it hasn’t but it has been promoted as a predictor of success in education, work and life. The Bell Curve famously claimed that higher IQ people were more likely to finish education, stay in work, stay out of prison and stay married.

“If you zoom in on an upward trend, it looks smaller. I am very smart. A genius, even”

This is literally the same conversation therapy approach they use against gay people lol* the idea is that people believe they’re gay because they are insecure about not being traditionally masculine or feminine enough (usually due to a bad relationship with their parents) and if they just learn how to be masc enough/fem enough then they’ll be able to be heterosexual.

*kill me now

They bought this house and the one next door for $575,000; they allow their neighbours to live in the second house rent free, in exchange for childcare.

Seems normal !

Wow, these people have not planned anything at all. They’re going to homeschool all 7+ kids? And go into politics, a job that infamously has long, unsociable hours?

I live in Ireland and these companies keep trying to build data centres here even though they are using way too much of our energy as is :)) From an Irish environmental org:

A few years ago when researching new gas power stations in Ireland, we noticed that many of these developments were being proposed alongside another type of infrastructure: data centres. […] As of June 2023, there are 82 operational data centres in Ireland, with another 14 under construction. Additionally, 40 data centres have had planning permission approved with another 12 awaiting a decision. […] Data centres account for 18% of all electricity use in Ireland […] This is putting unprecedented strain on the electricity grid, with grid operator Eirgrid estimating that data centres may account for up to 27% of Ireland’s electricity demand by 2028. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) in Ireland has noted a risk of rolling electricity blackouts…

I think it was Upton Sinclair who said “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it”. I’ve never studied history or philosophy, but I think it’s clear that if someone’s class interests require burning the world down, they will do it. They are doing it - we are doing it - with regret, with sympathy, with an appreciation of the ironies. We don’t need a greater appreciation of Heidegger, we need real-world social restraints on the behaviour of the powerful.

Our entire economy since the 80s has been reliant on neo-colonial relationships with multinational companies unfortunately

We’re actually having a housing crisis at the moment (like everywhere else) so I dunno about property prices…I think it’s the extremely receptive attitude of the Irish government.

Yeah imo Ireland has never had a left-wing government, we tend towards right-populist/right centrist/neoliberal. “Stable but shit” is how I described it to my brother just this hour gone while discussing politics. We’re currently seeing the beginnings of an organized racist right as well