Poor Excuse For A Review.

[deathmetal]

When the reviewer shares with me not only what he or she liked, but also how the various elements and their interaction prompted his or her response, what went into the subject being reviewed, that offers me something of value.

I concur. A good review is both description (observation) and opinion, qualified mainly by revealing what the reviewer seeks in a blend.

 

[brian64]

Writing reviews doesn't take brains, knowledge or talent. Any idiot can write a review, and many idiots do.

Writing a good review does take brains, knowledge, and talent. That's why there are so few good reviewers.

Just thought you might want to know that according to the latest “social justice” lunacy, your comments would be considered offensive and discriminatory in that they reflect a “cognitive privilege” bias.

Newspaper editor says smart people have “cognitive privilege”
In an article published in The Daily Iowan late last month, author Dan Williams actually made the case that intelligence is a form of privilege, and that we should all be mindful that some weren’t born as smart as others. “We are living in a society in which success is increasingly linked to one’s intelligence,” Williams wrote. “This is not to say that intelligence is the only factor that is important. All that is implied is that below a certain threshold of intelligence, there are fewer and fewer opportunities.”
Williams continues, “These opportunities are being shifted upward to jobs that require heavier cognitive lifting or else are being replaced by robots. Thus, the accident of having been born smart enough to be able to be successful is a great benefit that you did absolutely nothing to earn. Consequently, you have nothing to be proud of for being smart.”
http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-08-12-brave-new-world-newspaper-editor-says-smart-people-have-cognitive-privilege-and-should-be-dumbed-down-in-the-name-of-social-justice.html

 

[sablebrush52]

Williams continues, “These opportunities are being shifted upward to jobs that require heavier cognitive lifting or else are being replaced by robots. Thus, the accident of having been born smart enough to be able to be successful is a great benefit that you did absolutely nothing to earn. Consequently, you have nothing to be proud of for being smart.”

Well, in a sense, he's right. Just being smart isn't an achievement if it's in the original design specs. How those smarts are developed and used is another matter. If he's suggesting that nothing one does in the way of developing one's potential counts, then he's thick as a plank and dismissable.

 

[mayfair70]

Good reviews are hard to come by. I like knowing someone's preferences when reading a review, as it tends to color their objectivity too. The OP review and others on the page Chasingembers shared were interesting to say the least. One review has me wondering if I should just start smoking random farm animals.
The social justice lunacy is just lunacy. Last time I checked, no one at the The Daily Iowan had anything to say of any value to me. It is good to see that is still the case.

 

[brian64]

Well, in a sense, he's right. Just being smart isn't an achievement if it's in the original design specs.

I would agree that at least some degree of our intelligence is likely determined by birth, but I don’t agree with the old notion that we’re born with a set IQ that doesn’t change (and of course IQ is not the only measure of intelligence).
IMO much of the seeming epidemic of idiocy these days is the result of other factors. Such as the abysmal state of the public school system...and just mental laziness in general. Book reading is becoming almost as rare as pipe smoking.

 

[johnbarleycorn]

@mayfair - I read a good review of Penzance once. Seems like it involved cannibalism and sex. It was probably not fit for public viewing. But I totally understood where the reviewer was coming from.

 

[aldecaker]

Goes back to "All men may be created equal, but that sure as hell doesn't last long."

 

[mayfair70]

Johnbarleycorn - :rofl: I think I wrote that one. :crazy:

 

[johnbarleycorn]

It was very descriptive.

 

[deathmetal]

I don’t agree with the old notion that we’re born with a set IQ that doesn’t change (and of course IQ is not the only measure of intelligence).

Best evidence suggests 80% heritable, with the rest being mostly an ability to maximize but also a great sensitivity to damage (e.g. starve and beat a smart kid and you get a less-smart kid). IQ does not change over your lifetime. IQ is not designed as a measurement of intelligence -- the term there is g -- but potential for intelligence, i.e. the mechanics of the brain and not the more abstract definition of intelligence, which is the organization of that potential.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Black Frigate did entice me with the name and tin art. Twenty years after discovering it, still smoking it."
Duane, that must have been one heck of a large tin then :rofl:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[brian64]

Best evidence suggests 80% heritable

There seems to be a lot of controversy about it. I certainly don’t know for certain, but I remain skeptical that 80% is heritable...but maybe it is.

 

[thomasw]

I tend to read only the reviews from Jim[Inks], DK and Pipestud.

Those are some of my favourite reviewers, too. I'd add DeathMetal to that list, as his reviews are perspicacious and often contain very effective analogies to make his point.
One thing they have in common is that, as sablebrush mentioned in his comment, they tend to avoid merely personal taste assertions, instead for the most part they write with a focus to relay factual details. Further, where appropriate, they write about the background to a blend so that one can understand what it has become in the present day.
I've read a few reviews written in a narrative form (relaying a story) which can be both informative and entertaining, but that form is a very challenging method through which to relay factual details. Sometimes boring old expository form just works...

 

[saltedplug]

The review is over-the-top, but the reviewer acknowledges this by admitting that he threw the tin away after one bowl. His comment about parrots is obviously an attempt at humor, or if not, humorous to me. If I came across it on Tobaccoreviews I think I'd chuckle. Now if this was all I had to say, I would neither write nor post it. But since the writer is at pains to tell us that the review isn't serious, why do so?

 

[sablebrush52]

On the subject of IQ or number of cylinders under the hood:
Some of the dumbest people I've met are smart.

 

[warren]

Amen to that!

 

[danielplainview]

I prefer Ferrari to Lamborghini. Lamborghini's are garbage.
Check please.
A few years ago I was given a boatload of tobacco from a manufacturer. The only catch, writing reviews for each blend. I made clear if a blend wasn't in my wheelhouse. I still tried to give a fair and honest opinion.

 

[deathmetal]

Every reviewer has some people who follow them for the 180 rule: whatever they think, do the opposite!
@thomasw: thank you for reading

 

[brian64]

Some of the dumbest people I've met are smart.

Interesting.
Similarly, some of the smartest people I’ve met tend to have poor discernment.
But then this part of the galaxy just seems to be be steeped in paradox and irony.

 

[sablebrush52]

Similarly, some of the smartest people I’ve met tend to have poor discernment.

Exactly, which is why some of the dumbest people I've met are smart.