Very strong insight indeed. After 15 years in higher ed, I know that professors practice and teach this principle of stupidity: conformity, complicity, and to censure heterodox thinkers and questioners of The Message (any one of the Social Justice sects).
At Virginia Tech in 2020, my department’s dean pulled in a non-tenure linguistics professor, told her remove tech affiliation from her personal Facebook page or be fired (she had posted conservative views about Covid - the horror). Then, the same dept. chair praises the same professor when Russia attacks Ukraine (the linguistics professor is from Ukraine). Bandwagon thinking. That Ukrainian prof. had enough duplicity and resigned. In fall 2020, I was forced to state my name and pronouns in 3 PhD classes (I’d already willingly used colleague pronouns at work in CA for years, but to be compelled to?). My refusal to conform earned me a poor reputation with faculty from then until I completed my PhD this June. I was expected to confess I was a CRT believer here and in my 2nd MA at cal state in 2018, for my ‘original group sin’ (as they called it) of being white and male. 2 cal state professors refused to recommend me to my PhD because I didn’t accept their definition of white and male (group category and culpability equals individual identity to them).
Herd mentality (hide, blend in, save your job, don’t stand out, group think, etc.) is alive and well in the humanities. The fear of ostracization is real, dogma in orthodoxy is too, but I didn’t enroll in higher ed programs to become accepted but to become helpful and skilled for my writing students, and to refine my knowledge, assumptions, and priors through research. Cannot confidently say the same of my programs and professors.
Diversity is inclusive of everyone and your mention of “priors” leads me to believe you’ve studied Bayesian thinking.
My favorite phrase to those who are different is the verbal assurance, “You be You”, and that opens our dialogue to respectful, honest conversation. Shared perspectives are enlightening and individual choice is Liberty.
I appreciate your comment. I studied Bayesian thinking on my own because none of my 3 grad programs taught it or the flaws/limitations of statistical inference and the implications on scientific work. Humanities abound in pet theories with no assessment of their validity. Partly why we’re in our current partisan academic mess. I very much appreciate ‘you be you’ because I promote “Be critical. Be generous. Be you” to my students.
Fundamentalist religion literally teaches you to check your brain at the church/synagogue/Mosque door and blindly believe and follow what the leaders tell you. So no - he is not throwing another stone — he is stating facts.
No, he is stating his OPINION, not fact…his opinion isn’t even reasoned, it’s just a flippant comment indicting hundreds of millions of Christians, never mind he hasn’t the wherewithal to read peoples’ minds.
After 15 years in higher ed, I know that professors practice and teach this principle of stupidity: conformity, complicity, to censure heterodox thinkers and questioners of The Message (any one of the Social Justice sects).
At Virginia Tech in 2020, my department’s dean pulled in a non-tenure linguistics professor, told her remove tech affiliation from her personal Facebook page or be fired (she had posted conservative views about Covid - the horror). Then, the same dept. chair praises the same professor when Russia attacks Ukraine (the linguistics professor is from Ukraine). Bandwagon thinking. In fall 2020, I was forced to state my name and pronouns in 3 PhD classes (I’d already willingly used colleague pronouns at work in CA for years, but to be compelled to?). My refusal to conform earned me a poor reputation with faculty from then until I completed my PhD this June. I was expected to confess I was a CRT believer here and in my 2nd MA at cal state in 2018, for my ‘original group sin’ (as they called it) of being white and male.
Herd mentality (hide, blend in, save your job, don’t stand out, group think, etc.) are alive and well in the humanities. The fear of ostracization is real, dogma in orthodoxy is too, but I didn’t enroll in programs to become accepted but to become helpful, skilled, and to refine my knowledge, assumptions, and priors. Cannot fully say the same of my programs and professors.
I also refuse to state my pronouns. You figure out what you want to call me. The left has gotten very very militant about DEI which is why we are having a backlash right now. I'd argue the left wasn't like this until Trump's first term. The left became militant because they felt the need to not give him and his ideology a platform. And as such, there is no nuisance as MAGA don't deal with nuisance either.
The only thing I am very militant about is vaccines. They save countless lives and that shouldn't be fucked with.
I agree, the Left became more militant politically and culturally to refuse any airtime to his platform once he won in 16. But the left’s militancy in academia predates Trump 1.0. He drew their ire because liberals over last 15 years or more (depending on the discipline) had already caved to the progressives and no one else dared to or remained to stand up to them, no conservatives or libertarians effectively existed in academia. His very presence constituted a rude backlash to their already-stringent orthodoxy in university courses and policies. They taught and researched unopposed for 3 decades (or 4) until now. But many social justice theories explicitly argue we must not question or criticize theories until we implement them to see their effects. To do the honest academic work of testing a hypothesis and questioning validity of a theory is to be racist, sexist, oppressive, colonizing, you name it, etc. Now everyone in society (scholars and average American) has had a chance to evaluate the theories, and mostly the Left’s best response is to label questioning and criticism some kind of -ism rather than engage arguments on their logic, evidence, reality, and rhetoric.
Wokism and CRT in CA go back at least to 1996 if not earlier. Many academics warned of this ideology. Trump and populism is a response to Woke. (It needs to be checked as well.) Anyone versed in Chinese history recognizes the crossover of Woke with Red Guard.
There are a billion Catholics worldwide. American TV evangelists and megachurches have captured the “brand” of Christian though in the U.S.A. They never wear a cross with the crucified body of Jesus, an innocent man who spoke out for the poor and vulnerable.
Indeed, Pope Leo has been a force to combat the lies and hate from those who have misappropriated “woke” and the very essence of Christianity which is love, empathy, kindness, caring for those less fortunate, etc. At least that is the Christianity I was brought up with in the Episcopal church.
Not only self righteousness but absolute obedience. To pastors, parents, anyone in authority. Religious communities brainwash their congregants. It’s no wonder so many of them think Trump is god’s chosen one.
Imagine the conditions of your "eye-sight", and your moral courage, if you felt like singling out one of the successful organizations in this world, out of the many of them.
Congratulations still, for choosing the safest (hence most fashionable) targets.
Instead of thinking critically, you castigate every Christian who belongs to a Church, accusing every one of them of being self-righteous. You might want to think before you post.
“Credo ut intelligam.” St. Augustine, 4th century African Bishop of Hippo would disagree.”I believe so I understand.” Note he uses Credo which is from the Latin “core do”, what I give my heart to. It is not an intellectual assent to doctrines first it would seem but helps illuminate them, open them up. He wrote s few himself! Interesting guy!
So-called enlightened atheism and other secular philosophies gave us the Soviet Union's gulags and other forms of collectivism which have killed over 100 million people in a single century.
I think it is important to understand the numbers. For example, the average IQ is 100 (by definition) and that means that with Normal distribution, in any society, that 75% of the population will be under 110 IQ.
Yet the average IQ to attend and complete a college or university first degree is between 115 and 120IQ. In other words, at 75% of the population, with no higher education, can out-vote everyone else, not just in elections but in most workplaces, social organisations, political groups and power structures.
Then there is functional illiteracy (where people cannot read, write or count well enough to fill in a form or read and understand instructions). The rate in America is around 21%, compared to, say, France at 7%. Three times worse. A failure of basic education.
All this has important consequences. For example, the fact you are on Substack certainly means you can read, and probably means you have a college education. In fact, if you do have a college education, that probably also means you don't have any close friends or work colleagues that do NOT have a college education. You are not only in the top percentage of IQ, but you live your life in a bubble of educated, higher IQ people.
And that means you can only imagine how 75% of the population live, work, talk, believe and understand. In fact, you are guessing - you haven't really a clue!
As to the lives, perceptions and beliefs of those 21% who are functionally or totally illiterate, and the next 10% or 20% who are also limited in their reading and writing abilities, it is almost impossible for us to internalise what that means for them, either not understanding or misunderstanding almost everything around them.
What's my point?
Firstly, intimating that stupid people are evil is a construct of intelligent people and their self-claimed moral superiority. Stupid people do stupid things, but that is usually because they are used to being compliant, and more intelligent people can manipulate them.
Secondly, if being evil includes an awareness and an intent, then many 'stupid' people would appear to be both unaware, and unable to plan ahead in a manner that suggested intent. Difficult to make the case of deliberate and evil intent.
