Moron was originally a scientific term, coined by psychologist Henry H. Goddard from the Greek word moros meaning "dull" (as opposed to sharp) and used to describe a person with a mental age between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. It was also once applied to people with an IQ of 51-70 and was a step up from "imbecile" (IQ of 26-50) and two steps up from "idiot" (IQ of 0-25). The word moron, along with "retarded" and "feeble-minded" (among others), was once considered a valid descriptor in the psychological community, though these words have all now passed into common slang use, exclusively in a detrimental context.
In his later years, Goddard recanted his previous theories, but they had already been published and translated into German. His writings inspired the Nazis who sent people deemed "morons" to the gas chambers.[1]
that's why labelling is bad bad bad. categories of most/many sorts are just (i feel) a way for the lazy and prejudiced (oops-- am i categorizing/labelling? maybe...) to fit the world into bite-sized chunks for easy consumption.
as soon as i read/hear someone using "left wing" or "right wing" as a perjorative term, as in, dismissing an entire set of ideas b/c of some imagined political affiliation, i gag. it's a trick that lazy and grandstanding journalists (Fox's bill o'riellly, for e.g., or, closer to home, the FP's Tom Oleson) use to preach to the choir, rather than engaging in meaningful debate or discussion about an idea.
too funny. F words are great Labels suck? even labels for artists?
wolfboy, I followed what you were saying, I wonder how many people on this blog are random/abstract thinkers and how many are concrete/sequential thinkers.
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8 comments:
Fuck eh?!
(translation: this was purely entertaining)
wow. that's fu--ing funny.
they spelled some words wrong, though.
sentence, and incompetence.
and i'm hoping that i now spelled them right, though i'm not so sure.
More on.
Moron was originally a scientific term, coined by psychologist Henry H. Goddard from the Greek word moros meaning "dull" (as opposed to sharp) and used to describe a person with a mental age between 8 and 12 on the Binet scale. It was also once applied to people with an IQ of 51-70 and was a step up from "imbecile" (IQ of 26-50) and two steps up from "idiot" (IQ of 0-25). The word moron, along with "retarded" and "feeble-minded" (among others), was once considered a valid descriptor in the psychological community, though these words have all now passed into common slang use, exclusively in a detrimental context.
In his later years, Goddard recanted his previous theories, but they had already been published and translated into German. His writings inspired the Nazis who sent people deemed "morons" to the gas chambers.[1]
yikes.
that's why labelling is bad bad bad. categories of most/many sorts are just (i feel) a way for the lazy and prejudiced (oops-- am i categorizing/labelling? maybe...) to fit the world into bite-sized chunks for easy consumption.
as soon as i read/hear someone using "left wing" or "right wing" as a perjorative term, as in, dismissing an entire set of ideas b/c of some imagined political affiliation, i gag. it's a trick that lazy and grandstanding journalists (Fox's bill o'riellly, for e.g., or, closer to home, the FP's Tom Oleson) use to preach to the choir, rather than engaging in meaningful debate or discussion about an idea.
and, uh, if you don't have less on, you have...
left wing, right wing? where? I'm lost. more on. less on. anon.
that just related to the labelling thing, nazis, etc.
labels suck.
too funny.
F words are great
Labels suck? even labels for artists?
wolfboy, I followed what you were saying, I wonder how many people on this blog are random/abstract thinkers and how many are concrete/sequential thinkers.
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