This post by @logic got me thinking: Why do we as a society believe that people who were born with brains or brawn, and exploit those assets for their economic benefit, have "earned" their way in the world, why those who were born with beauty, and exploit that asset for their economic benefit, have not? Do we really think that intelligence or eloquence or brawn are any less a function of DNA or social class or "luck" than...beauty?
One person is born beautiful and gets upvoted in life as a result. Another is born eloquent and gets upvoted in life too. Neither "earned" it. Neither "deserves" it. It's just luck of the genetic or social lottery, that's all.
Sure, maybe the intelligent person went to school and applied herself. Does that mean she has "earned" her subsequent living? No, at least no more than the beautiful one who spent equal amounts of time grooming, staying fit and studying make-up tutorials to look his very best so that he too could earn his way.
We identify with intelligence and articulateness more than with our physical bodies simply because we irrationally believe that "we" are ultimately immaterial--that "we" are an inner essence, an inner intelligence, a soul that is separate from our material flesh. Consequently, we seek to take credit for the former and can be easily dismissive of the latter. However, once we abandoned the illusion that we have an immaterial essence, as science suggests we should, we can take no more credit for "our" brilliance as "our" beauty, "our" stupidy as "our" ugliness.
We are not our bodies. And we are not our minds. We deserve credit, or blame, for neither. Give that, how about we cut ourselves, and each other, a little more slack? How about we celebrate the exceptional among us in whatever form it appears? Life's a lot more fun that way.
Photo credit: Me. Subject: @steemed-open.
Great discussion, Sean. Reminds me a bit of a post I did on determinism. I think humans love to create symbols and connections to things in order to understand what they can't currently comprehend. The nature vs. nurture discussion is a good example. We don't yet know the impact of cultural norms on our development, or how epigenetics trigger various gene expressions, or how our DNA shapes our future. It's all relatively new stuff and until we can simulate all of human existence, including our unique, individual brains, we may never fully understand it. :)
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I agree! Everyone seems to be getting caught up on the whole nature versus nurture aspect of my comment when what I really meant to emphasize is that both are essentially random from the perspective of any given individual. Whether I'm born with the right genes is no more or less random than whether I was born to the right parents who cared for me and supported me. Or in the right country with a decent education system. Or in the right socio-economic class within that country. My basic point is that all of these things impact lives immensely, but none of them are "deserved" or "earned". They are luck. That's true whether we are talking about beauty, intelligence or eloquence.
Some people seem to think that I'm therefore suggesting that nothing is worthy of celebration as a result, when I'm actually arguing just the opposite. The sunset didn't "earn" it's beauty, but its no less sounding and worthy of awe. Same with human beauty. Or human brilliance. Exceptionalism is worthy of celebration regardless of "merit".
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Holy cow... This article is incredible. It blew my mind, Because it's a mindset I've never heard of.
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I think that the idea of inner essences has done incalculable damage to the human condition. I used to be extremely dismissive of people who made their way in life relying on beauty and brawn, but I have now accepted that intelligence is also arbitrary.
Great post!
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I hadn't thought about it this way. You bring up a very interesting point that some people are just genetically blessed with looks, intelligence, etc. I have no problem with people using sex appeal (almost all successful fashion and many other advertisements use this).
However I also think that at the end of my life, how do I want to be remembered. Like what will the speeches be at my funeral. If I were beautiful or a model (neither haha) I would surely leverage that as I would be foolish not to use any attribute from athletic skills to strength etc to benefit myself. But it comes down to what you do with the gains you receive. I have a lot of respect for the Miss America winners who go on to give girls confidence through speeches and travel the world spreading more than simple beauty. I look at some people on Instagram who are celebrities and who post only selfies and products they endorse. That's great for their bank account but in all honesty I feel that is a waste if you are not going out and using your gifts for others.
If at my funeral someone were to say "yeah he was really good looking and was great at modeling" (again I'd be shocked) I'd feel as if I wasted my life. Don't get me wrong. I understand many people use beauty as their job, but they can be more than a pretty face by bettering society.