Lastly, surely the people who are truly evil are the intelligentsia that plan and implement evil acts, and then get stupid people to not just carry them out, but also absolve them of consequences for their evil acts. For example, governments that absolve their military of war crimes, as America does. Or as Trump has done with ICE thugs. Or as Netanyahu is doing in Palestine.
All that said, ALL humans are capable of unspeakable acts of evil. Whilst I might be scared of the random and meaningless violence of a late night city centre, the real evils are taking place in meeting rooms and government offices and war rooms.
And yes, as we will eventually find out from the Epstein files, in hotel suites and plush penthouses and private islands and golf clubs, and probably even church sacristies.
The unintelligent have no exclusive rights on evil. But it is the intelligent that have no excuse for it.
I’d like to see these ideas restated with the term ‘unintelligent’ replaced by ‘unschooled’. Your assumption that the non college educated are more usefully intelligent than the 75% of the population at 100 IQ is suspect. There are so many tangential factors unaccounted for in your reasoning (am I correct that you were educated at a very expensive university?).
As Oscar Wilde, one of his generations greatest scholars, said: “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”
Unschooled is fundamentally different to unintelligent. IQ is not a perfect measure, but it is still relevant as a measure of someone's innate ability to understand complex problems in their head.
At one end, for those with low IQ it may mean they cannot understand basic concepts, that might allow them to learn to drive a car and follow the rules of the road. At the other end, an IQ of 150 and above may make someone a rocket scientist or brain surgeon, or may leave them so overwhelmed by their abilities to absorb and understand and correlate information that they sink into depression at the hopelessness of it all.
As for your assumption that I went to a top university, I left school at 16, did an apprenticeship in a car factory until they went bust, then started to retrain as an architect, and decided at 20 to give all that up and go make some money for myself, on the basis of 3 years of hard work would buy me two or three years of not working, mostly involving playing with boats. That's pretty much what I have done for the last 50 years.
Perhaps that's the other thing a higher IQ might give someone - they might make better assumptions? 😂
Congratulations on how you chose your life. And what you accomplished. I don't know that many magas personally, nor the "higher-bred" intelligentsia, but there is not one simple answer to any of these issues. Evil has awareness? And stupid does not? How does one know if you are neither of those? Just being curious as always, what exactly did you do playing with boats? And what car factory? Because I have been trying to get information on one in Santa Maria California that produced kits to make replica cars and there's no info. The Excalibur perhaps? And there you go or I go. Late night or very early morning. I ascribe to a fairly simple philosophy. Try not to judge too much, love and respect each other for we are all brothers and sisters, avoid gossip, people with evil intentions, gluttony, greed and hatred. Never stop learning. Question authority always. Speak up. Help those in need and mourning. Smile and say hello to strangers. Walk in the light.
The **Excalibur** was a neo-classical luxury car produced from the 1960s to the 1990s, designed to evoke the grandeur of 1920s–1930s **Mercedes-Benz SSK** roadsters but with modern mechanical components. It was the brainchild of industrial designer **Brooks Stevens**, who initially created it as a show car for **Studebaker** before launching it as an independent marque.
---
History of the Excalibur Automobile.
1. Origins (1963–1964)**
- **Concept:** The first Excalibur was a custom-bodied **Studebaker Avanti** displayed at the 1963 New York Auto Show.
- **Public Reception:** The car was so popular that Stevens decided to produce it independently after Studebaker declined.
2. Production Begins (1964–1969)**
- **First Generation (Series I, 1964–1965):**
- Based on a **Studebaker Lark** chassis with a fiberglass body.
- Powered by a **289ci Ford V8** (later Chevy 327).
- Featured **fake exhaust pipes, wire wheels, and a phaeton-style top**.
- Only about **100 units** were made.
- **Series II (1966–1969):**
- Switched to a **Chevrolet Corvette C2 chassis**.
- Used a **Chevy 327 or 427 V8**.
- More refined styling with a longer hood and sleeker fenders.
3. Peak Years (1970–1985)**
- **Series III (1970–1975):**
- Moved to a **Chevy C3 Corvette chassis**.
- Featured **power windows, A/C, and luxury interiors**.
- Offered in **roadster and phaeton (convertible) versions**.
- **Series IV & V (1976–1985):**
- Used **Chevy C3 & C4 Corvette underpinnings**.
- Introduced a **four-seat sedan** (Excalibur IV Sedan).
- Some models had **supercharged engines** (rare).
4. Decline & End (1986–1996)**
- **Series VI (1986–1990):**
- Last generation, based on **Chevy C4 Corvette**.
- Production slowed due to high costs and declining interest.
- **Final Years (1991–1996):**
- Only a handful were built before the company folded.
I also found out there were two kit car copies:
1. 'La Dawri' – One of the early companies that made Excalibur-inspired kits.
2. 'Clenet' – Produced similar neo-classical roadsters in the 1970s–80s.
I was more or less with you until your last sentence. The assumption that one went to a good school shouldn’t be interpreted as an insult. There was no need to be discourteous.
I was referring to your comment about mine: “As for your assumption…” I asked a question, you called it an assumption, I replied that it was not meant to be disparaging. That’s all. (No need to respond, I’m done here, thanks.)
I agree with your restatement preference but would admit that is because I see myself included within it. I left college because I lacked the confidence to get much beyond freshman year. A devastating accident that devoured money meant for education coincided with doubt I was smart enough to succeed. Years later, I found the confidence to become an unschooled labor union leader who ran circles around attorneys and degree’d executives to put millions of dollars in pay and benefits into union members’ pockets. As to your Wilde quotation, what I learned about how others conduct themselves and how I should conduct myself when economic survival is at stake were things I never could have learned in college.
Ultimately, I did get a BA at age 69—a retirement/pandemic project. Spent the entire time pushing down the thought I wasn’t smart enough to finsh. Guess I was wrong.
Education can't make you intelligent...that is a God given talent like sports or music....stuffing ones head with fact and dates mean nothing without being to organize and utilize the knowledge......full disclosure,.....I quit H.S.in the 11the grade,went back and got kicked out,1 semester of college and then a technical education(Hvac)...I have been reading since about 6-7,profusely.... what has made the most difference in anything I do....is access to accurate information....don't get me started on Bonnhoffer...I think he was a the biggest victim of his own theory .....
Rambling — coupled with a groundless, unintelligent, and socially-programmed faux-question — of someone who, again, has been socially programmed to go on the offense if only they scan realistic, reality-compliant, mention of IQ.
I don't know why the other person tried to reply to this, frankly.
I think you are missing the idea that Bonhoeffer is saying that intelligence and stupidity are not necessarily linked. The “intelligent” can be quite stupid, and those low in ”IQ” are not by default roped into stupid ideas.
Seems like a strong argument for a meritocracy with limits on voting rights for those who can’t pass a high school civics/American government test (or citizenship naturalization exam). This is fundamentally how the PRC runs, and it has been stunningly effective for the past 40 years.
Those words that so few in the West ever dare discuss. Democracy, one man one vote, by the people for the people..... the only true political view!
Except it so often doesn't work like that.
Or maybe just break up countries so all of them are just states with no more than, say, a million or 5 million people. After all, the only people that big powerful countries serve are the ambitious and ruthless politicians that want to go take over someone else's country.
You may be on to something there. In a smallish group, people would feel more personal, more connected, under the right circumstances of course, if concern for others was taught, modeled, and expected. It could be very good. But again, how to implement in the real, very messy world?
Oh, Bro, you break my heart 💔. I often think this, and keep coming back to it again and resisting it again because reasons. Agree that the PRC is stunningly effective on many counts, but would you want to live there? Hmmm, clean, low crime, things work...... IDK. Maybe. But maybe not. In any case, it's not likely to be implemented in the US of A any time soon.
Good comment. Still it doesn't look at some facets.
For instance the reason why these masses end up having the best deceivers as their leaders — and not the doves who wouldn't deceive them even though far higher in intelligence and/or intellect.
A leaning toward evil is inscribed in the humanity of this world — stupidity (which is helped by low IQ, but is more aptly photographed by the notion of mindlessness: correlated yet not overlapping) only removes the chances for the subject to discern it, and oppose it in themselves, with conscious deliberation.
