41–50 of 60 posts
Came in to push my own 'agenda' here. If you think most people are stupid read https://quberoot.wordpress.com/
I'm curious if you've gotten many emails, and if so what the nature of them tend to be.
> Q. Are you trying to change the world? The answer is no.
I found this part a bit counterintuitive.
Timely essay. "Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice." I was thinking the other day that the real problem with people who have autocratic tendencies is not that they are bad people (although they may be) but that the systems they set up end up being so incompetent. The article is probably correct when it points out lack of humility as the root cause - Lack of humility being one of the defining c…
Humility is unconditional self worth. If you don't need to worry about your appearances then you will be open to your own stupidity.
I spent 7 years in the public sector in Denmark and one of the things I experienced there was that people who question the stupidity of MBA type systems are very valuable. We have a lot of good intentions which get ground into these spreadsheet analytics and checklists which can inhibit smart solutions in our social policies and systems. I think this article touches on this sort of "systemic stupidity" that is rarely…
1. Something goes wrong
2. "We need more procedure to ensure this never-ever happens again!"
Repeat over many years, and now everything is regulated to the microscopic detail, and no one really has the authority to do anything.
It's basically a special case of the "Politician's fallacy" – "this is terrible, we need to do something!", "this is something", "therefore, we need to do this".
In some cases all of that is of course the correct response, but in many others it's a little but more dubious, and in some it's outright misguided.
I think everyone would be better off if we'd be a bit more relaxed about "stuff goes wrong sometimes, and that's not always a big deal as long as we correct it". All the preventive measures come with a cost of their own.
All of this seems very deeply embedded. Politicians from all sorts of parties have been promising to "cut red tape" for as long as I remember, but it never really happens under any party. I think most politicians are genuine in their intent, but it's not easy to change the mentality of a society.
People can pretend to be stupid if it suits them. People can seem to be stupid if their reasons for action are not known. People can't help but be stupid if deprived of factual information or if presented with false or confusing information. Finally, all people are not trained to avail of the mental tools that civilization has honed over millennia to fight stupidity. In the end "stupidity" is a social phenomenon, dee…
In addition, everyone is stupid sometimes, especially me.
Timely essay. "Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice." I was thinking the other day that the real problem with people who have autocratic tendencies is not that they are bad people (although they may be) but that the systems they set up end up being so incompetent. The article is probably correct when it points out lack of humility as the root cause - Lack of humility being one of the defining c…
China is rather autocratic, and most charts seem to indicate they've been doing pretty well over the last few decades. Indeed they are not perfect, and there is no shortage of popular memes in that space that can facilitate rapid distribution of such matters, but all Things considered I'd say they're doing a lot better than many of their "free and democratic" counterparts, which I believe (perhaps incorrectly!) is re…
Came in to push my own 'agenda' here. If you think most people are stupid read https://quberoot.wordpress.com/
> Q. Aren’t there people already doing this? A.To the best of my knowledge, no. Send me pertinent information like emails or links if you think it’s been done. I'm curious if you've gotten many emails, and if so what the nature of them tend to be. > Q. Are you trying to change the world? The answer is no. I found this part a bit counterintuitive.
No I don't get many emails. In the rare case when I do get one - it's one that is somewhat preachy. They think I'm a nut who needs therapy.
>I found this part a bit counterintuitive.
I believe that the vast majority of people who are stupid are innately stupid, meaning if circumstances change they are not going to be less stupid ( though they might be nicer). Trying to change stupid people would be a fool's errand and IMO an impossibility. If one were very rich one may attempt changing the world, though I suspect that the rich (who are more likely to be bright) know that that it can be difficult to budge the needle.
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oldpersonintx 4 hours ago [dead] | prev [–]
reminder that Germany, during the rise of the Nazis, was the most educated nation
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My comment: The article in the link has an almost fun/light/academic take on the subject, there are serious consequences as noted by the user oldpersonintx.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Q. Aren’t there people already doing this? A.To the best of my knowledge, no. Send me pertinent information like emails or links if you think it’s been done. I'm curious if you've gotten many emails, and if so what the nature of them tend to be. > Q. Are you trying to change the world? The answer is no. I found this part a bit counterintuitive.
>I'm curious if you've gotten many emails, and if so what the nature of them tend to be. No I don't get many emails. In the rare case when I do get one - it's one that is somewhat preachy. They think I'm a nut who needs therapy. >I found this part a bit counterintuitive. I believe that the vast majority of people who are stupid are innately stupid, meaning if circumstances change they are not going to be less stupid…
I believe it to be possible, and in play, at scale.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
China is rather autocratic, and most charts seem to indicate they've been doing pretty well over the last few decades. Indeed they are not perfect, and there is no shortage of popular memes in that space that can facilitate rapid distribution of such matters, but all Things considered I'd say they're doing a lot better than many of their "free and democratic" counterparts, which I believe (perhaps incorrectly!) is re…
China was very autocratic and it was a disaster. Not just poverty but mass starvation. Then it loosened up and the strength of its people brought it back up. Xi is more autocratic and he hasn't been in charge long. It would be hard to destroy it overnight but right now it looks like he is beginning to bring it down.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>I'm curious if you've gotten many emails, and if so what the nature of them tend to be. No I don't get many emails. In the rare case when I do get one - it's one that is somewhat preachy. They think I'm a nut who needs therapy. >I found this part a bit counterintuitive. I believe that the vast majority of people who are stupid are innately stupid, meaning if circumstances change they are not going to be less stupid…
Do you think it is possible to make people even stupider? At scale? I believe it to be possible, and in play, at scale.
Not intrinsically, but certainly the stupid under the right circumstances can be incited to commit acts that they will normally not think of, and yes it can be done at scale, govts, dictators, rulers, all do it.