Fantastic book. He also talks a lot about how being good at one thing doesn't make you good at another. Sowell's notion of effective intelligence is rooted more in experience than in aptitude. So a scientist with no political experience is less likely to be good at politics than someone of lesser intellect with that experience.

One example is president Jimmy Carter. Brilliant thinker, scientist and business man. Mediocre skills in leadership and absolutely dismal in working through beauracracy. He had the one-two punch of having an oil crisis and recession, unlike Obama he just couldn't get it turned around in time for the next election.

I could remember that Carter was in the US Navy - turns out he had a pretty interesting career there - including being in charge of a team disassembling an onshore experimental reactor after a meltdown!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter#Naval_career

Yeah I recall him touring Three Mile Island not long after the accident. Carter is not lacking intelligence, but his political skills were certainly lacking and his presidency was pretty much a debacle.

Negative effects on what?

Without reading the book I assume what he's getting at is that the sciences are often the barers of bad news. Cancer this, climate that, death this, unsafety that. Eventually people get fed up with having their worldview turned around and actively choose to ignore the incoming evidence.

My best example would be cellphones in cars. We did just fine without them 10 years ago but now whenever an area talks about legistlation the people get all up in arms. Numerous studies have shown that they're equal or worse to drunk driving but the inconvenience of not being able to text and drive prevents people from accepting that.

Disclaimer: I obviously could be very far off base of what the posted author speaks about because, as stated, I've not read the book.

Of course Sowell would criticize intellectuals. He's an unapologetic conservative Republican.

> Of course Sowell would criticize intellectuals. He's an unapologetic conservative Republican.

Bravo! No need to look at whether he's correct, he's a Republican.