I mentioned that 75% are under 110 IQ. So if I was a sociopath and I wanted to take over a country, or indeed the world, I would forget those with high IQs and college education and focus on the tropes and memes of the dumb voter. Religion would be a good one, and memes that celebrate dumb notions, like patriotism, and fear, and fighting imaginary enemies, and stopping migrants from stealing jobs.
Sound familiar?
Now we are talking about emotions, not logic or evidence or facts. We are talking about making dumb people angry and passionate and all riled up! We are giving them brightly coloured badges to wear to show their loyalty to their country, and even making it dangerous for ordinary people NOT to join in this DumbFest.
But why don't they react this way to 'nice' people offering to lead them towards a nicer world? Because that nicer world is defined by intelligent people and they live in a different place, one of reading books and looking at art and going to plays and opera and drinking wine, and all that has absolutely zero overlap with the Dumbster's lives. Another planet.
Ok, all the above is exaggerated and simplistic to make a point, but perhaps it explains how I see your point. MAGA is exciting. MAGA is the worst kind of fun. MAGA allows people to be horrible and angry and stupid to other people and not get locked up for it. MAGA is the modern Ku klux Klan and the 1960's CIA and Atomwaffen and the NSM and Accelerationism, and the Oath Keeps, but suddenly legal, and the President will even give you a 'get out of jail free' pass! Heck, if you join Trump's ICE thugs he'll even pay you to behave like an asshole!
There is, I think, no way back for the Democrats in this scenario. The numbers simply do not add up for them. The may make great speeches, and come up with good reasons, and convince all the brighter people, but bottom line is that inescapable 75% figure. The Dems MUST address that.
And your statistics and %s (I presume, at a glance) are based on a mean of 100.
The world's median IQ is 82... which explains why control over a (geographically and demographically) minor share of the world translates rather smoothly into global empire.
Agreed. There are many who can and should “know better” who see personal advantage in aligning with and supporting evil. The accomplices of evil designs need to be held accountable along with the truly evil forces of hate. But the US failed twice to do this, unlike most democracies, and thus failed to restrain either the evil-minded or their accomplices. Accountability - both in the criminal sense and in the sense of scandals that lose the evildoers their listeners - is crucial to preserving democracy when evil arises as it often has and will. Think Joe McCarthy and Father Coughlin and all the purveyors of hate in Jim Crow. The scandal of murdering Matthew Shepherd discredited the gay-haters. The uprising against the murder of George Floyd was an attempt to impose accountability for evil that failed.
Unclear if the starvation of Gaza will succeed in focusing attention on the evil embedded in the present Israeli regime. The restoration of official racism in the US via “antiDEI” campaigns hasn’t sufficed to shake the stupid belief in US government “taking care” of “its people” and ICE raids that make “mistakes” are only now being noticed as a “scandal”. I think we’ll see but don’t assume it will reach the stupid, given how supine and self-dealing most of the media has been.
Moral development has its own continuum. The strength of ones’ Intelligence powers the imagination of what someone might intend or suppose. Morality, influences their behavior.
I thought the whole 'I.Q.' thing is seen as a bit globally bogus now, no ? In the unexalted circles that I moved in, it started to be seen as passé, in the 1980s at least.
Perhaps it's a handy measurement for corporate job apps with their psychological profiling.
i.e. Can you wipe your bum with one hand etc although that's probably disablist - apols in advance.
No, IQ is not at all bogus in science, but I'm unfamiliar with what people believe in your circles.
I have noticed how many people now seem to believe that opinions are just as relevant as facts nowadays, perhaps to go alongside a belief that aromatherapy is as effective as evidence-led medicine, and that one's belief in a god is all they need because everything is 'god's will'.
Me, I'll stick with my own belief system that intelligent people generally have more understanding of facts and generally can make better judgements about how to respond to those facts. Crazy, huh?
Good to know you are sticking with your own belief system. #keepwearingthetinhat #thedeilsacomin #hallyloowoolyah #jayzussluvsatryer #intelligencealert #opinionsarefree #yoursarereallyreallyboringandpredictable
I found IQ tests foolish when I took one in high school (many years gone - I don't remember my score so don't ask), because they were so culturally biased. Anyone not in tune with the prevailing culture and its values would fail, even if they were a genius. (Don't ask me who last year's rap stars were, I don't have a clue). I don't believe that people think "opinions" trump facts, unfortunately due to the feminization of everything, they think "feelings" ARE facts! If you feel you are a (dog, cat, woman, man, octopus, martian), then you are one. And that is presented as "science"! By "intelligent people"!
How does this concept of the malice of stupidity relate to the constant flow of media that lulls us into the normalization of blatant cruelty? Aren't we at risk of passively accepting the tsunami of evil?
The media is the constant in the formation of the blank face of conformity and the normalization of hate, racism or “the other” that makes people look at each other with fear. The media is the dispenser of mis and disinformation and the most pervasive propagandist of all.
Sadly, this will remain the case as long as there is a profit to be made from the normalization of hate (as you so aptly put it). And so we have devolved into two tribes of monkeys gleefully flinging their poo at each other.
Yes. Good question. There's certainly a tsunami of news.
If you want to destroy the ability to think for yourself you dumb down the education system and cut funding for universities. You fund in such a way that a cash-strapped university has to put more resources into business studies and economics and less into humanities and those encouraging critical thinking.
You make high school education largely vocational except for the elite.
You defund early childhood education. These are the ways to create sheep and unquestioning followers.
That doesn't answer normalisation of cruelty though. Is it ever normalised? If depends on what you know about the world (see above) and your morality.
Like flying planes into buildings? He didn’t “pay with his life”, his life was taken from him by stupid people who could not accept being challenged, who stood firm in their faith that fascism should not be questioned.
Pay with his life meaning paying the cost of holding tight to his convictions to the point of being killed for them. Sure, stupid people did take his life and he could have played it safe and would have lived if he had, but he like most decent people tried to put a stop to it and didn’t succeed in saving himself. It’s a tragedy really.
An absolute tragedy. And yes, he could have kept his mouth shut, but IMHO that’s different than “faith” or holding to convictions. He was trying to save ppl from being killed, not killed bc he was challenged about his beliefs. To me these are different issues.
True enough, faith and beliefs are entirely different topics outside the scope of motivation to save others from their own stupidity. In my lifetime that has rarely worked out, but I admire those who still try.
I was going to comment but I just read a number of comments that are so arrogant that I’ll pass. When you are so sure you see more clearly, it is time to step back and see where you are being blindsided.
It would be amazing to hear you speak as to what you thought was arrogance and believe is blindsiding rather than quickly passing judgement without putting your own thoughts on the line. It could be interpreted as arrogance not to bother speaking outside of offering a critique and we could all benefit from being shown a different if not better thought process… so please take time to share your own ideas as people are more than interested in hearing them, but without preventing what is precisely meant by using your own words rather than quotes.
I am not loquacious but found the whole discussion of IQ and college degrees without merit. College degrees have long been available to the wealthy but not always to those without wealth. Historical fact. That does not equate intelligence for the wealthy and stupidity for the poor. I bow out.
Agreed! I’m wary of defining people by IQ or education. Several brilliant minds didn’t have money or access to education. In turn, nobody offered me a scholarship or saved for my college education probably because they thought I was stupid when it was actually undiagnosed ASD making thought difficult. I had to work part time to earn an education, but this made me appreciate it all the more and become more inclined to put it to use. My experience has been with people who were handed college educations who in turn did nothing with them. One might argue that they were stupid, but then again it could be simply lazy. It seems that the harder we try or work for anything makes us productive, but I never discount anyone’s ability. If I could, so can they is my premise, IQ not being a deciding factor. I won’t even get into the contrived nature of it.
I personally witnessed an overabundance of stupidity during the pandemic. People just blindly swallowed the narrative they were given, without questioning it's relevance. Fear and panic are powerful weapons, that's when reason should prevail.
My reading and studying of Bonhoeffer’s life and works has set me on a path, not only enlightenment, but the double edge sword of faith. How it can be used for good and how it can be used for evil. When things are inverted, so also is the way one fights evil. Lies become necessary, betrayal becomes relevant. It takes a person with deep and strong moral character to understand which is which and when an inversion of moral decency becomes a spiritual weapon for good.
The other thing I will add is that in my experience, for example at a Trump rally, you see very few people who would be considered intelligent. These are mostly lesser-educated and ignorant people. These are the stupid people mentioned. There are a few highly educated people who are Trump supporters, and they are smart because they know the advantages that Trump will give them over lesser moneyed people. Both groups would support an American Hitler.
God if I read one more quote about Hitler in the Nazis. It's not as if there's no record and documentaries or books of what happened in that period, it was pure devastation, millions died. It's a joke people like you run around on your keyboards living in the 1% land of the world and whining about the end of the world.
I wondered how long it would take for this to devolve into a political rant and here we are like all the other anger posting about the last election. It makes me embarrassed for us as a nation that people want to insult or hate their own countrymen over a single election. I’ve voted and my chosen candidates lost many times but I didn’t go around trash talking people who did their civic duty just because my own vote was different or that I felt mine was more right than theirs. Then again I was raised during a more polite era where it was considered impolite but today the gloves are off and everyone has become a target of mean spirited opinions. If any one behavior made our lives less enjoyable, this is for me among the worst.
FFS, if you can’t see the political ramifications in what Bonhoeffer wrote, you’re not paying attention. The man developed his philosophies during the Nazi regime. The parallels are so obvious, both in current life and in Bonhoeffer’s words, that if you miss them you’re being willfully ignorant.
If you cannot see that this was about an entirely different topic then you are the near sighted one and your insults are not welcome. I don’t have to tolerate verbal abuse from you or anybody Bill the retired IT Geek, but that is expected from IT people as far as I’m concerned, a topic I know all too well. Goodbye.
People have told me they voted for for trump because they have always voted republican. Well that's one less thing to have to worry about right whom to vote for? Oh dont get me started. People when you vote do your homework first.
Well, I have no faith to speak of. And I admire those whose faith compels them to great sacrifice - Bonhoeffer, the Black Baptist church, the Dalai Lama - all help me see that there is some worth in being a "person of god".
I’d be a lot more impressed with the Dalai Lama if he’d do something more than spout meaningless platitudes and offer a single useful statement condemning the greatest criminals since Hitler.
“We are all one” just isn’t really cutting it as a countervailing philosophy when Nazis are making the rules.
Sounds like the self-hypnotically stupid way we all become more conscious of the nature of language than the nature of Reality? In that "knowledge is the only Good, ignorance the only Evil" diagnosis of the human condition, favoured by people like Socrates. And Jesus famous diagnosis of the socially normal: "they seeing see not, hearing hear not, and neither do they understand." Arguably, the subconsciously synchronous nature of human behavior, and our species-specific form of experiential blindness?
The actual quote is from the Old Testament, Isaiah 6:9-10 : "He replied, 'Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.'" The passage highlights the prophetic declaration of Israel's spiritual blindness, a judgment for their persistent disobedience and idolatry.
A conceptually similar New Testament saying by Jesus may be found in John 9:39-41 : "Then Jesus declared, 'For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.' Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, 'Are we blind too?' 'If you were blind,' Jesus replied, 'you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.'" Jesus uses the healing of a physically blind man to illustrate spiritual blindness among the Pharisees, who, despite their religious knowledge, fail to recognize Him as the Messiah.
(I'm not a Bible scholar; just handy with a search engine)
A book is coming to articulate my understanding of the self-hypnotic stupidity of foolishly ‘imagining’ that language doesn’t just describe reality, it defines it. Having spent decades trying to transcend the lip-service sense of my own reality, defined by the reality-labeling words, David Bates.
You are of course correct. "This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." It seems this is a theme that runs repeatedly through both the Old and New Testaments.
Actually not at all I don’t think. That whole Chapter is exactly what I think is going on with Bonhoeffer’s assessment of Stupidity and the idea that people participate in it not so much out of malice or evil intent but laziness and the wish to avoid personal reflection, thought and ultimately responsibility
The light of God, as the Solar-System reality of the Sun? And the role our heart plays in energizing the electro-chemical substance of our thoughts, within the place of a Skull? And the whole-self reality of our Nervous-System? While many say that when it comes to discerning truths and falsehoods, context is everything within the mind’s processing of energy and information.
This is 100% spot on. The only thing I take issue with is calling it “stupidity,” which is a value judgment. Judgments create defensiveness, which inspires people to cling tighter rather than encouraging them to let go a little and actually think critically.
If we want people to engage in dialogue and consider other perspectives, it would be wise to refrain from using critical value judgments.
Your point is exactly what I thought when reading this. "Stupidity" carries a lot of baggage that doesn't help here. It may make us feel better to call the other "stupid," but it sure is a bad way to start a dialogue.
Not just the “organized church’s” it’s most of the community. My family and many friends fit in here. Alexis de Tocqueville “Democracy in America” described how people in general join organizations, memorizing the party line and sound bites, essentially becoming passive and leaving their thinking to others. They use this time for the benefit of family, work, hobby, exercise and relaxation: but not for independent thinking. What happened to the proud German people is happening everywhere lazy thinking breeds complacency. I’ve examined this issue closely and notice the seeds around the World sponsored by otherwise good people being on Social Media full-time with no desire for personal time to think, read or challenge their own beliefs. Few people want to stand alone with their beliefs. Very sad and very bad outcomes to follow…
Not voting for either makes you part of the problem, not the solution. You helped “vote in” the destruction of our democracy and a convicted felon, liar, rapist etc.
Unfortunately, it’s not only you who suffers, you condemned more than half the country.
Thank you, as Kamala is neither stupid or conventional. Highly educated, excellent service and "employment" in office and service to the people. I'm certain if I tests were given to Kamala and dt, that dt would not even come close. Unless of course, there's an IQ test for malice and evil.
He said he didn't vote for either, not that he didn't vote, unless I missed something.
Confining yourself to voting only for one of the mainstream party candidates is neither intelligent nor effective, since they are both ultimately servicing the same power structure and amoral world view.
There is a conceit among Western Liberals that somehow they are better than the alternative, and that in aligning themselves with the lesser of two evils, they are therefore good. Complacency, indifference, laziness and complicity are all moral choices and neither heroic or laudable. Try not to throw your arm out patting yourself on the back for being little more than a follower at best and a cultist otherwise.
And no one outside of the US believes that Democrats are anything less than what the rest of the world understands as conservatives. Both mainstream parties uphold the oligarchy, support the hegemony seeking capitalism of the American society and turn a blind eye to the carnage they leave in the wake of their avarice. The two parties are two wings of the same dirty amoral bird.
It’s even better not to BE the trolls and it appears that there are more than enough to go around about a topic with nothing to do with the original subject matter.
Checking your comment history, it's clear that you prefer stirring the pot to adding anything of merit to a discussion. I therefore politely refer you to my previous statement.
The 2024 election seems to be a perfect illustration of the philosophy expressed in the article. I agree that Harris seems far stupider than Trump, low though that bar might be. What clouds the issue is that Trump is demonstrably sociopathic, and this can skew any analysis of his actual intelligence. Harris, with her very conventional resume, background, and personality, seems only to be inadequate.
“evil doesn’t always wear a mask of malice. Sometimes, it wears a blank, unseeing face of the conformist, the unthinking follower.”
Your post has very strong insight.
Very strong insight indeed. After 15 years in higher ed, I know that professors practice and teach this principle of stupidity: conformity, complicity, and to censure heterodox thinkers and questioners of The Message (any one of the Social Justice sects).
At Virginia Tech in 2020, my department’s dean pulled in a non-tenure linguistics professor, told her remove tech affiliation from her personal Facebook page or be fired (she had posted conservative views about Covid - the horror). Then, the same dept. chair praises the same professor when Russia attacks Ukraine (the linguistics professor is from Ukraine). Bandwagon thinking. That Ukrainian prof. had enough duplicity and resigned. In fall 2020, I was forced to state my name and pronouns in 3 PhD classes (I’d already willingly used colleague pronouns at work in CA for years, but to be compelled to?). My refusal to conform earned me a poor reputation with faculty from then until I completed my PhD this June. I was expected to confess I was a CRT believer here and in my 2nd MA at cal state in 2018, for my ‘original group sin’ (as they called it) of being white and male. 2 cal state professors refused to recommend me to my PhD because I didn’t accept their definition of white and male (group category and culpability equals individual identity to them).
