It's a state of mind, Stupid.
Well, this is the post that I started my blog up to make (beware, I’m using the soapbox for this one). Let’s see, where to begin…
Well the other day someone made the comment that “people, en-mass, are stupid” and I though ‘yeah other people are stupid aren’t they’ (that’s my intellectual superiority complex acting up again), but then I really thought about it. The fact of the matter is, people aren’t stupid, the human animal is, but it’s very nature, intelligent. It isn’t because of some gross physical quality that we became the dominant (if not most populous) species on this planet; it was because of our intelligence. Sure, some people are born with a low intellectual capacity, but those people are the exception rather than the rule. Of-course, but the same token, we aren’t all geniuses, but the average person, those who comprise ‘The Masses’ are not so naturally limited that we can get away with assuming that they’re stupid.
(From here I’ll assume that I successfully made my above point)
That said though, there is still the perception that most people are stupid, and we have to ask ourselves where does that perception come from?
I think (I hate to use the shield of ‘this is my opinion’ but here goes) it is rooted in two things:
1. We like to believe that most people are stupid; it is a convenient excuse for the world being the way it is and it has the added bonus of pumping our own ego.
2. (and this is the big one) Most people do not actually behave as intelligently as they could. What we have is a problem, not of actual stupidity, but rather one of voluntary stupidity. This, I feel, (there’s that ‘opinion shield’ again) is born of a disturbing trend in modern, western society that says: stupidity is OK.
At its core intelligence is based on thinking for yourself, keeping yourself informed and making your decisions with the information you have while still acknowledging the limits of what you know.
However in the modern (not that the past was any better) world we are constantly surrounded by influences that are saying “don’t think for yourself, we’ll do it for you” After all you don’t have to think for your self, when your government will do it for you, or maybe it’s that guy on the current affairs program, after all he’s a reporter & he’s on TV, it’s so much easier to let him do your thinking instead. Better yet, there’s religion, all these nice & tidy little rules to live by, I need never think again, & if it ever doesn’t make sense and can ask my (insert title of religious leader here) or better yet I can have ‘Faith’ that its all part of ‘His’ plan. Then there’s the work environment, after all, you’re paid to work not think. Or commercials, remember the perfect life is out there, just buy what we tell you. And who need’s intelligence when diplomas can be bought.
Sorry, I think I might have overdone that a bit, anyway I think I made my point. It needs to be noted that people falling prey to the above usually think they are being smart (after a fashion). However to further complicate matters there is the perception that stupidity itself is acceptable, even desirable, ‘ignorance is bliss’ after all. But just because it is ‘bliss’ doesn’t make it right. Is it OK to be stupid? no, not if you can be intelligent, we do not live in an age where the world will work properly if the populace is stupid. Democracy, the foundation of the modern world, only works if the people can make intelligent, informed choices, and we CAN, we are not cursed to be stupid, we are all intelligent, free-thinking individuals, we are human beings. Get out there people & THINK.
Well, there is a lot more I could say, I think (and say it better), but that is enough for now. All reactions, responses & comments welcome.
posted by The Grumbler @ 3:01 AM
3 Comments:
For the most part, my comments regarding this ended up here because it was too long. However, a chunk.
I would like to say this for the benefit of all who know me: whenever I accuse somebody (or the population) of stupidity is because the individual (or group) in question have failed to use the intelligence they possess, not because they genuinely lack intelligence. As far as I'm concerned people who are simply not bright have nothing to be ashamed of; they are as they are and deserve all the sympathy and help more intelligent people can give them and, for one, have no problem with people in this position. However, people who have intelligence and fail to use it deserve the descriptor of stupid. Common sense may not be common but it bloody well should be because Steve is right. We are considered (or at least consider ourselves) highly intelligent and, on the whole, we certainly possess intelligence. The problem is we don't use it. Now this is true of everyone now and then. My problem is that it, in most cases, it happens more often than not. Oh, and believing other people to be stupid doesn't pump my ego. It just makes me depressed over the state of the world and humanity.
And I mostly agree with Steve (being the anti-authoritarian, anti-establishment type that I am - who knew?) that alot of it has to do with society. People are encouraged to think what everyone thinks, to not think for themselves, through the media, through primary and secondary (and, to a certain extent, even tertiary) education, through societal conditioning (e.g. parents and friends), work environments, popular culture ("you too can be a unique individual, just by wearing what I wear and liking what I like and thinking what I think"), and, yes, on occasion (not always by the way), religion (though I would like to say here that there is a big difference between the faith and the institution that is "religion" and it is the latter that does what we are talking about. I mean, look at Richard Chin.)
Damn it. Still long.
The problem with humans is that we have just /enough/ intelligence to be stupid bastards - animals and other less-intelligent life forms never have the /opportunity/ to be stupid the way that we are, much the same way as they don't really have the ability to be morally good or bad (though I'm told dolphins are at least smart enough to be evil, so I guess they're coming up behind us). It makes me wonder exactly what the "stupid humans" theory is comparing us to :p
Myself, I don't think humanity as a whole is stupid - ultimately I'm far too optimistic for that - but I do find myself wondering sometimes. And yes, that's mostly based on religious fundamentalists and American republicans.
Quantum psychology.
At any given point in time, a person is an idiot or not an idiot. There are absolutes that we can observe to demonstrate this. Batteries in the wrong way, looking for the flour when it's right in front of you, not finding your glasses that are resting on your head - these are the works of an idiot.
Yet at the same time, these were traits demonstrated by some of history's most clearly clever men (I won't namedrop, it'll just make you all jealous).
Fundamentally, idiocy is not a state of mind or a constant condition. Even the people who have a significantly low IQ tend to have some mental aspect that's surprisingly adroit. Idiot savants are all over the shop, for a start. You put Einstein (oops!) in front of a chalkboard with a formula or three on it and he shows you what a genius he is. Give him his shoelaces and you've got a bit of a problem.
Ultimately, the switches between moron and genius are so subtle and so difficult to catch that ultimately, one can get close-enoughs out of titles. A person whose brain only fires on the subject of baseball statistics is clearly not an idiot then, but if the rest of the time he needs a government handler for dangerous retards, you can usually get by on how stupid he is.
Post a Comment
<< Home