Booksthatmakeyoudumb

Booksthatmakeyoudumb is an interesting study of the correlation between SAT scores and favorite books listed on facebook. Virgil Griffith created it and posted it online. Interestingly enough, the books I most enjoy fell near the higher end of SAT scores, and books I really despise fell toward the lower end. The data is quite intriguing to peruse, but I do have some problems with it. First, the data is collected through the favorite books at a specific institution where the mean SAT score is reported, so my relative 'smartness' is filtered through Shippensburg's SAT scores which are actually a heck of a lot lower than my personal scores. Second, the books you list as your favorite books may just be what feel like you have to write down for social and/or other reasons. For example, indicating you like a certain classic could make you appear more well-read simply because it is popular, but you really think it is crap. Also, I love how listing "The Holy Bible" is akin to being dumber than the people who list "I don't Read."

Anyways, just go visitBooksthatmakeyoudumb an decide for yourself.

On a related note, I just read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez this past Christmas vacation. It is full of poetic writing, style, and a fast paced, uniquely thought-out action. I had meant to read it for the longest time, because I heard it was so good, and I was not disappointed. I loved it, although I have not added it to my favorites in my facebook profile yet. Now I'm glad to know I enjoy books that do not make me dumb, but rather smart, very very smart. One Hundred Years of Solitude was the second 'smartest' book in the booksthatmakeyou dumb study. Yay me.

PS. I don't honestly believe that reading books of any type or caliber can make you dumb. In fact, if you feel dumber after reading a book, it means that you got smarter because you learned more about yourself, about writing in general, and about how to craft a story better than that moron's that you just read.

Goats in Trees and Everlasting Storms

When I went to Morocco I didn't see the goats in the trees. This upsets me. Look how cool it is.

"The goats climb them because they like to eat the fruit of the argan tree, which is similar to an olive. Farmers actually follow the herds of goats as they move from tree to tree. Not because it is so strange to see goats in trees and the farmers like to point and stare, but because the fruit of the tree has a nut inside, which the goats can't digest, so they spit it up or excrete it which the farmers collect. The nut contains 1-3 kernels, which can be ground to make argan oil used in cooking and cosmetics. This oil has been collected by the people of the region for hundreds of years, but like many wild and useful things these days, the argan tree is slowly disappearing due to over-harvesting for the tree's wood and overgrazing by goats. "

7 Incredible Natural Phenomena you've never seen

The "Relámpago del Catatumbo" is pretty interesting too.

"Located on the mouth of the Catatumbo river at Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela), the phenomenon is a cloud-to-cloud lightning that forms a voltage arc more than five kilometre high during 140 to 160 nights a year, 10 hours a night, and as many as 280 times an hour. This almost permanent storm occurs over the marshlands where the Catatumbo River feeds into Lake Maracaibo and it is considered the greatest single generator of ozone in the planet..."