People with intelligence often invent new things and contribute in a way that changes the world long after they pass. Forgive me if I offend any Baywatch fans, but if you were to compare Pamela Anderson's funeral speech (when that occurs) with someone like Steve Jobs, I can say that while a great entertainer, Pamela has no real impact on my life through her beauty, but Steve Jobs has absolutely changed my everyday life. That's an extreme example and may not be fair to compare, but I feel intelligence may be more valued because of the lasting impact and the saying "beauty is fleeting" rings true. What you do and accomplish once you are old and wrinkly and may not be considered beautiful anymore is something I think more people should take the time to think about, especially those in fashion, modeling etc.
Just my 2 cents, and would be interested to see if others agree or not with my views on the subject.
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yes loved this post, thankyou for this !! so true what you say,I liked especially your conclusion that we should not judge people by the brains or beauty but more who they are now and and trying to be, with their words and actions !! So dont judge a book by its cover or by the exact words inside, but more of the message and effect it has on the surrounding environment !!
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TO the folks hating on this:
So chill, all. There are advantages and disadvantages on both sides here, says the "definitley on autism spectrum" guy..... Some are inherited and some are learned and some are exercised into being and some are trained, but the fact is that in the end we have agency and none of these things is any better than the others. They are just attributes of what make us, us.
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If there is something that I dont like in human is ENVY. No matter how someone rationalize it, if someone complain about another success it boils down to envy...because if they were in the other person shoes, they would have probably done the same as them to get a payout.
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Very refreshing to come across this on Steemit. I whole-heartedly agree with every single sentence you wrote here except for two:
"We are not our bodies. And we are not our minds."
We don't have bodies, we are our bodies and most definitely our minds. Not sure what you were trying to say here.
Also, the public doesn't understand that we know a lot about the genetic contribution to intelligence. There is an impressive body of evidence on this. The heritability of intelligence is 80%. Height, is 90%. Thank you for this post.
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Here's a post that makes everyone react lol. And because I'm part of everyone...
I do agree with you. It does make sense, fundamentally, that if you are recognized by your traits or capabilities that applies to both your physical body as well as your mind, in all their variants. What a lot of people is probably trying to argue here, and I must agree, is that you see people that accomplished nothing in life except for starring in a reality show. And I do mean a pure, petty, low life reality show. This may be an extreme example, but the underlying point remains. But as I said, I agree with your post. And if people think about it in a rational unbiased way, they'll probably end up realizing that too.
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Even if concepts such as free will and individual responsibility aren't real, they're still useful approximations when designing social institutions to incentivize productive behavior.
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I disagree with your analysis. There is no scientific evidence that anyone is born with a better brain. It is the logical steps and rational analysis that makes people exceptional. Do you think @ned or @dan was born with some extra brain power? Nopes. They have the same brain as of you and me, but they used it properly to create this beautiful Steem platform. Hence, they earned it.
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Doctor here- The heritability of intelligence is 80%. Here's a review article from molecular psychiatry: http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v20/n1/full/mp2014105a.html. Also, wikipedia managed to have an entire article on it despite there being "no scientific evidence": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_IQ.
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How do you define intelligence? Different IQ tests give different results of one person's IQ.
p.s. According to one such IQ test, Mark Karpeles had high IQ and he used to boast about it.
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The idea that genetics doesn't influence intelligence is a plain and simple overreaction to eugenics (which was indeed horrid). No scientists really believe that genetics is irrelevant to intelligence, though few are willing to risk researching and publishing on this sensitive topic for obvious reasons.
