Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 August 6

= August 6 =

How long should I wait to answer a potential landlord' email reply?
On Craigslist I asked how much are the utilities/yr last night (9:40). They answered 8 minutes after the office probably opened. I wanna ask if they have an upper. I asked if they still had one bedrooms the last of the month and apparently they are out. Maybe I should add that I don't like to hear footsteps so they don't think my ability to pay their 2 bdrms hinges on how much the heat is. (I wouldn't take a lower, though I do like taking the the lower's waste heat). I want to see the other 3 reply with the address and heat cost and visit first but I'd pay whatever's the best that day. I could always bear my relatives a while longer, though, I'm not desperate to accept. They're not luxury, I'd say they're utilitarian or utilitarian plus but the paint is new, or not old. If something I didn't add is important then I can provide that. Also, how long is too long without an explanation, in case the Internet goes out? (My brain doesn't have my email password anymore, only the desktop) 68.173.121.143 (talk) 19:18, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * I conjecture that somewhere there is a reader that has a clue what that question is about. That reader is not me. --ColinFine (talk) 21:10, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * It sounds like you are far enough along in the process to get their phone number and call them or get their address and actually show up. In my experience, you notice things when you visit you would never think to ask, like "Are you next to a smelly landfill ?". StuRat (talk) 21:37, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Reasons why India is in such bad shape?
Look at this post which cogently summarizes problems in India. Why is this? What genes or possible causes can make such a situation possible?74.14.75.23 (talk) 23:49, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * It has nothing to do with genes. People born in India have no biological predisposition towards negative traits than any other person in the world.  See Corruption in India, however, for what is often cited as a major barrier to economic prosperity in what is the second most populous nation on earth.  See also This article in the Economist and this article in Forbes and this one from Harvard University all of which basically agree that political corruption is the major roadblock that keeps India from becoming a major world economic power.  -- Jayron  32  00:02, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * But how would "political corruption" explain away this?74.14.75.23 (talk) 04:34, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * What do you think public sanitation was like in London 400 or 500 years ago? Are you familiar with Bubonic plague which killed 25 million people in Europe when populations were much lower? India has problems as does every country on Earth. India is rapidly modernizing but has a long way to go. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  04:48, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Effective governance is necessary to establish public sanitation, efficient legal systems, and to educate the public in the needs thereof. Corruption in the form of cronyism, rampant bribery, etc. gets in the way of effective governance.  More to the point, who's going to build the sanitation system?  Ultimately, it takes the government to do so, and if they don't work well, nothing will.  -- Jayron  32  11:28, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

one reason is India plays democracy when what she needs is a benevolent dictatorship to drag the people out of pre-modernity, filth, familism, superstition, bad treatment of women etc. Asmrulz (talk) 15:05, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Perhaps you can go to India and appoint yourself its "benevolent dictator". We will see how that goes. If you don't want to do that, work on removing that log from your eye. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  05:10, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Simple. Someone was cursed, centuries ago, and didn't tell anyone. Same as everywhere. InedibleHulk (talk) 06:58, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * wat Asmrulz (talk) 15:05, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * We can't know. If we can't know, we can't say it didn't happen. Don't worry about it, I typed it small because it barely matters. InedibleHulk (talk) 11:27, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Speaking of filth and politics and awareness of money, here's the Total Sanitation Campaign. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:02, 7 August 2014 (UTC)


 * And here's a look at other disease campaigns of the 1950s. The 1955 malaria one is sort of interesting. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:09, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

Keep in mind that the OP here is the same guy arguing that "successful" nations have superior genetics. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:33, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I get the feeling he's also the guy linking to the article that links to the article the guy in the article wrote, but that's just a guess. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:35, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Or wait, no. That's a fact. The thing I meant to say is what I'm guessing. InedibleHulk (talk) 07:39, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Duh, yup. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 07:54, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

For the "genes factor" one should refer to The Bell Curve and the controversial IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Since intelligence is linked to genes, and unless a complete cultural determinist stance is taken, there is inevitably some variation in the average intelligences between different pools. However, intelligence quotients have been proven to rise in like manner with better education as well. So it is not all about genes either. And what's controversial is to what extent the average intelligence quotient would affect social issues. --Pudeo' 02:06, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I think low IQ is probably the largest factor for the situation in India. The post in the OP shows how bad the situation is, and IQ is the most probable reason.74.14.75.23 (talk) 02:54, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * OK. Haven't you been promoting that link enough already? If you don't have any genuine questions or issues, let's move on. --Pudeo' 03:10, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I have a question. Is this blatant enough and is the Ref Desk "article enough" to delink it per WP:ARTSPAM? Might be best before archiving (we're not an SEO technique), but to leave it here during the answer period, to give responders the "this" in "Why is this?" It's helpful in answering, but the answers won't be useful to future readers, since "this" was so vague. InedibleHulk (talk) 11:25, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * The ANI discussion about a "Spambot" is interesting. The threat of blacklisting it might trigger the IP to remove it himself here first. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:35, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I don't know much about bots and blacklists, but I've personally decided to leave it alone. "Shamefully stupid" is a subjective thing, and I'm sure someone out there thinks the same about my opinions (including my support for yelling fire in crowded theatres only). InedibleHulk (talk) 21:21, 11 August 2014 (UTC)


 * This continual IQ argument is bogus. Richard Nixon had a very high IQ. His was also the most corrupt administration in US history, as far as we know. And I would hardly call it "successful", either. I think it was Teddy Roosevelt (among others) who said that persistence is much more likely to lead to success than is anything to do with IQ. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 05:41, 8 August 2014 (UTC)


 * India was a British colony for hundreds of years. Masses of its wealth was removed to the UK during that time. I don't know details but I would suspect that even now many of the country's wealth producing corporations would have significant chunks of foreign ownership. Not much left to trickle down to the poverty stricken locals. HiLo48 (talk) 06:58, 8 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Regarding your second point, many would argue that the opposite is true. Indian restrictions on foreign company ownership are unusually strict in many sectors, and those parts of the economy are less developed as a result. 123.121.197.23 (talk) 20:13, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm not sure that India is such an unmitigated disaster. It certainly has many problems, and often "punches below its weight" in international terms, but it's far from being a failed state, and it compares favorably in many respects to most of its prominent neighbors (i.e. Pakistan, Ceylon, Bangladesh, and Burma). It was certainly late in adopting policies favorable to significant economic growth, and has a legacy of rural poverty and caste oppression which is not easy to overcome, but it also lacks some of the advantages of natural resources and cultural unity which China possesses, and has a political system that (though somewhat flawed) is much more democratic than China's... AnonMoos (talk) 13:09, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
 * In short, the OP's biased premise is in error. And if Indian IQ is so low, why is it that so much high-tech work has been offshored to India? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 16:57, 9 August 2014 (UTC)