence was idealized by society. It was assumed that intelligence was innate and that high intelligence was preferable to low intelligence. This kind of thinking ultimately led to such horrors as the theory and practice of eugenics, where people of low intelligence were incarcerated, sterilized, or even killed, while people of high intelligence were encouraged to marry each other and have many hopefully super-smart babies.
After World Word II, says Falck, society swung the opposite way in the second age. Researchers tried to show that intelligence was learned, not innate, and anyone could become an expert in anything if they just put in enough hours of practice (10,000 hours should do it, according to one popular theory). The notion of "emotional intelligence" was developed, and high intellectual ability was devalued. People of high intelligence were labelled as emotionally stunted and socially awkward. The words "freaks", "geeks", and "nerds" were insults (although that has changed somewhat in the past 10-15 years). At the same time, society began to take better care of those at the low end of the intelligence scale, with special education and more social supports.
Falck believes we entered a third age around 2015, when academic research once again showed that intelligence is largely innate, but can be enhanced or degraded by one's childhood environment. Research has shown that intelligence, as measured by a standard IQ test, is a better predictor of a person's future school or work performance than any other personal trait or characteristic. Falck then suggests ways in which we can embrace and encourage all levels of human intelligence (what she calls "neurodiversity") in education, work, and other settings. (In medicine, for example, it may be that the brains of highly intelligent people are more sensitive to some medications than those of people of average intelligence, so standard dosing recommendations may lead to adverse outcomes for those people.)
Although Falck's writing is a bit too scholarly at times, and probably tries too hard to be as neutral as possible, I personally found this book deeply illuminating. Full disclosure: I have a measured IQ in the low to mid 130s, which is higher than about 97% of the population. I have always been aware, and have been made aware, that I am not like most people. I still remember the time, nearly 40 years ago, when two university classmates came all the way from their dorm to mine one weekend to tell me that my high marks made them look bad and that they wanted me to stop showing off. I didn't stop doing my best, but I learned to be less public about my abilities and accomplishments. I truly hope that Falck is right, and that we're entering an age where neurodiversity will be acknowledged, supported and welcomed, and that people like me will not have to be so careful to avoid making others uncomfortable because of who we are.
Falck's book is about how we think and feel about intelligence. She theorizes that Western society has gone through three "ages" of cultural attitudes towards intelligence and has just entered a third age. The first age, prior to World War II, was one where high intelligence was idealized by society. It was assumed that intelligence was innate and that high intelligence was preferable to low intelligence. This kind of thinking ultimately led to such horrors as the theory and practice of eugenics, where people of low intelligence were incarcerated, sterilized, or even killed, while people of high intelligence were encouraged to marry each other and have many hopefully super-smart babies.
After World Word II, says Falck, society swung the opposite way in the second age. Researchers tried to show that intelligence was learned, not innate, and anyone could become an expert in anything if they just put in enough hours of practice (10,000 hours should do it, according to one popular theory). The notion of "emotional intelligence" was developed, and high intellectual ability was devalued. People of high intelligence were labelled as emotionally stunted and socially awkward. The words "freaks", "geeks", and "nerds" were insults (although that has changed somewhat in the past 10-15 years). At the same time, society began to take better care of those at the low end of the intelligence scale, with special education and more social supports.
Falck believes we entered a third age around 2015, when academic research once again showed that intelligence is largely innate, but can be enhanced or degraded by one's childhood environment. Research has shown that intelligence, as measured by a standard IQ test, is a better predictor of a person's future school or work performance than any other personal trait or characteristic. Falck then suggests ways in which we can embrace and encourage all levels of human intelligence (what she calls "neurodiversity") in education, work, and other settings. (In medicine, for example, it may be that the brains of highly intelligent people are more sensitive to some medications than those of people of average intelligence, so standard dosing recommendations may lead to adverse outcomes for those people.)
Although Falck's writing is a bit too scholarly at times, and probably tries too hard to be as neutral as possible, I personally found this book deeply illuminating. Full disclosure: I have a measured IQ in the low to mid 130s, which is higher than about 97% of the population. I have always been aware, and have been made aware, that I am not like most people. I still remember the time, nearly 40 years ago, when two university classmates came all the way from their dorm to mine one weekend to tell me that my high marks made them look bad and that they wanted me to stop showing off. I didn't stop doing my best, but I learned to be less public about my abilities and accomplishments. I truly hope that Falck is right, and that we're entering an age where neurodiversity will be acknowledged, supported and welcomed, and that people like me will not have to be so careful to avoid making others uncomfortable because of who we are.
July 15, 2025
القولبة.
April 30, 2025
2.5⭐️
للاسف اغلب الوقت كنت حاسس بملل ولكني استفدت من معلومات ممكن ارجع ليها بعدين.
للاسف اغلب الوقت كنت حاسس بملل ولكني استفدت من معلومات ممكن ارجع ليها بعدين.
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