That genetics influences intelligence is obvious. We see it most obviously at the extremes--for instance numerous types of mental incapacity (like Down's Syndrome) are obviously genetically determined. And Einstein's brain was, in fact, physically different from your's and mine: http://earthsky.org/human-world/einsteins-brain-was-different-from-other-peoples
Furthermore, we know from intelligence tests that certain genetically similar types of people (I wont' use the word "racial groups" because the concept of race has no scientific basis), even when raised in different parts of the world, share measurable similarities in intelligence "on the average". For instance, Ashkenazi Jews (wherever they have been raised in the world) score higher on average on intelligence tests than any other genetically similar group. Certain Asian demographics score higher also.
Some argue that these measured differences in test results are cultural rather than genetic. Even though that's incredibly doubtful for the reasons just noted, it still doesn't undermine my point since being born to a specific culture is no less random than being born with certain genes. Perhaps Ashkenazi Jews demonstrate better aptitude on intelligence tests on average only for cultural reasons. So what? Given that none of us "earn" the right to be born an Ashkenazi Jew, it doesn't matter in terms of undermining my thesis that none of us have "earned" our intelligence anymore than our beauty.
Even if culture and genetics are completely irrelevant and it all comes down to how your were taught or raised by your parents and teachers, it stil doesn't undermine my argument. Since we don't "choose" or "earn" our parents or teachers, intelligence is still a matter of "luck". None of us "deserve" our parents or teachers, good or bad.
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Steven Pinker (Harvard Psychology Professor) gives a fascinating talk on - "Jews, Genes and Intelligence."
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A Jew patting Jews in a lecture at Institute for Jewish Research is a very credible source of truth! Such fascinating... Much WoW.
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Ever heard of the logical fallacy called ad hominem? You just did it. So nobody with a brain will buy into your "logic".
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I've made a mistake engaging with people like you. My apologies.
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This video is amazing an chock full of great facts and stats. Thanks for sharing it!
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nope if, then STEEMPOWER of course :P
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@summon not sure what you are trying to say here? Perhaps you could clarify.
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Intelligence you have to develop and nurture. It is hard work, people respect that.
If you were born beautiful it was pure chance, and it takes only basic maintenance to keep that going. It does not take hard work, and people do not respect that.
Do you respect the bratty offspring who inherited a fortune? Do you respect that persons wealth?
Yeah, me neither.
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What @faddat said. Neither beauty nor intelligence mean much (as far as earning a living goes) until one is older, and by that time both must have been developed and nurtured to be effective. Take the photo in my original post above as example. The woman in that photo is 47 years old. Yes, she was born with good genes that gave her the POTENTIAL to have a model's body, but she works incredibly hard to develop and nurture what "God" gave her. Her diet is incredibly disciplined. She does cardio, weights and yoga religiously. And, to be honest, she invests a significant amount of money in maintenance--hair coloring, laser procedures, facials, skin care, etc.
In short, intelligence takes no more development and nurture than beauty does, at least for those with a little age on them.
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God is a creation of the brain, not a creation of a beautiful body. We are what we are because of our brains.
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No, you're not born beautiful. It doesn't work that way. Beauty comes from being well taken care of by your parents and then taking good care of yourself. Dude, that takes work, @karnal.
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It might be because to make use of that brain you have to study for years, and of top of that they have to work hard.
E.g. somebody whom you might call a genius coder probably spent 15 years studying and practicing before he got any economic benefit exploiting his brain. Nobody was born with innate knowledge of programming/science/business etc.
On the other hand, beauty is natural. You don't have to work hard to attain it. Stuff you listed are largely optional. People who are naturally not very attractive have to compensate it with good make up and so on.
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Neither beauty nor intelligence mean much (as far as earning a living goes) until one is older, and by that time both must have been developed and nurtured to be effective. Take the photo in my original post above as example. The woman in that photo is 47 years old. Yes, she was born with good genes that gave her the POTENTIAL to have a model's body, but she works incredibly hard to develop and nurture what "God" gave her. Her diet is incredibly disciplined. She does cardio, weights and yoga religiously. And, to be honest, she invests a significant amount of money in maintenance--hair coloring, laser procedures, facials, skin care, etc.
In short, intelligence takes no more development and nurture than beauty does, at least for those with a little age on them. The idea that beauty is purely natural, and that the beautiful don't have to work incredibly hard to be and stay beautiful, is a slander.
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I accept that people put effort into preserving/enhancing their natural beauty, however, I personally do not value these things.
I don't mind if a 47 year old looks older than a 30 year old, and I despise the whole 'beauty industry' of laser prcedures, facials, skin care products and so on. I don't believe these contribute to the betterment of either the individual or humankind.
I have to accept that others with a different value system may admire or reward such things but it doesn't change my opinion.
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I understand. I just have one question: What do you value then? And why do you value it over, say, beauty? I imagine its because you view what you value to be more "deserved" or more "earned". That's the attitude I'm trying to challenge in his post. However, if what you appreciate is merely a matter of personal preference and your esteem for it is purely just because it pleases you subjectively, and not because you deem it to be objectively more worthy, then I'm in total agreement. Everyone is free to appreciate whatever strikes his fancy, and to disregard anything the doesn't.
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I value a lot of things. Philosophy, sciences, arts, self-exploration and spirituality come to mind first.
The reason I value these things has nothing to do with how much effort is put into them. It's just that these areas are more aligned with what I believe human life should be about. Search for answers as to why, where and who we are, interaction and expression of both rational thoughts and subconscious experiences.
As opposed to this, artificatial beauty enhancement to me seems like an attempt to defy nature and a rabbit hole of social pressure. Our society has embraced certain expectations of beauty and women feel pressured to try and meet these expectations. I believe spending hours a day doing one's hair, putting on make up or wearing obviously uncomfortable shoes and so on are neither enjoyable nor beneficial, therefore I don't consider it valuable.
But in the end, value is subjective. Just remember that value is not necessarily assigned based on effort.
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You were talking about someone who was "born with beauty". If you were born with it, chances are you will still be beautiful by the time you're 18. So you can start your career without doing much.
Looking good when you're 40+ is another story. I don't think that it's typical to start you career when you're 40+, so I don't think that's relevant to the discussion.
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This is something that I've spent quite a lot of time thinking about. I agree with your take on it. I like to push it a bit further and acknowledge the role that race, gender, and socio-economic status play. People don't deserve credit or blame for the impact that those have on their lives either. If we are to deconstruct all those realities in the way you have approached this post, it's hard to justify things like wealth and income inequality, for example. Social stratification is the result of a sorting process directed by those with the most power. I think part of cutting each other some slack is to do everything we can to create a more equal society.
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I very much agree @bacchist. Life is far more a matter of luck than our egos like to suppose.
However, I would push back on want point you make: That the luck factor makes differences in wealth and income inequality less "justifiable". I agree in part and disagree in part.
If you've never read Nassim Taleb's books The Black Swan and AntiFragile, I strongly recommend them. They go to great lengths to show that most life's outcomes are far more random than we suppose--and that we regularly rationalize away this randomness via after-the-fact explanations that make it "seem" like people "earned" their reward for innovation. One possible takeaway from this is that, since nobody "earns" their reward, there's no basis for large variations in rewards.
But Taleb contends otherwise using market-based economies and centrally planned economies as an example. Let's suppose, that some innovation that really benefits human society--like the glue used by Post-It Notes, for example--was discovered as a matter of "luck" rather than true innovation (and, actually, it was, and frankly most great innovations were). In which economy would the Post-It Note most likely be stumbled upon--a market-based economy where risk taking and experimentation is rewarded financially, or a centrally planned one where a few decision makers at the top direct the efforts of everyone below? Obviously, the latter. The market economy is decentralized, or "open source". Consequently, more people are "rolling the dice". More people rolling more dices increases the odds of one of them hitting jackpot. And when they do, they gain an outsized benefit, but all of society benefits also.
Take away the reward for risk taking and experimenting, as centrally planned economies do, and innovation slows to a crawl.
The word entrepreneur means simply "risk taker". And it's that risk taking that decentralized, market-based systems reward. It's not the discovery or the "creation" of the innovation itself--for that was mostly a matter of dumb luck.
The Steem system actually works the same way. Rewards for the most popular posts are "outsized". Because they are outsized, they encourage people to strive for them--they encourage posting and creativity, for example. They encourage people to take time to write quality content (by which I mean content that they think users will want to see).
But the Steem "winners" didn't "earn" their reward at the end of the day. Most of their winning was a function of "luck"--the right whale happened to subtle upon their post and upvote it at a convenient moment, causing others to see it and upvote it also. And yet, if beacause of that we developed a more "equal" distribution of Steem rewards, we'd actually see posting and innovation and effort decline precipitously.
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I don't really find this a compelling argument at all.
Entrepreneur is not simply a "risk taker." It is a very specific sort of risk taking that we consider entrepreneurial. Specifically it is the risk taking of a person with capital or access to capital.
Construction workers take very real risks every day by showing up to work. They risk bodily injury or death in many cases. But his sort of risk taking isn't called entrepreneurship and the market system certainly isn't offering them outsized rewards for their risk.
I don't think it's possible to have an honest discussion about the merits of a capitalist market system without acknowledging the role of class.
I also reject the idea that the only alternative to a profit-driven market economy is central planning, but that's probably beyond the scope of this conversation...
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Yeah, and I know lots of people who just coast by in life and rely on their looks to get them through. Well, looks fade, and then whatcha got?
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Divorced living in a trailer, with a bad attitude. :D
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I know a lot of people, professional atheletes as an obvious example, who just "coast by" in life and rely on their brawn and athleticism. Well, brawn and athleticism fade, and then what they got?
I know others who coast by on intelligence. And then even it fades, or their particular area of expertise becomes unneeded thanks to technological advances, and then what they got?
There's really no difference between beauty, brawn and intelligence.
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So the moral of that story is not to rely on one aspect for too long, and try to have a well-rounded skill set.
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That's certainly one moral. Another is to exploit every advantage you can while you can, cause it won't last forever.
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True words.
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I get what you are trying to say here but I don't think it is going to change things. Our society only values people based on certain traits and they are to some degree considered responsible for their traits whether they are genetic or not. I don't think that is going to change any time soon.
It is a fascinating discussion to have though. I would like to give an example of something quite close to what you are saying.
I think it is similar to the concept of using performance enhancing drugs as being cheating in sport. If you are someone with inferior genetic potential and use drugs to level the playing field why is that cheating? You didn't choose your genetics any more than the other people competing did.
You still have to put in the training and the work. Yet it is considered cheating. However if you had genes that gave you abnormally high levels of testosterone or growth hormone or erythropoetin that would not be considered cheating.
It is an interesting thought experiment.
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I don't fully agree. Why people give more weight to intelligence is because it has to be applied. Attractive people can be attractive with no work at all, we have seen this. This is why we revere theoretical physicists and savvy businessmen, who have the greater advantage over hot models. And why hot models almost never end up with someone hot.
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We are unexceptional. We are borg.
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Speak for yourself, I am the chosen one! I took the red pill :D
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Everyone has a brain and can develop it, not everyone has boobs and a pretty face. 99% of girls are ugly as hell and can't earn money by just posting selfies like hotties are doing. So no, being hot is not what i would call something that you earned. And ugly girls are not getting up voted as much as pretty ones, that's a fact.
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Not everyone has a decent brain, and not all of those who do are born into circumstances where they can develop it. Quite the contrary.
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I don't agree at all. Unless you have a medical condition everyone has a brain that works the same way. Let's take out the extremes from the equation.
I know someone from Congo who lived in the most precarious conditions possible, still he managed to become someone and to open a multitude of startups. His brain is not different than the brain of any normal living person. It's not a "brain" problem, it's more a "seize opportunity attitude".
