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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: 5, Touché) by Nuke on Saturday February 25, @01:05PM (8 children)
I thought the Branson example was going to be of someone who scores a high IQ (IDK what his IQ score is) but is nevertheless stupid. In fact it is supposed to be the other way round. But Branson has always seemed stupid to me, after all he thought Musk's Hyperloop was a good idea.
Oh, I get it. The author of TFA measures how clever we are by how much money we have. A lot of historical geniuses would fail that test - most geniuses are not even interested in money, they are more interested in their subject.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 25, @03:44PM
The fact is you get one pass through life to figure it out. Most of us take a detour into something pointless - because that's where all our education pushes us - be a success etc. Which is nothing except pleasing other people. After a certain economic point, success is about discarding other peoples' notions of success and following your own ideas and thoughts - to the exclusion of all else. It is ultimately the only thing worth doing, the rest is just placating somebody else's vanity.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Opportunist on Saturday February 25, @04:02PM (6 children)
Tbh, I never really understood that obsession with money. Money is something I can make when I need some, time is the actual limiting factor in our lives. Yet people treat it like it's worthless.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by turgid on Saturday February 25, @08:07PM (5 children)
For many of us lucky ones, this is true most of the time. However, there are many others who, through no fault of their own, are not so lucky and we need to help them out, give them enough to have basic human dignity, and to offer them opportunities.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday February 27, @05:56PM (4 children)
Note that the first group is much bigger than the second. That's always a key problem with the narrative. Something made good luck really common. It wasn't the basic human dignity sensibility, but societal and economic infrastructure.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @07:56AM (3 children)
> societal and economic infrastructure
Uh oh. Socialisms?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 28, @01:53PM (2 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @09:58PM (1 child)
Most, not all. The others need the s****lisms. It's a bit like helping a family member or a friend except they are not in your family or they are a friend you have yet to meet.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 01, @01:04PM
That's the point.