Wisdom and Stupidity

David Trammel's picture

I think this article is a bit simplistic, and a little condescending BUT it does make you think.

"The Five Universal Laws of Human Stupidity - We underestimate the stupid, and we do so at our own peril."

Part of my problem is that as an old Dungeon & Dragon player, I'm familiar with intelligence and wisdom being two different things. A very intelligent character can never the less be very stupid. I point to the archetype of the Nerd from just about any movie.

There division of people into categories is interesting:

Opinions or comments?

It sounds like the author was always angry at what he called stupid people and felt himself injured by them, but I think he sort of saved himself by saying that even non-stupid people could be stupid in certain situations. I think stupid is just part of the human condition and we are all subject to stupid from time to time.

I like Kunstler's way of saying it, "it seemed like a good idea at the time." or something like that.

David Trammel's picture

I agree Kay, this article like too many from the Left carries that tendency to mock, that the Left uses when they lecture about the Right. I do wish they would stop, but then I'd probably have better luck wishing for effective measures to counter climate change coming from Western Governments and corporations.

While I can bemoan the rampant way that people "other" groups now as unusual, I suspect we humans have done it all the way back to the Sumerians. Crash condensation is a low-brow way to get in a dig. Both sides do it and think they are being funny.

I think one way this article can be useful for Green Wizards is to show you can make a point without being stupid yourself. I wonder if it would have been more effective if the writer had flipped his premises and said "We overestimate intelligence and we do so at our peril". You can find just as many examples of people, too often in positions to make policies, who are over-educated in book learning and under-educated in common sense. You could go on and build a convincing argument from that point of view, and then conclude by flipping your point to embrace stupidity and make a point that over-reliance on too much of either is not a good thing.

Of course, that implies you want to actually argue an opinion and not just make points with your like-minded tribe.

Something to consider as we move into this next crisis phase of the collapse.

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