SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
It may sound like an insensitive statement, but the cold hard truth is that there are a lot of stupid people in the world, and their stupidity presents a constant danger to others. Some of these people are in positions of power, and some of them have been elected to run our country. A far greater number of them do not have positions of power, but they still have the power to vote, and the power to spread their ideas. We may have heard of "collective intelligence," but there is also "collective stupidity," and it is a force with equal influence on the world. It would not be a stretch to say that at this point in time, stupidity presents an existential threat to America because, in some circles, it is being celebrated.
Although the term "stupidity" may seem derogatory or insulting, it is actually a scientific concept that refers to a specific type of cognitive failure. It is important to realize that stupidity is not simply a lack of intelligence or knowledge, but rather a failure to use one's cognitive abilities effectively. This means that you can be "smart" while having a low IQ, or no expertise in anything. It is often said that "you can't fix stupid," but that is not exactly true. By becoming aware of the limitations of our natural intelligence or our ignorance, we can adjust our reasoning, behavior, and decision-making to account for our intellectual shortcomings.
To demonstrate that stupidity does not mean having a low IQ, consider the case of Richard Branson, the billionaire CEO of Virgin Airlines, who is one of the world's most successful businessmen. Branson has said that he was seen as the dumbest person in school, and has admitted to having dyslexia, a learning disability that affects one's ability to read and correctly interpret written language. But it wasn't just reading comprehension that was the problem — "Math just didn't make sense to me," Branson has said. "I would certainly have failed an IQ test."
[...] We are all victims of the Dunning-Kruger effect to some degree. An inability to accurately assess our own competency and wisdom is something we see in both liberals and conservatives. While being more educated typically decreases our Dunning-Kruger tendencies, it does not eliminate them entirely. That takes constant cognitive effort in the form of self-awareness, continual curiosity, and a healthy amount of skepticism. By cultivating this type of awareness in ourselves, and making an effort to spread it to others, we can fight back against the stupidity crisis that threatens our nation.
Interesting stuff from cognitive neuroscientist
(Score: 3, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Saturday February 25, @10:55AM (3 children)
Sorry, there's absolutely zero evidence that stupidity is inherited.
And before you come up with anything about inheritance of intelligence, let me quote the relevant part of the summary:
In other words, an unintelligent person that knows about their lack of intelligence and makes the best of those limited abilities is not stupid. A highly intelligent person maintaining willful ignorance is.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Saturday February 25, @12:18PM
Hmm. Then I guess something akin to Covid, just with higher mortality rates, might do the trick.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27, @03:17PM (1 child)
While not all of it is inherited some of it should be inherited otherwise it'll go against most scientific evidence and research on genetics and inheritance.
Stupidity and intelligence are inheritable traits. If they aren't then humans wouldn't tend to fall within certain intelligence ranges, same for other species.
If you don't think so, please go train a dog or parrot till it's as smart as an average human.
Just because it's politically incorrect doesn't mean it's scientifically false.
The human brain is indeed very malleable and in many cases the potential can stymied due to poor education and training methods. Most parents aren't trained educators (children of good teachers tend to get closer to their max potential). The theoretical max is limited by genes, but the practical max is linked to environment, education and training.
See also these seemingly contradictory studies:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1520-iq-is-inherited-suggests-twin-study/ [newscientist.com]
https://www.psypost.org/2022/05/psychologists-found-a-striking-difference-in-intelligence-after-examining-twins-raised-apart-in-south-korea-and-the-united-states-63091 [psypost.org]
Given that the difference in species already prove that IQ is heritable, the logical conclusion is the US environment/education is bad for IQ.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday February 27, @08:16PM
Maybe you actually READ my post before responding to it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.