One of the biggest dangers is assuming that because someone is intelligent they will come up with the right answer, and that because someone is unintelligent they will come up with the wrong answer.
Intelligence is a tool, like a knife. A knife can be used to create, or to destroy. It can be used to set up a camp or perform a life-saving surgery, it can be used to stab an innocent person. It can be used to oppose tyranny, but it can also be used to support tyranny. Ironically, intelligence is a tool, and like any tool it's stupid. It only becomes smart with wisdom and humanity behind it.
We are the most intelligent civilization in world history, but we are the least wise. We've extremely intelligently disregarded all our historical wisdom, sure that we can rebuild new wisdom with our vast intellect. Unfortunately, that's cutting off your left hand to make your right hand stronger -- it works, but you can never grow your left hand back. That shows though, that you can't assume that if there's a right answer that the people who come to that answer are necessarily more intelligent.
Intelligence is a tool, like a knife. A knife can be used to create, or to destroy. It can be used to set up a camp or perform a life-saving surgery, it can be used to stab an innocent person. It can be used to oppose tyranny, but it can also be used to support tyranny. Ironically, intelligence is a tool, and like any tool it's stupid. It only becomes smart with wisdom and humanity behind it.
We are the most intelligent civilization in world history, but we are the least wise. We've extremely intelligently disregarded all our historical wisdom, sure that we can rebuild new wisdom with our vast intellect. Unfortunately, that's cutting off your left hand to make your right hand stronger -- it works, but you can never grow your left hand back. That shows though, that you can't assume that if there's a right answer that the people who come to that answer are necessarily more intelligent.
Nature, nurture, and free will all contribute to our behavior.
You can't teach a dog to recite Shakespeare, it doesn't have a mouth to speak.
Someone who has never learned Shakespeare will never recite Shakespeare, they don't have the knowledge to do so.
And someone with the biological means and the cultural upbringing may still choose to never recite Shakespeare because it is our choice whether to do so or not, and two similar people may make different decisions.
Without understanding this, people will fail to act appropriately because they might try to culture those who lack the faculties to have culture, or they might fail to impart culture, or they might assume you can treat men like a piano key and they will always play the same note.
You can't teach a dog to recite Shakespeare, it doesn't have a mouth to speak.
Someone who has never learned Shakespeare will never recite Shakespeare, they don't have the knowledge to do so.
And someone with the biological means and the cultural upbringing may still choose to never recite Shakespeare because it is our choice whether to do so or not, and two similar people may make different decisions.
Without understanding this, people will fail to act appropriately because they might try to culture those who lack the faculties to have culture, or they might fail to impart culture, or they might assume you can treat men like a piano key and they will always play the same note.
It isn't egalitarian to say that some people are better morally than others and will choose to do better things than others. It's inherently hierarchal, with a hierarchy of morality.
My brother is a good example, where he's smarter than me genetically, and better off physically, but he morally failed to make good choices and so despite having similar and in fact better biology, and similar culture having been raised in the same household, he's far worse off in life than me.
The nexus of nature, nurture, and choice is what's important, and you can't nurture your way out of nature and choice problems, and you can't choose your way out of nature and nurture problems, but to be someone who deserves to be king, one needs the nexus to meet at the pinnacle of all three. It doesn't mean the lesser people are bad people, nor does it mean they don't deserve a good life, but they shouldn't be king, and if you put them there then you're doing everyone wrong including the falsely elevated.
My brother is a good example, where he's smarter than me genetically, and better off physically, but he morally failed to make good choices and so despite having similar and in fact better biology, and similar culture having been raised in the same household, he's far worse off in life than me.
The nexus of nature, nurture, and choice is what's important, and you can't nurture your way out of nature and choice problems, and you can't choose your way out of nature and nurture problems, but to be someone who deserves to be king, one needs the nexus to meet at the pinnacle of all three. It doesn't mean the lesser people are bad people, nor does it mean they don't deserve a good life, but they shouldn't be king, and if you put them there then you're doing everyone wrong including the falsely elevated.
It might not be a peer-reviewed study, but it can be convincing enough evidence. What's interesting is that my brother helped disprove a lot of ideas that I had about what might make someone successful or at least happy in life.
From very early on he was a very successful hedonist, but a lot of people that live that lifestyle end up miserable...
From very early on he was a very successful hedonist, but a lot of people that live that lifestyle end up miserable...
- replies
- 1
- announces
- 0
- likes
- 3