tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post738178915410351573..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: It Was My Understanding There Would Be No MathAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-65959197927781612872011-04-22T17:34:37.175-04:002011-04-22T17:34:37.175-04:00When I took the SAT in 1973, it was in 10-point in...When I took the SAT in 1973, it was in 10-point increments. I've always scored just about exactly the same in V and M, by the way, which may explain why I spent the first half of my life as a liberal and the second half as a conservative.<br /><br />I've noticed lately a tendency of people on liberal comments boards to announce that they can't continue an argument with me because I "lack empathy."Texan99https://www.blogger.com/profile/10479561573903660086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-64353724185360826872011-04-20T23:32:21.515-04:002011-04-20T23:32:21.515-04:00That is most likely. I was trying to research the...That is most likely. I was trying to research the history of the SAT last night to see when the increment change might have occurred, but my best guess is that it was sometime in the mid-70s (1974 or 1975), because there were a few other changes made then, too.Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279716810659531943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-44314388520278824162011-04-20T17:16:43.930-04:002011-04-20T17:16:43.930-04:00So whatever Obama's scores were, they would be...So whatever Obama's scores were, they would be in ten-point increments; but not Bush, Kerry, or Gore (necessarily).Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-70185758404231423712011-04-20T00:28:00.594-04:002011-04-20T00:28:00.594-04:00AVI, the 10 point increments were already in effec...AVI, the 10 point increments were already in effect when my sister took the SAT (1979 or 1980) and when I took it a few years after that. So the 10 point increments must have started in the 70s.Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279716810659531943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-5156793901575609012011-04-17T18:08:27.192-04:002011-04-17T18:08:27.192-04:00Gringo, he was clearly telling the truth--the abil...Gringo, he was clearly telling the truth--the ability (and especially the tendency to) think ahead about what is going on now, or is likely to, IS a right wing trait. Which is why raising taxes and spending more comes naturally to leftists, and why they are always surprised (and unexpectedly so) to find that raising taxes on the rich results in lower receipts and the rich moving away. Unexpectedly!Sam L.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-28782128836190443502011-04-16T20:16:45.690-04:002011-04-16T20:16:45.690-04:00An anecdote follows of the numbers gap between the...An anecdote follows of the numbers gap between the two sides. When I started grad school back in the eighties, after being laid off, I made a comment to a roommate who was a grad student in the social sciences. He went on to get a Ph.D. at Stanford, and is now a professor in ____ Studies.<br /><br />I pointed out with the then current tax code, and with inflation still strong, that inflation could result in your income not increasing in real terms but with your being pushed into a higher tax bracket.<br /><br />"That's a very right wing thing to say," was the reply.<br /><br />I thought to myself, if using my mind makes me a right winger, so be it.<br /><br />At the time, I considered myself to be of the left, but such innumeracy indicates why I became a right winger.Gringonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-78255071052913923242011-04-16T15:27:53.078-04:002011-04-16T15:27:53.078-04:00The ten-point increments are recent. My 1970 SAT ...The ten-point increments are recent. My 1970 SAT scores ended in a 6 and a 7. I don't know when they changed, but it may have been at the renorming in 1995. (Pre 1995, SAT's were worth about 50 points more.)Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-50243614398774144232011-04-16T14:31:20.459-04:002011-04-16T14:31:20.459-04:00With regard to your discussion of SAT scores, I al...With regard to your discussion of SAT scores, I always have to wonder where people come up with these reports of scores such as 566 Verbal. There's no such score on the SAT, since the scores are all in 10 point increments, and that was true at least as far back as the 70s. If they had single point or even five point increments in scores in the 60s, it is news to me, but it also makes me wonder why they would have used a scale from 200 - 800 for each part of the test if they were going to issue scores in such small increments.Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14279716810659531943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-25928423579132114172011-04-15T20:53:27.271-04:002011-04-15T20:53:27.271-04:00"I am also recalling Ilya Somin’s observation..."I am also recalling Ilya Somin’s observation about clergy – word people – making comments about economics without knowing much. I made related comments a few years ago. (Beware: copithorne in the comments.)"<br /><br />Voting as in "The middle class is instructed to vote money away from rich people to give to poor people. That’s the Jesus way!" is robbing Peter to pay Paul, and Jose, and Veronica, and...<br /><br />As is said elsewhere, millionaires who think they don't pay enough in taxes can throw in more if they want to, but usually they don't want to. They seem to think I should, however.Sam L.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-37478412545991746052011-04-15T20:40:20.382-04:002011-04-15T20:40:20.382-04:00The wordy people seem to love elocution and baffle...The wordy people seem to love elocution and bafflegab. Their grasp on words is good; less so is their grasp of the reality those words describe.Sam L.noreply@blogger.com