The Evil of Cultural Engineering

The American Thinker ^ | November 21, 2010 | Robert Weissberg

[Bon mots]

Hmmm... are they going to fix the athletic performance gap too? Why do blacks outperform whites and Asians in athletic pursuits? What is being done to address this?

[JoeProBono]

“Cultural Engineering.

I am a Cultural Engineer. What, exactly does that mean?

Well, a Google search produces minimal results, one being that Dave Stewart, the other half of the Eurythmics, is a “cultural engineer.” That’s a good start. Additionally, I was able to find the following definition, if you will, that was quoted from a now non-existing website (http://culturalengineering.com , which is domain-parked… grrr.) :

“Cultural engineering is a conceptual approach to cultural development planning and management that takes into account the changing concepts of culture and the design of practical strategies for dealing with issues and problems raised by culture and development in diverse contexts…. In other words, cultural engineering is about systems, processes, alternatives and the formulation of creative solutions to challenges in the development of cultural institutions and the promotion of people’s participation in cultural life.”

This definition is almost close, but has already become extremely dated due to its generality. I believe, since this definition was invented, we have come much, much further in cultural engineering as a viable way of creating a new genre of cultural thought that has solid design and engineering principles as a basis of making seemingly complex ideas readily attainable. For one thing, we, as a global population, are connected now in ways the original definition never assumed. That is just the beginning.

I arrived at my own definition of cultural engineering after twenty years of experience in design and art had given me an ability to look at our society’s cultural and aesthetic objectives and apply real, working solutions to areas where these objectives could be improved or were flat-out not working.

Problems in economic viability, sustainability, technology and the overall aesthetic desirability of our modern culture now demand a comprehensive set of skills that combine and manage many diverse fields that make up a well-designed project. Call it synergy, mechatronics, cognitive or system engineering, interface design, or whatever; it all means the same thing: something works.

My background in engineering, design, and project management are key to my understanding of how to look at these problems in a way that takes the underlying complexity of a project and makes it look and feel good to the user.

Producing ideas that people want and need has gone way beyond manufacturing for the bottom line. To create a successful design and product launch or installation, many factors come into play and these are not always the most obvious and tangible processes. Deeper understanding of the consumer and cultural experience are key to making exceptional things.

I specialize in producing research, objective feedback, engineering data, construction documents, design presentations and proposals, recommendations, and the ability to get complex designs actually to the place where you can touch them.

I have lots of ideas. My personal directive – as a Cultural Engineer – is to make the environments that surround us, that we live in, look good and be smarter.

Best of all, I absolutely love the fact that I have a job title that begs the question, “What the hell is that?”

[Scanian]

Sports Illustrated ran an article last May about genetic factors in running—specifically endurance running—performance, in which East Africans are supreme.

The thesis is that there are certain genes identified which enhance endurance (and others for speed—a West African specialty). The writer espoused the “out of Africa” theory of human development. He argued that since people have lived in Africa much longer than in other areas, greater genetic variance has developed there. Thus, a gene enabling marathon running has sprung up and is common in Ethiopia and Kenya, another for sprinting abounds in West Africa and among their decendents. He said that those places are full of awkward, unathletic people as well with “bad” sports genes but we never hear about them—only the stars. But the article does not discount the value of nurture vs. nature. Some people who have championship genes end up as flops.

So, could this human migration theory (if valid) explain lower IQ and poor academic performance? Could human wanderlust during the Paleolithic mean that adventurous folk left Africa to explore new frontiers leaving comparative “slackers” behind? The same range of IQ exists in Africa as elsewhere, there just seems to be more of the low-end there. I don’t know and can’t judge the validity of this idea but it seems worth discussing.

[mrsmel]

But they don’t in all athletics-gymanstics, swimming, diving, ice skating, skiing, and more.

[Scanian]

My #4 offers a partial explanation per a SI article.

[Uncle Ike]

Here’s a book that you might find interesting, on this topic....

Amazon.com: Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book) (9780684824291): Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray: Books

www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intelligence-Structure-Paperbacks/dp/0684824299

[mrsmel]

I read it, but I couldn’t see how it explains that some blacks achieve athletic success in some sports, but not in these. There haven’t been any black stars in these sports on a level with the best in these sports. Sorry, I’m dense. Unless you mean the physical differences. That’s the thing nobody wants to talk about though, because if there can be physical differences in one aspect, then there can be physical differences in other aspects (ie IQ).

[Scanian]

The genes cited in that article have to do specifically with RUNNING.

Bodies which excel at running tend to be denser than those which float well, and thus do better at water sports.

The idea is that genetic variability has had more chance to develop in africa as a function of pure time...and what emerged were good genes for running.

