On Parrot Power & Other “Deep Technical Skills”

I just had to correct the first error I found in John Derbyshire’s terrific book, We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism. (Read it!)

It’s an analogy that occurs on page 108: “Parrot-brained politicians.”

As you know, the author of the much-reviled columns, “In Defense of Michael Vick,” Parts One and Two, loves parrots and has two (T. Cup and Oscar-Wood). Parrots are enchanting, highly intelligent creatures.

Besides, can any politician problem-solve as this magic macaw does? Tan’s Japanese admirers are enthralled. As well they should be. Watch:

Jokes aside, Derb has a list of “deep technical skills” required to power a modern economy (p. 112). Other than the “structural engineer,” whom you would hope has a considerable facility with theory/math too (if those bridges are to stand), I don’t see how trades such as “TV studio lighting,” or “orthodontistry” (as opposed dentistry), horticulture, aircraft maintenance, crane operating, or bond trading quite qualify as “deep technical skills.”

(Where do electrical engineers and computer scientists fall? These are the people who supply the dumb, difficult and dispensable young—the twittering twits—with the playthings that keep their brainwaves from flatlining.)

A minor query, a magnificent book. I guess I was looking for an excuse to chat about and recommend We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism.