[HPFGU-OTChatter] feeling sad

[Shaun Hately]

> Amy wrote:
> 
> >One of my favorite writers died yesterday:  Stephen Jay Gould
> 
> That truly is sad news.  An anthropology professor of mine gave us "Ever 
> Since Darwin" as a textbook.  That was ten years ago, and I'm still 
> collecting as many of SJG's books as I can.  The great man was a great mind 
> and a brilliant writer.  He will be sorely missed.

Interesting to see so many admirers of a man who has (indirectly, it's possible) 
caused a great deal of pain and suffering to people I care a lot about. 

I work with profoundly gifted kids - kids for whom IQ tests, etc, are very important 
for them to gain access to appropriate education. Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man" 
published just over 20 years ago has caused massive harm to these kids needs and 
their chances of getting the education they need and they deserve. Gould couldn't 
be blamed for this if the work was credible - but it's one of the most biased pieces of 
literature I've ever encountered.

It's a work of political theory - not really the scientific work that Gould claimed it 
was. 

He certainly raised some good and valid points - he showed how testing could be, 
and has been, used to discriminate unjustly. The trouble is, he threw the baby out 
with the bathwater.

His work on paleontology and biology is first rate, no doubt - but unfortunately, here 
he moved into areas he wasn't qualified to write about - and people assumed that 
because he was a scientist, he knew what he was talking about.

And having read his book, some of them took it as gospel, and they chose to use it 
to set educational policy. And every single week, I run up against people who use 
his work and his ideas to deny kids the education they need to reach their potential. 
Which leads to some of them leading very painful lives - and to some of them 
losing them.

Just another perspective (-8 I do admire Gould for his work in the areas he was 
trained in - but in this area, he wasn't - and so many people seem to have assumed 
that because he wrote a book he must have been.

As I'm delurking, I guess I'd better introduce myself.

I'm a 27 year old Computer Security and Intelligence specialist working for various 
departments of the Australian government. I do a lot of voluntary work with 
profoundly gifted children, as I've mentioned, and that's how I first encountered the 
Harry Potter books - when Philosopher's Stone first came out, the books started 
spreading like wildfire among gifted kids - a kids book that didn't treat kids like idiots 
was seriously appealing - especially with Hermione's presence because she was 
someone for the kids to relate to (as time has gone on, a lot more of these kids 
relate to Ron and Harry as well - but Hermione really leaped out, especially for 
gifted girls). Because I work with these kids, I decided to give the book a go - and 
thought it was one of the most enjoyable new things I had read in a while.

Growing up, I had very few friends so I could relate to Harry's loneliness, and at 13, 
I suddenly found myself sent to a school where for the first time in my life I fitted in, 
and actually enjoyed my life, so I could relate on that score as well (-8 I even had a 
teacher who was *EXTREMELY* Snapish.

I'm still lurking around on the main group - trying to get the feel for the list.

Um... let's see, anything else about me - I play role playing games and ran a Harry 
Potter based game at an Easter gaming convention this year. I'm an e-mail addict 
(on over 50 mailing lists of various sorts) due to only needing 3 hours sleep a night, 
and having a low tolerance for boredom...

Probably it, at the moment.



Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately |webpage: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       |email: drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in
common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter
the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen
to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who:
The Face of Evil | Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia