2023.02.17
Silicon Valley was born, a computer heartland that would be defined by the rivalry between two men: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. [...] Gates founded Microsoft, and hit the big time with the baffling, unofficial sequel to Ms. Pac-Man, called MS-DOS. Meanwhile, Jobs created the Apple Macintosh, the world's first inherently smug computer.
As early as the 1920s, researchers giving IQ tests to non-Westerners realized that any test of intelligence is strongly, if subtly, imbued with cultural biases... Samoans, when given a test requiring them to trace a route form point A to point B, often chose not the most direct route (the "correct" answer), but rather the most aesthetically pleasing one. Australian aborigines find it difficult to understand why a friend would ask them to solve a difficult puzzle and not help them with it. Indeed, the assumption that one must provide answers alone, without assistance from those who are older and wiser, is a statement about the culture-bound view of intelligence. Certainly the smartest thing to do, when face with a difficult problem, is to seek the advice of more experienced relatives and friends!I've had similar thoughts when I read about rich young assholes paying for smart poor kids to take tests for them. Like, yeah, it ABSOLUTELY sucks to reinforce the unfairness of the world especially in the places that are meant to reflect some level of meritocracy. But on the other hand, these assholes are probably going to be successful, since they have connections and understanding of the processes of the world.
