One thing that the film Idiocracy got wrong is that the only form of idiocy is not populistic and anti-intellectual. You can also absolutely have a form of idiocy that is elitist and pseudo-intellectual.
In my view, yes one faction would be watching "ow my balls", but another person would be watching an equally vapid TV show called "let's laugh at the people watching ow my balls". Wow it might have a veneer of intellectualism, in reality it would simply be another form of petty dumb entertainment.
One form of idiocy may be convinced by "Brawndo has what plants crave", but another group may be chanting "scientists and philosophers all agree Brawndo is what plants crave!" Even though they know nothing about science or philosophy.
You shouldn't pick between the two sides because they are both wrong, and both idiocies appeal to baser emotions. Most people know that populism appeals to a desire for simplicity in the world, well elitism appeals to the desire to be able to look down on someone who isn't you. Both forms of idiocy demand conformance to a standard that matches their worldview.
Because at the moment that's the narrative, people may believe that populist idiocy leads to the erosion of democratic values and the spread of misinformation while elitist idiocy creates social divisions and hinders progress. In reality, all forms of idiocy do all of the above. The fact that a falsehood is being spread by people pretending to be smarter than everyone else doesn't make it a truth, it's still just as much a falsehood. The fact that an elitist wants to corrupt democracy because they look down on the people watching "ow my balls" instead of those watching "watching people watch ow my balls, how stupid are these people?" doesn't mean democracy is magically intact. Just because someone is doing something that will regress or otherwise harm society doesn't mean it's not so just because it's a populist doing it, and dividing up people into different classes of people divides society whether your contention is that the populists are the "good guys" or the elitists.
While populism or elitism have representations in idiocy, that doesn't mean that these ideologies are inherently idiotic or that they can't have very meaningful and engaging representations. There are in fact sophisticated arguments for both, and within both. The key isn't the form of idiocy, rather it's the fact that idiocy can have a thousand faces, and using the presentation of one form of idiocy as a heuristic for detecting all forms of idiocy is not accurate.
Ironically, the idea of using the film "Idiocracy" as a heuristic for idiocy is a form of idiocy. You'll see people unthinkingly chant "That's just like the movie Idiocracy!" as if that actually means anything. This only serves as further evidence of my point, that idiocy takes many forms, and there's no ideology you can follow to be inherently immune to it. The key for people who are not physically idiots due to environmental, biological, or developmental factors (who can be forgiven for their infirmities) is to avoid being ideologically idiotic by thinking for oneself -- Critically think, consider the consequences of your thoughts, understand and accept that whatever you choose to believe will not be wholly correct or wholly just or wholly moral. You might end up wrong about something, but at least you came by your conclusions honestly, and if you're not being an idiot and you're wrong, then there's a good chance you will change your mind eventually.
In my view, yes one faction would be watching "ow my balls", but another person would be watching an equally vapid TV show called "let's laugh at the people watching ow my balls". Wow it might have a veneer of intellectualism, in reality it would simply be another form of petty dumb entertainment.
One form of idiocy may be convinced by "Brawndo has what plants crave", but another group may be chanting "scientists and philosophers all agree Brawndo is what plants crave!" Even though they know nothing about science or philosophy.
You shouldn't pick between the two sides because they are both wrong, and both idiocies appeal to baser emotions. Most people know that populism appeals to a desire for simplicity in the world, well elitism appeals to the desire to be able to look down on someone who isn't you. Both forms of idiocy demand conformance to a standard that matches their worldview.
Because at the moment that's the narrative, people may believe that populist idiocy leads to the erosion of democratic values and the spread of misinformation while elitist idiocy creates social divisions and hinders progress. In reality, all forms of idiocy do all of the above. The fact that a falsehood is being spread by people pretending to be smarter than everyone else doesn't make it a truth, it's still just as much a falsehood. The fact that an elitist wants to corrupt democracy because they look down on the people watching "ow my balls" instead of those watching "watching people watch ow my balls, how stupid are these people?" doesn't mean democracy is magically intact. Just because someone is doing something that will regress or otherwise harm society doesn't mean it's not so just because it's a populist doing it, and dividing up people into different classes of people divides society whether your contention is that the populists are the "good guys" or the elitists.
While populism or elitism have representations in idiocy, that doesn't mean that these ideologies are inherently idiotic or that they can't have very meaningful and engaging representations. There are in fact sophisticated arguments for both, and within both. The key isn't the form of idiocy, rather it's the fact that idiocy can have a thousand faces, and using the presentation of one form of idiocy as a heuristic for detecting all forms of idiocy is not accurate.
Ironically, the idea of using the film "Idiocracy" as a heuristic for idiocy is a form of idiocy. You'll see people unthinkingly chant "That's just like the movie Idiocracy!" as if that actually means anything. This only serves as further evidence of my point, that idiocy takes many forms, and there's no ideology you can follow to be inherently immune to it. The key for people who are not physically idiots due to environmental, biological, or developmental factors (who can be forgiven for their infirmities) is to avoid being ideologically idiotic by thinking for oneself -- Critically think, consider the consequences of your thoughts, understand and accept that whatever you choose to believe will not be wholly correct or wholly just or wholly moral. You might end up wrong about something, but at least you came by your conclusions honestly, and if you're not being an idiot and you're wrong, then there's a good chance you will change your mind eventually.
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