As for the other sports, I think swimming genes might be at an extreme shortage there but some of the other sports like skiing and skating could be more climate-related and Africans could excel at them if they were suddenly moved en masse to, say, Russia or Canada. Quickness and lightning reflexes are at a premium in those activities, so why wouldn’t sprinting talent have aptitude for speed skating or hockey?

[mrsmel]

Perhaps body denseness has something to do with the ability to balance on a thin blade while moving quickly/ performing acrobatic moves?

[Scanian]

Body denseness...seems a reasonable assumption.

Skiing and skating: let it snow in Africa as it does in Canada and we’ll know if it’s genetic.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Cultural Engineer" = Propagandist (see Goebbels).

"Cultural Engineering" has zip to do with the real world and real problems. It's all about increasing control over individuals.

[Scanian]

I was thinking “Lebensborn” as well as Goebbels. If that SS breeding program wasn’t social engineering to an extreme, I don’t know what it was.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

I predict the problem will be solved in either of two ways: the old-fashioned way, where eventually one group outnumbers, overpowers, and annihilates the other...or the free and scientific approach, we figure out how to alter the genes involved, and people select the “race” of their babies.

[SkyPilot]

National IQ estimates from IQ and the Wealth of Nations 2002

Rank Country IQ estimate

1 Hong Kong 107
2 South Korea 106

3 Japan 105

4 Taiwan 104
5 Singapore 103
6 Austria 102
6 Germany 102
6 Italy 102
6 Netherlands 102
10 Sweden 101
10 Switzerland 101
12 Belgium 100
12 China 100
12 New Zealand 100
12 United Kingdom 100
16 Hungary 99
16 Poland 99
16 Spain 99
19 Australia 98
19 Denmark 98
19 France 98
19 Mongolia 98
19 Norway 98
19 United States 98
25 Canada 97
25 Czech Republic 97
25 Finland 97
28 Argentina 96
28 Russia 96
28 Slovakia 96
28 Uruguay 96
32 Portugal 95
32 Slovenia 95
34 Israel 94
34 Romania 94
36 Bulgaria 93
36 Ireland 93
36 Greece 92
39 Malaysia 92
40 Thailand 91
41 Croatia 90
41 Peru 90
41 Turkey 90
44 Colombia 89
44 Indonesia 89

44 Suriname 89
47 Brazil 87
47 Iraq 87
47 Mexico 87
47 Samoa 87
47 Tonga 87
52 Lebanon 86
52 Philippines 86
54 Cuba 85
54 Morocco 85
56 Fiji 84
56 Iran 84
56 Marshall Islands 84
56 Puerto Rico 84
60 Egypt 83
60 Saudi Arabia 83
60 United Arab Emirates 83
61 India 81
62 Ecuador 80
63 Guatemala 79
64 Barbados 78
64 Nepal 78
64 Qatar 78
67 Zambia 77
68 Congo 73
68 Uganda 73
70 Jamaica 72
70 Kenya 72
70 South Africa 72
70 Sudan 72
70 Tanzania 72
75 Ghana 71
76 Nigeria 67
77 Guinea 66
77 Zimbabwe 66
79 Democratic Republic of the Congo 65
80 Sierra Leone 64
81 Ethiopia 63
82 Equatorial Guinea 59

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

The idea is that genetic variability has had more chance to develop in africa as a function of pure time...and what emerged were good genes for running. As for the other sports, I think swimming genes might be at an extreme shortage there...

Regarding "swimming genes," I read somewhere there are people in Indonesia...or SE Asia?...who can focus their eyes underwater, better than the rest of us. They do a lot of swimming. Not sure if they're considered to have superior genes adapted for this lifestyle, or what.

Maybe SunkenCiv can refresh my memory? Civ knows all!

[Scanian]

Wow, them “Out of Africa” smart adventurer types sure did scatter in all kinds of crazy directions, didn’t they?

And the ones left back home look even worse off than I thought.

I’m surprised that the numbers for upper South Anerica are so low. Rarely have I encountered people so hungry for education and knowledge (technical kind, especially) as in the cities of Colombia. Those folks all seem to be studying something. Don’t seem like a 90 IQ crowd at all. Must be the rural “Andean” kind you see selling stuff in the streets on weekends that drag them down.

[Chode]

like fags in the military...

[tbw2]

Learning to survive in a new environment may have weeded out the lower end of the spectrum, pushing up the average.

Alternatively, humans evolved in Africa. Leaving Africa would have left behind many diseases and parasites that sap human nutrition at an early age, decreasing potential intelligence. If you keep getting sick and malnourished growing up, IQ points get lost. Less illness, more nutrients can go for the brain.

[Vaduz]

Cultural Engineering

Jefferson or Marx select one .Live on your feet or die on your knees you have an option.