Herd mentality (hide, blend in, save your job, don’t stand out, group think, etc.) is alive and well in the humanities. The fear of ostracization is real, dogma in orthodoxy is too, but I didn’t enroll in higher ed programs to become accepted but to become helpful and skilled for my writing students, and to refine my knowledge, assumptions, and priors through research. Cannot confidently say the same of my programs and professors.
Diversity is inclusive of everyone and your mention of “priors” leads me to believe you’ve studied Bayesian thinking.
My favorite phrase to those who are different is the verbal assurance, “You be You”, and that opens our dialogue to respectful, honest conversation. Shared perspectives are enlightening and individual choice is Liberty.
I appreciate your comment. I studied Bayesian thinking on my own because none of my 3 grad programs taught it or the flaws/limitations of statistical inference and the implications on scientific work. Humanities abound in pet theories with no assessment of their validity. Partly why we’re in our current partisan academic mess. I very much appreciate ‘you be you’ because I promote “Be critical. Be generous. Be you” to my students.
The Organized Christian Church has many blinded themselves in their Sickness of Self Righteouaness
It is important to examine and see yourself, to engage yourself, not just to throw another stone.
Fundamentalist religion literally teaches you to check your brain at the church/synagogue/Mosque door and blindly believe and follow what the leaders tell you. So no - he is not throwing another stone — he is stating facts.
No, he is stating his OPINION, not fact…his opinion isn’t even reasoned, it’s just a flippant comment indicting hundreds of millions of Christians, never mind he hasn’t the wherewithal to read peoples’ minds.
The Reformation and the understanding that we are all equal before God is what finally brought freedom to Europe.
After 15 years in higher ed, I know that professors practice and teach this principle of stupidity: conformity, complicity, to censure heterodox thinkers and questioners of The Message (any one of the Social Justice sects).
At Virginia Tech in 2020, my department’s dean pulled in a non-tenure linguistics professor, told her remove tech affiliation from her personal Facebook page or be fired (she had posted conservative views about Covid - the horror). Then, the same dept. chair praises the same professor when Russia attacks Ukraine (the linguistics professor is from Ukraine). Bandwagon thinking. In fall 2020, I was forced to state my name and pronouns in 3 PhD classes (I’d already willingly used colleague pronouns at work in CA for years, but to be compelled to?). My refusal to conform earned me a poor reputation with faculty from then until I completed my PhD this June. I was expected to confess I was a CRT believer here and in my 2nd MA at cal state in 2018, for my ‘original group sin’ (as they called it) of being white and male.
Herd mentality (hide, blend in, save your job, don’t stand out, group think, etc.) are alive and well in the humanities. The fear of ostracization is real, dogma in orthodoxy is too, but I didn’t enroll in programs to become accepted but to become helpful, skilled, and to refine my knowledge, assumptions, and priors. Cannot fully say the same of my programs and professors.
I also refuse to state my pronouns. You figure out what you want to call me. The left has gotten very very militant about DEI which is why we are having a backlash right now. I'd argue the left wasn't like this until Trump's first term. The left became militant because they felt the need to not give him and his ideology a platform. And as such, there is no nuisance as MAGA don't deal with nuisance either.
The only thing I am very militant about is vaccines. They save countless lives and that shouldn't be fucked with.
I agree, the Left became more militant politically and culturally to refuse any airtime to his platform once he won in 16. But the left’s militancy in academia predates Trump 1.0. He drew their ire because liberals over last 15 years or more (depending on the discipline) had already caved to the progressives and no one else dared to or remained to stand up to them, no conservatives or libertarians effectively existed in academia. His very presence constituted a rude backlash to their already-stringent orthodoxy in university courses and policies. They taught and researched unopposed for 3 decades (or 4) until now. But many social justice theories explicitly argue we must not question or criticize theories until we implement them to see their effects. To do the honest academic work of testing a hypothesis and questioning validity of a theory is to be racist, sexist, oppressive, colonizing, you name it, etc. Now everyone in society (scholars and average American) has had a chance to evaluate the theories, and mostly the Left’s best response is to label questioning and criticism some kind of -ism rather than engage arguments on their logic, evidence, reality, and rhetoric.
Wokism and CRT in CA go back at least to 1996 if not earlier. Many academics warned of this ideology. Trump and populism is a response to Woke. (It needs to be checked as well.) Anyone versed in Chinese history recognizes the crossover of Woke with Red Guard.
Organized church, yes. The local church members and leaders, in my local area, are really forward thinking and helping the community.
That’s great to hear, but statistically speaking fundamentalists are the majority.
There are a billion Catholics worldwide. American TV evangelists and megachurches have captured the “brand” of Christian though in the U.S.A. They never wear a cross with the crucified body of Jesus, an innocent man who spoke out for the poor and vulnerable.
Indeed, Pope Leo has been a force to combat the lies and hate from those who have misappropriated “woke” and the very essence of Christianity which is love, empathy, kindness, caring for those less fortunate, etc. At least that is the Christianity I was brought up with in the Episcopal church.
Not only self righteousness but absolute obedience. To pastors, parents, anyone in authority. Religious communities brainwash their congregants. It’s no wonder so many of them think Trump is god’s chosen one.
Imagine the conditions of your "eye-sight", and your moral courage, if you felt like singling out one of the successful organizations in this world, out of the many of them.
Congratulations still, for choosing the safest (hence most fashionable) targets.
Huh?
Indeed. The sliver/log of the eye situation. Quick to find fault everywhere but in the mirror.
Instead of thinking critically, you castigate every Christian who belongs to a Church, accusing every one of them of being self-righteous. You might want to think before you post.
You might want to think before you believe...
I think…I reason…I believe…I have faith. Believe it or not, Stephen, many thinking people are also believers. What, exactly, do you believe in?
“Credo ut intelligam.” St. Augustine, 4th century African Bishop of Hippo would disagree.”I believe so I understand.” Note he uses Credo which is from the Latin “core do”, what I give my heart to. It is not an intellectual assent to doctrines first it would seem but helps illuminate them, open them up. He wrote s few himself! Interesting guy!
Absolutely I see these faces at the rallies I counter act and not wanting to critical think when I counter their claims
Mostly the Evangelicals
Religion is the root of all stupidity.
So-called enlightened atheism and other secular philosophies gave us the Soviet Union's gulags and other forms of collectivism which have killed over 100 million people in a single century.
I think it is important to understand the numbers. For example, the average IQ is 100 (by definition) and that means that with Normal distribution, in any society, that 75% of the population will be under 110 IQ.
Yet the average IQ to attend and complete a college or university first degree is between 115 and 120IQ. In other words, at 75% of the population, with no higher education, can out-vote everyone else, not just in elections but in most workplaces, social organisations, political groups and power structures.
Then there is functional illiteracy (where people cannot read, write or count well enough to fill in a form or read and understand instructions). The rate in America is around 21%, compared to, say, France at 7%. Three times worse. A failure of basic education.
All this has important consequences. For example, the fact you are on Substack certainly means you can read, and probably means you have a college education. In fact, if you do have a college education, that probably also means you don't have any close friends or work colleagues that do NOT have a college education. You are not only in the top percentage of IQ, but you live your life in a bubble of educated, higher IQ people.
And that means you can only imagine how 75% of the population live, work, talk, believe and understand. In fact, you are guessing - you haven't really a clue!
As to the lives, perceptions and beliefs of those 21% who are functionally or totally illiterate, and the next 10% or 20% who are also limited in their reading and writing abilities, it is almost impossible for us to internalise what that means for them, either not understanding or misunderstanding almost everything around them.
What's my point?
Firstly, intimating that stupid people are evil is a construct of intelligent people and their self-claimed moral superiority. Stupid people do stupid things, but that is usually because they are used to being compliant, and more intelligent people can manipulate them.
Secondly, if being evil includes an awareness and an intent, then many 'stupid' people would appear to be both unaware, and unable to plan ahead in a manner that suggested intent. Difficult to make the case of deliberate and evil intent.
Lastly, surely the people who are truly evil are the intelligentsia that plan and implement evil acts, and then get stupid people to not just carry them out, but also absolve them of consequences for their evil acts. For example, governments that absolve their military of war crimes, as America does. Or as Trump has done with ICE thugs. Or as Netanyahu is doing in Palestine.
All that said, ALL humans are capable of unspeakable acts of evil. Whilst I might be scared of the random and meaningless violence of a late night city centre, the real evils are taking place in meeting rooms and government offices and war rooms.
And yes, as we will eventually find out from the Epstein files, in hotel suites and plush penthouses and private islands and golf clubs, and probably even church sacristies.
The unintelligent have no exclusive rights on evil. But it is the intelligent that have no excuse for it.
I’d like to see these ideas restated with the term ‘unintelligent’ replaced by ‘unschooled’. Your assumption that the non college educated are more usefully intelligent than the 75% of the population at 100 IQ is suspect. There are so many tangential factors unaccounted for in your reasoning (am I correct that you were educated at a very expensive university?).
As Oscar Wilde, one of his generations greatest scholars, said: “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”
Unschooled is fundamentally different to unintelligent. IQ is not a perfect measure, but it is still relevant as a measure of someone's innate ability to understand complex problems in their head.
At one end, for those with low IQ it may mean they cannot understand basic concepts, that might allow them to learn to drive a car and follow the rules of the road. At the other end, an IQ of 150 and above may make someone a rocket scientist or brain surgeon, or may leave them so overwhelmed by their abilities to absorb and understand and correlate information that they sink into depression at the hopelessness of it all.
As for your assumption that I went to a top university, I left school at 16, did an apprenticeship in a car factory until they went bust, then started to retrain as an architect, and decided at 20 to give all that up and go make some money for myself, on the basis of 3 years of hard work would buy me two or three years of not working, mostly involving playing with boats. That's pretty much what I have done for the last 50 years.
Perhaps that's the other thing a higher IQ might give someone - they might make better assumptions? 😂
Congratulations on how you chose your life. And what you accomplished. I don't know that many magas personally, nor the "higher-bred" intelligentsia, but there is not one simple answer to any of these issues. Evil has awareness? And stupid does not? How does one know if you are neither of those? Just being curious as always, what exactly did you do playing with boats? And what car factory? Because I have been trying to get information on one in Santa Maria California that produced kits to make replica cars and there's no info. The Excalibur perhaps? And there you go or I go. Late night or very early morning. I ascribe to a fairly simple philosophy. Try not to judge too much, love and respect each other for we are all brothers and sisters, avoid gossip, people with evil intentions, gluttony, greed and hatred. Never stop learning. Question authority always. Speak up. Help those in need and mourning. Smile and say hello to strangers. Walk in the light.
This from a search on Excalibur cars:
The **Excalibur** was a neo-classical luxury car produced from the 1960s to the 1990s, designed to evoke the grandeur of 1920s–1930s **Mercedes-Benz SSK** roadsters but with modern mechanical components. It was the brainchild of industrial designer **Brooks Stevens**, who initially created it as a show car for **Studebaker** before launching it as an independent marque.
---
History of the Excalibur Automobile.
1. Origins (1963–1964)**
- **Concept:** The first Excalibur was a custom-bodied **Studebaker Avanti** displayed at the 1963 New York Auto Show.
- **Public Reception:** The car was so popular that Stevens decided to produce it independently after Studebaker declined.
2. Production Begins (1964–1969)**
- **First Generation (Series I, 1964–1965):**
- Based on a **Studebaker Lark** chassis with a fiberglass body.
- Powered by a **289ci Ford V8** (later Chevy 327).
- Featured **fake exhaust pipes, wire wheels, and a phaeton-style top**.
- Only about **100 units** were made.
- **Series II (1966–1969):**
- Switched to a **Chevrolet Corvette C2 chassis**.
- Used a **Chevy 327 or 427 V8**.
- More refined styling with a longer hood and sleeker fenders.
3. Peak Years (1970–1985)**
- **Series III (1970–1975):**
- Moved to a **Chevy C3 Corvette chassis**.
- Featured **power windows, A/C, and luxury interiors**.
- Offered in **roadster and phaeton (convertible) versions**.
- **Series IV & V (1976–1985):**
- Used **Chevy C3 & C4 Corvette underpinnings**.
- Introduced a **four-seat sedan** (Excalibur IV Sedan).
- Some models had **supercharged engines** (rare).
4. Decline & End (1986–1996)**
- **Series VI (1986–1990):**
- Last generation, based on **Chevy C4 Corvette**.
- Production slowed due to high costs and declining interest.
- **Final Years (1991–1996):**
- Only a handful were built before the company folded.
I also found out there were two kit car copies:
1. 'La Dawri' – One of the early companies that made Excalibur-inspired kits.
2. 'Clenet' – Produced similar neo-classical roadsters in the 1970s–80s.
Hope that helps.
I was more or less with you until your last sentence. The assumption that one went to a good school shouldn’t be interpreted as an insult. There was no need to be discourteous.
There was no such assumption expressed in my comment, or in my head.
I was referring to your comment about mine: “As for your assumption…” I asked a question, you called it an assumption, I replied that it was not meant to be disparaging. That’s all. (No need to respond, I’m done here, thanks.)
I agree with your restatement preference but would admit that is because I see myself included within it. I left college because I lacked the confidence to get much beyond freshman year. A devastating accident that devoured money meant for education coincided with doubt I was smart enough to succeed. Years later, I found the confidence to become an unschooled labor union leader who ran circles around attorneys and degree’d executives to put millions of dollars in pay and benefits into union members’ pockets. As to your Wilde quotation, what I learned about how others conduct themselves and how I should conduct myself when economic survival is at stake were things I never could have learned in college.
Ultimately, I did get a BA at age 69—a retirement/pandemic project. Spent the entire time pushing down the thought I wasn’t smart enough to finsh. Guess I was wrong.
Education can't make you intelligent...that is a God given talent like sports or music....stuffing ones head with fact and dates mean nothing without being to organize and utilize the knowledge......full disclosure,.....I quit H.S.in the 11the grade,went back and got kicked out,1 semester of college and then a technical education(Hvac)...I have been reading since about 6-7,profusely.... what has made the most difference in anything I do....is access to accurate information....don't get me started on Bonnhoffer...I think he was a the biggest victim of his own theory .....
Rambling — coupled with a groundless, unintelligent, and socially-programmed faux-question — of someone who, again, has been socially programmed to go on the offense if only they scan realistic, reality-compliant, mention of IQ.
I don't know why the other person tried to reply to this, frankly.
I think you are missing the idea that Bonhoeffer is saying that intelligence and stupidity are not necessarily linked. The “intelligent” can be quite stupid, and those low in ”IQ” are not by default roped into stupid ideas.
Seems like a strong argument for a meritocracy with limits on voting rights for those who can’t pass a high school civics/American government test (or citizenship naturalization exam). This is fundamentally how the PRC runs, and it has been stunningly effective for the past 40 years.
Those words that so few in the West ever dare discuss. Democracy, one man one vote, by the people for the people..... the only true political view!
Except it so often doesn't work like that.
Or maybe just break up countries so all of them are just states with no more than, say, a million or 5 million people. After all, the only people that big powerful countries serve are the ambitious and ruthless politicians that want to go take over someone else's country.
You may be on to something there. In a smallish group, people would feel more personal, more connected, under the right circumstances of course, if concern for others was taught, modeled, and expected. It could be very good. But again, how to implement in the real, very messy world?
Oh, Bro, you break my heart 💔. I often think this, and keep coming back to it again and resisting it again because reasons. Agree that the PRC is stunningly effective on many counts, but would you want to live there? Hmmm, clean, low crime, things work...... IDK. Maybe. But maybe not. In any case, it's not likely to be implemented in the US of A any time soon.
No. Quite the opposite!
😭😭😭😭😭
Good comment. Still it doesn't look at some facets.
For instance the reason why these masses end up having the best deceivers as their leaders — and not the doves who wouldn't deceive them even though far higher in intelligence and/or intellect.
A leaning toward evil is inscribed in the humanity of this world — stupidity (which is helped by low IQ, but is more aptly photographed by the notion of mindlessness: correlated yet not overlapping) only removes the chances for the subject to discern it, and oppose it in themselves, with conscious deliberation.