That guy understands that to change his life he has to take risks sometimes and try to seize opportunities, so he did. He started by going to an internet cafe in Congo, using what money he has left after work, he looked around for weeks until he found out that he could make some money online by writing articles. So he did.
After a while he was managing a company of 100 employees. That dude came from nowhere. Anyone can do it. I know his story because i'm the first person that employed him, i asked him who he was and what he was doing, he told me that everyday he came to the internet cafe to try to find a way to make a living and i gave him his chance, he was good, i needed more articles, so he employed his friends and so on.
Today he is managing a restaurant too. Is he smarter than you ? Not he's not, but he has balls to do things. If it fails it doesn't matter, try again until it works. You on the other hand, you are telling us that you earned your pretty face. Let me tell you that most girls are ugly and can't make a living posting their selfies. It's a bad thing to tell people that's it's ok to earn a living by doing nothing else than having a pretty face. We all should be trying to do our best in life.
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Brains are not the same. I can say with absolute certainty that my brain is not as...adept...as Einsten's. IQ's range from very low, say 70, to very high, say 140. Why? Different brains.
I know a girl from Somalia who lived in the most precarious conditions possible, still she managed to become someone. A very famous model. She ended up marrying David Bowie. She took risks and she exploited her looks (and brains) like your guy eploited his brains and his ambition.
She understood that to change her life she had to take risks sometimes and to seize opportunities. She started small.
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https://steemit.com/news/@metrox/wow-african-startup-incubator-announce-3-groundbreaking-technologies-i-share
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I completely agree with your conclusions and will take them a step further. You are correct, we do not deserve credit for how we are made, God does.
Psalm 139:13-14
Genesis 1:26-27
God has created all of mankind in His image. Granted, by our own actions we have sinned against Him and allowed evil to rule our world (we can get into that at a later time). I try view every person as an image bearer of God. Some are physically beautiful, others are intelligent, nurturing, empathetic, selfless, and many more, all by nature. Sure, I can train myself to be more empathetic just like someone can go to the gym to lose weight, or go to school to increase their knowledge, but some people are simply born with an aptitude towards certain things. We need to teach our children that there is value in every person, regardless of whether they provide value to you.
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I'm actually writing a book called "Redeeming Christ" that undermines most of what you say above. I've published the first couple chapters already on my Steemit blog, though I've not really gotten into the substance yet. Much more to come.
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Great article. Everyone has a hidden talent. Many of those talents start as a seed and need to be nurtured to their full potential.
On an unrelated note, when did @steemed-open get her tattoo? She appears to still be a blank canvas in this pic.
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Years ago. I used to photoshop it out on occasion for the sake of anonymity, but she and I no longer feel the need for that. So you'll see a mix of photos, some with and some without.
She intends to post soon about her tattoos.
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Will she mention Diastasis Recti?
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Yes, I think so. That was definitely an issue for her, though less so than for Corrine. Cindy's main issue was loose skin, which lead to a tummy tuck, which led to a large scar, which lead to the tattoos. But Diastasis Recti was definitely an issue for her too.
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Was that photo taken at Canyon Lake?
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Is that near Tortilla Flat, Arizona? If so, then yes!
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Yes, it is. That is awesome.
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was in AZ near Sedona. I don't recall the name of the lake.
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Some people want to experience the world while others are content with having the world experience them.
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I like your post.
I want to add, that beauty is a more fleeting value and usually only benefits the individual.
Intelligence can benefit society as a whole.
I think that's why it's more respected.
There are a lot of sad, lonely women, who believed they 'earned' their way in the world, but have come to realise that they only had their looks work for them.
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I totally disagree. Beauty does not only benefit the individual. Beauty is hugely important to society. A world with no beauty is desolate. A world of intelligence but no beauty is the world of the Borg.
There are a lot of sad, lonely professional athletes, or laborers, who believed they "earned" their way in the world, but have come to realize that they only had their now-failing physical capabilities work for them. There are a lot of sad, lonely intellectuals who believed they "earned" their way in the world, but have come to realize that they only had their now-failing brains work for them.
