there is no objective way to measure intelligence there's a wealth of scholarship about how IQ and the SATs are better indicators of "having privilege" than "being intelligent"
Show this thread
when you actually try to pin down what some sort of inherent "intelligence" is vs "has learned some stuff, addresses ignorance" It becomes clear that intelligence is a social construct That is used to maintain privilege and also oppress others
-
-
-
Additionally, the racist/ableist fear-mongering about how "crack babies" are born with "lower IQ" and cognitive disability Has been shown to be the result of poverty and prolonged stress on the human brainhttps://www.deseretnews.com/article/865602264/Cocaine-doesnt-cause-brain-damage-studies-find-poverty-does.html …
Show this thread -
A lot of our cultural obsession with "high intelligence" and even IQ tests themselves Is rooted in Social Darwinism and the eugenics movement "jokes" like the Darwin Awards directly reference our history of forced sterilization based on "intelligence" http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/html/eugenics/static/themes/39.html …
Show this thread -
Someone can clearly be ignorant of knowledge, information, facts, etc Or have cognitive disabilities that affect one's ability to learn and synthesize new information But when you poke it, "genius" and "intelligence" ... Are things we made up and ideas we perpetuate
Show this thread -
Past-me would hate this thread because when I was younger, I based a lot of my identity around being "smart" or "intelligent" Largely because people kept telling me I was, and I didn't question it
Show this thread -
But if you've read anything about what happens to "Gifted" kids as we get older You'll know that ideas of "intelligence" also harm kids who are labeled as "Gifted" or "smart" from a young age
Show this thread -
For a long time, I actually *didn't know how* to make mistakes I was labeled as "Gifted" so many times, and I felt that making mistakes was incompatible with this I held myself to an impossibly high standard of perfectionism, of learning things perfectly my first try
Show this thread -
This has all become a big mood since I started trying not to use ableist slurs for cognitive disability ("stupid", "moron", etc) And realized that consistently praising things as "smart" was tied up in my impulse to label things I dislike "stupid"
Show this thread -
Social constructs (such as intelligence, race, money) still carry real world impact, even though they are a product of our collective imagination. I invite you to question how these social constructs impact your own biases and actions, as well as structural inequalities.
Show this thread -
Big shout out of appreciation to
@EbThen , whose work writing about why ableist slurs are harmful encouraged me to work on my cognitive ableism and write this threadhttps://twitter.com/EbThen/status/979189463468396545?s=19 …
Here is the specific meta-thread on this. It's actually a sub-meta-thread. I have that much content.
“#EbMetaThread On Ableist Slurs” by@EbThen https://twitter.com/i/moments/915075910746898432 …Show this threadShow this thread -
If you're interested in working on your own use of ableist language,
@disabilisaur has written a handy guide on how to tell if something is ableist languagehttps://twitter.com/disabilisaur/status/1002694242018451458?s=19 …Show this thread -
When I first came out, I spent a lot of time telling people that if what they meant by "that's so gay" is "that's stupid", then they should just say the second one I feel kinda personally responsible to help work on our ableist language and encourage non-oppressive alternatives
Show this thread -
The point of working on ableist language is not to "ban" certain words It's to learn how MUCH of our language (s) are full of ableist slurs "Tone deaf" as an insult. See also: "Blind to"; "crippled by"; "crazy". It helps us learn HOW MUCH of society is steeped in ableism
Show this thread -
Sure, anyone can spot that "mocking disabled journalist" Serge Kowalski is bad But always referring to Mr Kowalski as "the disabled journalist mocked by Trump" is also a form of ableism So are the continued efforts to repeal the ACA
Show this thread -
[eugenics] The more we normalize that cognitive disability is inherently negative through casual use of ableist slurs (eg "stupid") The more we end up with attitudes that feed modern eugenics movementshttps://qz.com/1056810/the-disturbing-eugenics-like-reality-unfolding-in-iceland/ …
Show this thread -
The more we normalize that cognitive disability is inherently negative through casual use of ableist slurs (eg "stupid") The more we feed the anti-vaxxer's attitudes that it's better to *risk their child's life* than for their kid to be Autistic
Show this thread -
I've seen leftist people (on here and elsewhere) dismiss ableist language as unimportant or "a distraction from real problems" These tend to be the same people who dismiss disability justice or accessibility as "a fringe issue" These attitudes are interconnected
Show this thread -
What can you do? - work on unlearning your own use of ableist slurs - help educate your able friends and family on ableism and ableist slurs - believe disabled people when we tell you something is inaccessible or ableist - listen to disabled people and signal boost us
Show this thread -
Support organizations led by disabled people PAY disabled people for our work and activism Don't support paternalistic organizations (remember : "nothing about us, without us" as a helpful rule of thumb)https://twitter.com/UntoNuggan/status/1005207179375374336?s=19 …
Show this thread -
Get loud about the ACA, again.https://twitter.com/UntoNuggan/status/1005178246097506306?s=19 …
Show this thread -
This thread has started attracting "free speech absolutionists" so again : No one is making a list of "banned words" or censoring your speech. (Srsly if I had that kind of power, do you think the ACA would be in jeopardy?) Just : don't be a jerk, choose not-ableist words.
Show this thread -
My hobby is using my BA in history to find out all the gross ways ableism is casually normalized in everyday words and phrases.https://twitter.com/UntoNuggan/status/1005254839943745537?s=19 …
Show this thread -
I've created a blog post from this thread with some slight additions and modifications for clarity. You can find it here:http://liminalnest.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/intelligence-is-a-myth-on-deconstructing-the-roots-of-cognitive-ableism/ …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.