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Milty's Mag, September 1941
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Milty's Mag Page three Why I am not going to write an article on Superman.... The idea for the article came to me while I was studying psychology in school, and it made me study my psychology very thoroughly, searching for clues to the problem, as a result of which my psychology course was the most successful course, as far as grades go, that I have ever had. Later I became interested in other things, found I didn't have much time in which to think about it, when when I did think about it I got more and more involved in the intricacies of the problem. It finally ended up in questions concerning which the psychologists argue, and I didn't feel like trying for an answer. I begin with this: Personality is composed of various separate traits and abilities. All individuals possess the same traits and abilities. Differences between individuals are measured by the relative quantities of each trait possessed by each individual. The traits which are chosen for measurement are not arbitrary, but are obtained by statistical methods as a result of a large number of tests. For example, the idea in which we are most interested -- intelligence -- is not a simple trait or ability in itself, but is composed of a large number of separate primary traits which are determined by such tests as language usage, spelling, computation, arithmetic reasoning, word meaning, sentence meaning, paragraph meaning, etc. It was found by statistical methods that the grades obtained in these tests had small relation to each other within the individual. That is, there was no tendency for a grade in one test to be high if the grade in another test was high. That, in fact, is the basis of the statistical method used in analyzing out the primary traits. The important point is that "intelligence" cannot be discussed. "Intelligence is a word that is practically meaningless. What we consider an intelligent person is one who makes high scores of certain of the ability tests. In our civilization these tests are those of verbal ability, the ability to handle words. In another civilization intelligence may be measured by certain of the other tests. The reason verbal tests are most often used in our intelligence tests is the observed fact that high grades in those tests correlate quite well with "success" in everyday life. (Although a menial clerk may get a higher grade in verbal tests than a highly skilled mechanic.) It must be remembered that all this is not a matter of individual cases; it is a matter of statistical averages. To recapitulate: Personality is composed of various primary traits and abilities. "Intelligence" is composed of certain primary abilities which may be measures by tests. All individuals have the same abilities in varying degree. There are variations between abilities within the individual. An individual may make high scores in certain parts of his intelligence abilities, and low scores in other parts. Question: What is the superman? It is first assumed that the superman is a mutant, it being agreed (?) that evolution takes place by means of mutation and selection. Mutation implies several points: The change takes place within the genes and chromosomes, because by definition a mutation is a change that is inheritable. The change, therefore, can take place only in characteristics, traits, and abilities which are determined by the genes and chromosomes.
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Milty's Mag Page three Why I am not going to write an article on Superman.... The idea for the article came to me while I was studying psychology in school, and it made me study my psychology very thoroughly, searching for clues to the problem, as a result of which my psychology course was the most successful course, as far as grades go, that I have ever had. Later I became interested in other things, found I didn't have much time in which to think about it, when when I did think about it I got more and more involved in the intricacies of the problem. It finally ended up in questions concerning which the psychologists argue, and I didn't feel like trying for an answer. I begin with this: Personality is composed of various separate traits and abilities. All individuals possess the same traits and abilities. Differences between individuals are measured by the relative quantities of each trait possessed by each individual. The traits which are chosen for measurement are not arbitrary, but are obtained by statistical methods as a result of a large number of tests. For example, the idea in which we are most interested -- intelligence -- is not a simple trait or ability in itself, but is composed of a large number of separate primary traits which are determined by such tests as language usage, spelling, computation, arithmetic reasoning, word meaning, sentence meaning, paragraph meaning, etc. It was found by statistical methods that the grades obtained in these tests had small relation to each other within the individual. That is, there was no tendency for a grade in one test to be high if the grade in another test was high. That, in fact, is the basis of the statistical method used in analyzing out the primary traits. The important point is that "intelligence" cannot be discussed. "Intelligence is a word that is practically meaningless. What we consider an intelligent person is one who makes high scores of certain of the ability tests. In our civilization these tests are those of verbal ability, the ability to handle words. In another civilization intelligence may be measured by certain of the other tests. The reason verbal tests are most often used in our intelligence tests is the observed fact that high grades in those tests correlate quite well with "success" in everyday life. (Although a menial clerk may get a higher grade in verbal tests than a highly skilled mechanic.) It must be remembered that all this is not a matter of individual cases; it is a matter of statistical averages. To recapitulate: Personality is composed of various primary traits and abilities. "Intelligence" is composed of certain primary abilities which may be measures by tests. All individuals have the same abilities in varying degree. There are variations between abilities within the individual. An individual may make high scores in certain parts of his intelligence abilities, and low scores in other parts. Question: What is the superman? It is first assumed that the superman is a mutant, it being agreed (?) that evolution takes place by means of mutation and selection. Mutation implies several points: The change takes place within the genes and chromosomes, because by definition a mutation is a change that is inheritable. The change, therefore, can take place only in characteristics, traits, and abilities which are determined by the genes and chromosomes.
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