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Well if you take my nuanced statements to the extreme of only intelligence and no beauty then of course you can strongly disagree with my 'borg' view.
The OP has a picture of a young beautiful girl in the header, mind you.
I didn't make this sexist.
The engineer, whos invention still works, long after his mental capabilities have faded, is more respected than a pretty young girl.
Telling young girls to not only rely on their beauty, but 'earn' their way is nothing to strongly disagree with.
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The "young girl" in the picture was in her mid-40's when it was taken. I'm glad you still consider that young!
I agree that young girls should not only rely on their beauty, but nor should they fail to exploit it while they can. I just disagree that by pursuing other things (like an education, for instance) they are "earning" it anymore than otherwise. They didn't earn their beauty, but they can cultivate it and exploit it. And they likewise didn't earn their intellectual aptitude, but they can do the same with it. Both are wise and equally "worthy".
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Well, she looks young in the picture - I didn't zoom in on it :)
I wouldn't advise a girl to exploit her beauty.
It creates a warped vision of reality.
It also affects men and their perception of women.
But that's just my opinion and I'm not telling anybody what to do, unless maybe if someone asked me.
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Just because people think someone is intelligent doesn't make them intelligent. Perfect example is the United States government.
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Brains can create value to society. Brains can create shleter, science, Gods. We, Humans, have evolved to become what we are because we have bigger and better brains than all other animals. Not because we were the cutest apes. Beauty is subjective and relative.
What kind of value a beautiful body can bring to society just by being beautiful?
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Seriously? I think the answer is self evident.
Beauty is not subjective and relative. We are hard wired to appreciate beauty (proportion) from the earliest ages. Study after study has confirmed this.
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So culture has no effect on how we perceive beauty? Anyway...this has nothing to do with the original argument.
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Interesting topic. But genes are inherited, not earned. Earning implies work and effort on your part.
If you came to this life with good looks, and it gives an advantage to you, good for you. And yes, there is a level of effort involved in staying fit healthy and in shape. But since much of it is out of control, for %95 of population, it is much better to develop core skills rather than superficial things like good looks.
There is some luck involved in everything. Since much in life is not an exact science. But good looks is like, having inherited millions of dollars from your parents, %100 luck. And smarts, hard work, and grit are, %99 hard work, %1 luck.
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You had me up till you last sentence. Ambition and smarts are equally a matter of "luck". Read my other comments above to get a better understanding why.
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"However, once we abandoned the illusion that we have an immaterial essence, as science suggests we should, " ... Those that agree with this should agree with all of what you have said. On the other hand, some may say your science is wrong.
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Both beauty and intelligence can be developed given enough time. Each one must determine what type of investment they want to make.
Beauty is about what a society thinks is attractive at any given period. In ancient times it used to be that fatter women with whiter skin was preferable compared to skinnier women or darker skin. Today we hear about tanning, about diets, all sort of stuff. One can work on those aspects, for sure. Makeup, training (fit body), hydration, proper color (not too tanned and not too white-ish) etc etc. And then you also have clothes to accompany the set.
Intelligence is typically equated with accumulated knowledge, so someone knowledgeable can be confused for someone intelligent. Whatever the case, knowledge can be built upon given the appropriate time investment. And intelligence can be cultivated to higher levels for those who understand what it is and how they can improve it.
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Excellent
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@sean-king, sometimes people will say Life is so unfair!
Well, it depends on the preference or perspective of an individual whether he/she values more the beauty or the eloquence of a person. And with that, we cannot judge them by doing that.
For me, as long as we are doing the morally right things,then it's their problem if they don't see who we are and what we do in life!
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I tend to agree with you. What deserves respect and recognition is how we use our "assets". Do we respect other people? Are we modest and considerate to people who have fewer assets? Do we try to help mankind as much as we can? This is the bottomline to me.
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