I mentioned that 75% are under 110 IQ. So if I was a sociopath and I wanted to take over a country, or indeed the world, I would forget those with high IQs and college education and focus on the tropes and memes of the dumb voter. Religion would be a good one, and memes that celebrate dumb notions, like patriotism, and fear, and fighting imaginary enemies, and stopping migrants from stealing jobs.
Sound familiar?
Now we are talking about emotions, not logic or evidence or facts. We are talking about making dumb people angry and passionate and all riled up! We are giving them brightly coloured badges to wear to show their loyalty to their country, and even making it dangerous for ordinary people NOT to join in this DumbFest.
But why don't they react this way to 'nice' people offering to lead them towards a nicer world? Because that nicer world is defined by intelligent people and they live in a different place, one of reading books and looking at art and going to plays and opera and drinking wine, and all that has absolutely zero overlap with the Dumbster's lives. Another planet.
Ok, all the above is exaggerated and simplistic to make a point, but perhaps it explains how I see your point. MAGA is exciting. MAGA is the worst kind of fun. MAGA allows people to be horrible and angry and stupid to other people and not get locked up for it. MAGA is the modern Ku klux Klan and the 1960's CIA and Atomwaffen and the NSM and Accelerationism, and the Oath Keeps, but suddenly legal, and the President will even give you a 'get out of jail free' pass! Heck, if you join Trump's ICE thugs he'll even pay you to behave like an asshole!
There is, I think, no way back for the Democrats in this scenario. The numbers simply do not add up for them. The may make great speeches, and come up with good reasons, and convince all the brighter people, but bottom line is that inescapable 75% figure. The Dems MUST address that.
I guess that's why when communists take over countries they kill all of the educated... Pol Pot, Mao, etc. That's exactly what they all did.
Yes, or isolate them on farms or in mines, removing their power to influence others.
And your statistics and %s (I presume, at a glance) are based on a mean of 100.
The world's median IQ is 82... which explains why control over a (geographically and demographically) minor share of the world translates rather smoothly into global empire.
I assumed it was obvious I was talking about the Western world, in particular the USA and Europe.
Agreed. There are many who can and should “know better” who see personal advantage in aligning with and supporting evil. The accomplices of evil designs need to be held accountable along with the truly evil forces of hate. But the US failed twice to do this, unlike most democracies, and thus failed to restrain either the evil-minded or their accomplices. Accountability - both in the criminal sense and in the sense of scandals that lose the evildoers their listeners - is crucial to preserving democracy when evil arises as it often has and will. Think Joe McCarthy and Father Coughlin and all the purveyors of hate in Jim Crow. The scandal of murdering Matthew Shepherd discredited the gay-haters. The uprising against the murder of George Floyd was an attempt to impose accountability for evil that failed.
Unclear if the starvation of Gaza will succeed in focusing attention on the evil embedded in the present Israeli regime. The restoration of official racism in the US via “antiDEI” campaigns hasn’t sufficed to shake the stupid belief in US government “taking care” of “its people” and ICE raids that make “mistakes” are only now being noticed as a “scandal”. I think we’ll see but don’t assume it will reach the stupid, given how supine and self-dealing most of the media has been.
Moral development has its own continuum. The strength of ones’ Intelligence powers the imagination of what someone might intend or suppose. Morality, influences their behavior.
I thought the whole 'I.Q.' thing is seen as a bit globally bogus now, no ? In the unexalted circles that I moved in, it started to be seen as passé, in the 1980s at least.
Perhaps it's a handy measurement for corporate job apps with their psychological profiling.
i.e. Can you wipe your bum with one hand etc although that's probably disablist - apols in advance.
No, IQ is not at all bogus in science, but I'm unfamiliar with what people believe in your circles.
I have noticed how many people now seem to believe that opinions are just as relevant as facts nowadays, perhaps to go alongside a belief that aromatherapy is as effective as evidence-led medicine, and that one's belief in a god is all they need because everything is 'god's will'.
Me, I'll stick with my own belief system that intelligent people generally have more understanding of facts and generally can make better judgements about how to respond to those facts. Crazy, huh?
Good to know you are sticking with your own belief system. #keepwearingthetinhat #thedeilsacomin #hallyloowoolyah #jayzussluvsatryer #intelligencealert #opinionsarefree #yoursarereallyreallyboringandpredictable
I found IQ tests foolish when I took one in high school (many years gone - I don't remember my score so don't ask), because they were so culturally biased. Anyone not in tune with the prevailing culture and its values would fail, even if they were a genius. (Don't ask me who last year's rap stars were, I don't have a clue). I don't believe that people think "opinions" trump facts, unfortunately due to the feminization of everything, they think "feelings" ARE facts! If you feel you are a (dog, cat, woman, man, octopus, martian), then you are one. And that is presented as "science"! By "intelligent people"!
How does this concept of the malice of stupidity relate to the constant flow of media that lulls us into the normalization of blatant cruelty? Aren't we at risk of passively accepting the tsunami of evil?
The media is the constant in the formation of the blank face of conformity and the normalization of hate, racism or “the other” that makes people look at each other with fear. The media is the dispenser of mis and disinformation and the most pervasive propagandist of all.
Sadly, this will remain the case as long as there is a profit to be made from the normalization of hate (as you so aptly put it). And so we have devolved into two tribes of monkeys gleefully flinging their poo at each other.
Yes. Good question. There's certainly a tsunami of news.
If you want to destroy the ability to think for yourself you dumb down the education system and cut funding for universities. You fund in such a way that a cash-strapped university has to put more resources into business studies and economics and less into humanities and those encouraging critical thinking.
You make high school education largely vocational except for the elite.
You defund early childhood education. These are the ways to create sheep and unquestioning followers.
That doesn't answer normalisation of cruelty though. Is it ever normalised? If depends on what you know about the world (see above) and your morality.
Been quoting him for years. He was right. It cost him his life.
Like flying planes into buildings? He didn’t “pay with his life”, his life was taken from him by stupid people who could not accept being challenged, who stood firm in their faith that fascism should not be questioned.
Pay with his life meaning paying the cost of holding tight to his convictions to the point of being killed for them. Sure, stupid people did take his life and he could have played it safe and would have lived if he had, but he like most decent people tried to put a stop to it and didn’t succeed in saving himself. It’s a tragedy really.
An absolute tragedy. And yes, he could have kept his mouth shut, but IMHO that’s different than “faith” or holding to convictions. He was trying to save ppl from being killed, not killed bc he was challenged about his beliefs. To me these are different issues.
True enough, faith and beliefs are entirely different topics outside the scope of motivation to save others from their own stupidity. In my lifetime that has rarely worked out, but I admire those who still try.
Self-belief as well as "faith", perhaps?
I was going to comment but I just read a number of comments that are so arrogant that I’ll pass. When you are so sure you see more clearly, it is time to step back and see where you are being blindsided.
It would be amazing to hear you speak as to what you thought was arrogance and believe is blindsiding rather than quickly passing judgement without putting your own thoughts on the line. It could be interpreted as arrogance not to bother speaking outside of offering a critique and we could all benefit from being shown a different if not better thought process… so please take time to share your own ideas as people are more than interested in hearing them, but without preventing what is precisely meant by using your own words rather than quotes.
I am not loquacious but found the whole discussion of IQ and college degrees without merit. College degrees have long been available to the wealthy but not always to those without wealth. Historical fact. That does not equate intelligence for the wealthy and stupidity for the poor. I bow out.
Agreed! I’m wary of defining people by IQ or education. Several brilliant minds didn’t have money or access to education. In turn, nobody offered me a scholarship or saved for my college education probably because they thought I was stupid when it was actually undiagnosed ASD making thought difficult. I had to work part time to earn an education, but this made me appreciate it all the more and become more inclined to put it to use. My experience has been with people who were handed college educations who in turn did nothing with them. One might argue that they were stupid, but then again it could be simply lazy. It seems that the harder we try or work for anything makes us productive, but I never discount anyone’s ability. If I could, so can they is my premise, IQ not being a deciding factor. I won’t even get into the contrived nature of it.
I was as well. You beat me to it.
I personally witnessed an overabundance of stupidity during the pandemic. People just blindly swallowed the narrative they were given, without questioning it's relevance. Fear and panic are powerful weapons, that's when reason should prevail.
My reading and studying of Bonhoeffer’s life and works has set me on a path, not only enlightenment, but the double edge sword of faith. How it can be used for good and how it can be used for evil. When things are inverted, so also is the way one fights evil. Lies become necessary, betrayal becomes relevant. It takes a person with deep and strong moral character to understand which is which and when an inversion of moral decency becomes a spiritual weapon for good.
The other thing I will add is that in my experience, for example at a Trump rally, you see very few people who would be considered intelligent. These are mostly lesser-educated and ignorant people. These are the stupid people mentioned. There are a few highly educated people who are Trump supporters, and they are smart because they know the advantages that Trump will give them over lesser moneyed people. Both groups would support an American Hitler.
He said explicitly that he "loves the poorly educated," and apparently that works for them.
God if I read one more quote about Hitler in the Nazis. It's not as if there's no record and documentaries or books of what happened in that period, it was pure devastation, millions died. It's a joke people like you run around on your keyboards living in the 1% land of the world and whining about the end of the world.
I wondered how long it would take for this to devolve into a political rant and here we are like all the other anger posting about the last election. It makes me embarrassed for us as a nation that people want to insult or hate their own countrymen over a single election. I’ve voted and my chosen candidates lost many times but I didn’t go around trash talking people who did their civic duty just because my own vote was different or that I felt mine was more right than theirs. Then again I was raised during a more polite era where it was considered impolite but today the gloves are off and everyone has become a target of mean spirited opinions. If any one behavior made our lives less enjoyable, this is for me among the worst.
FFS, if you can’t see the political ramifications in what Bonhoeffer wrote, you’re not paying attention. The man developed his philosophies during the Nazi regime. The parallels are so obvious, both in current life and in Bonhoeffer’s words, that if you miss them you’re being willfully ignorant.
Or stupid, as Bonhoeffer wrote.
If you cannot see that this was about an entirely different topic then you are the near sighted one and your insults are not welcome. I don’t have to tolerate verbal abuse from you or anybody Bill the retired IT Geek, but that is expected from IT people as far as I’m concerned, a topic I know all too well. Goodbye.
People have told me they voted for for trump because they have always voted republican. Well that's one less thing to have to worry about right whom to vote for? Oh dont get me started. People when you vote do your homework first.
See also: Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil.
Luckily, the Nazis didn't kill her. And she continued to workon great questions her entire life.
I came here to say exactly this!
Well, I have no faith to speak of. And I admire those whose faith compels them to great sacrifice - Bonhoeffer, the Black Baptist church, the Dalai Lama - all help me see that there is some worth in being a "person of god".
I’d be a lot more impressed with the Dalai Lama if he’d do something more than spout meaningless platitudes and offer a single useful statement condemning the greatest criminals since Hitler.
“We are all one” just isn’t really cutting it as a countervailing philosophy when Nazis are making the rules.
Sounds like the self-hypnotically stupid way we all become more conscious of the nature of language than the nature of Reality? In that "knowledge is the only Good, ignorance the only Evil" diagnosis of the human condition, favoured by people like Socrates. And Jesus famous diagnosis of the socially normal: "they seeing see not, hearing hear not, and neither do they understand." Arguably, the subconsciously synchronous nature of human behavior, and our species-specific form of experiential blindness?
Could you please give us chapter & verse.
The actual quote is from the Old Testament, Isaiah 6:9-10 : "He replied, 'Go and tell this people: Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.'" The passage highlights the prophetic declaration of Israel's spiritual blindness, a judgment for their persistent disobedience and idolatry.
A conceptually similar New Testament saying by Jesus may be found in John 9:39-41 : "Then Jesus declared, 'For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.' Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, 'Are we blind too?' 'If you were blind,' Jesus replied, 'you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.'" Jesus uses the healing of a physically blind man to illustrate spiritual blindness among the Pharisees, who, despite their religious knowledge, fail to recognize Him as the Messiah.
(I'm not a Bible scholar; just handy with a search engine)
A book is coming to articulate my understanding of the self-hypnotic stupidity of foolishly ‘imagining’ that language doesn’t just describe reality, it defines it. Having spent decades trying to transcend the lip-service sense of my own reality, defined by the reality-labeling words, David Bates.
Matthew 13:13
You are of course correct. "This is why I speak to them in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." It seems this is a theme that runs repeatedly through both the Old and New Testaments.
Thank you.
But the quote is taken out of context, don't you think?
Actually not at all I don’t think. That whole Chapter is exactly what I think is going on with Bonhoeffer’s assessment of Stupidity and the idea that people participate in it not so much out of malice or evil intent but laziness and the wish to avoid personal reflection, thought and ultimately responsibility
OMG, so much this. Yes, sometimes we are stupid, and sometimes we are just lazy. 😕
The light of God, as the Solar-System reality of the Sun? And the role our heart plays in energizing the electro-chemical substance of our thoughts, within the place of a Skull? And the whole-self reality of our Nervous-System? While many say that when it comes to discerning truths and falsehoods, context is everything within the mind’s processing of energy and information.
Sharing, following, thank you.
This is 100% spot on. The only thing I take issue with is calling it “stupidity,” which is a value judgment. Judgments create defensiveness, which inspires people to cling tighter rather than encouraging them to let go a little and actually think critically.
If we want people to engage in dialogue and consider other perspectives, it would be wise to refrain from using critical value judgments.
Your point is exactly what I thought when reading this. "Stupidity" carries a lot of baggage that doesn't help here. It may make us feel better to call the other "stupid," but it sure is a bad way to start a dialogue.
That’s real wisdom, Chris, I appreciate your sharing your perspective.
Not just the “organized church’s” it’s most of the community. My family and many friends fit in here. Alexis de Tocqueville “Democracy in America” described how people in general join organizations, memorizing the party line and sound bites, essentially becoming passive and leaving their thinking to others. They use this time for the benefit of family, work, hobby, exercise and relaxation: but not for independent thinking. What happened to the proud German people is happening everywhere lazy thinking breeds complacency. I’ve examined this issue closely and notice the seeds around the World sponsored by otherwise good people being on Social Media full-time with no desire for personal time to think, read or challenge their own beliefs. Few people want to stand alone with their beliefs. Very sad and very bad outcomes to follow…
In the election of 2024 both parties nominated individuals that I consider to be stupid with Kamala being the dumbest by far. I voted for neither.
Then you certainly didn’t know much about her!
Not voting for either makes you part of the problem, not the solution. You helped “vote in” the destruction of our democracy and a convicted felon, liar, rapist etc.
Unfortunately, it’s not only you who suffers, you condemned more than half the country.
Thank you, as Kamala is neither stupid or conventional. Highly educated, excellent service and "employment" in office and service to the people. I'm certain if I tests were given to Kamala and dt, that dt would not even come close. Unless of course, there's an IQ test for malice and evil.
He said he didn't vote for either, not that he didn't vote, unless I missed something.
Confining yourself to voting only for one of the mainstream party candidates is neither intelligent nor effective, since they are both ultimately servicing the same power structure and amoral world view.
There is a conceit among Western Liberals that somehow they are better than the alternative, and that in aligning themselves with the lesser of two evils, they are therefore good. Complacency, indifference, laziness and complicity are all moral choices and neither heroic or laudable. Try not to throw your arm out patting yourself on the back for being little more than a follower at best and a cultist otherwise.
And no one outside of the US believes that Democrats are anything less than what the rest of the world understands as conservatives. Both mainstream parties uphold the oligarchy, support the hegemony seeking capitalism of the American society and turn a blind eye to the carnage they leave in the wake of their avarice. The two parties are two wings of the same dirty amoral bird.
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with you and appreciate you sharing that, it's best not to feed the trolls.
It’s even better not to BE the trolls and it appears that there are more than enough to go around about a topic with nothing to do with the original subject matter.
Checking your comment history, it's clear that you prefer stirring the pot to adding anything of merit to a discussion. I therefore politely refer you to my previous statement.
The 2024 election seems to be a perfect illustration of the philosophy expressed in the article. I agree that Harris seems far stupider than Trump, low though that bar might be. What clouds the issue is that Trump is demonstrably sociopathic, and this can skew any analysis of his actual intelligence. Harris, with her very conventional resume, background, and personality, seems only to be inadequate.
I also voted for neither.