A Dim View of Intelligence

We all possess doubts about how we’ve acquired language, culture, and humanity. A Dim View of Intelligence by Lynnette Hartwig aims to address the issues connected to humanity and human nature. She draws upon issues wide and important. A Dim View of Intelligence examines life through the lens of the haphazard evolutionary promise amid the environmental elements that would appear to shape us. In other words, evolution is not the sole factor in our developmental plane.

The book is filled with dire warnings and tries to speak to its readers from both sides of the mouth. An inner message, however, persists, to steer readers to a self-realization that they, too, are part of the spoilage issues.

The quality of the writing is sleek and articulate if one is wiling to overlook the minor grammatical inconsistencies throughout. This is not to say that the literary level is lacking but that the author is seemingly attempting to connect with a less-informed audience.

There are two distinct writing styles that attempt to address concerns of the reading public: 1) those who write down to readers and 2) those who write up. Among those who write down, writers tend to be scholars who think they are more connected to the English language than their readers are. Within this group, some writers just write as though they are speaking to a computer. Among writers who write up to readers, their styles indicate that they are attempting to impress their readership with knowledge.

I found that the author is at neither extreme. She is on a mission to expel the myths of our heritage. Yet she taps into a subversive nature in her foreword. In fact, the book would be better off without it. And, yet, she is trying to impress the reader. This is not to say that her prose lacks substance. Indeed, I find the writer has a vast reserve of knowledge that she calls upon to address the points she makes.

The topics in the contents are not unlike what I would have chosen for my own book. Consequently, that makes the writer resourceful in a way I find most appealing. The writing style itself is refreshing. When you read a work of non-fiction, what comes to mind is, what’s this all about? It’s about the meaning of change. It’s about the nature of nature. It’s about trying to understand how we evolved to be who we are today.