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Make no mistake, ignorance and stupidity are real dangers to our society. [1]

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Date: 2023-03-17

Make no mistake, Ignorance and Stupidity are Dangers to our Society.

I want to talk to you about something that recently I found out about, something that I think we all should be aware of, because I believe it explains a lot about what's going on in our society. As we are all aware, there seems to be a lot of ignorant people that have become famous for speaking on subjects they know nothing about. Additionally, many of these people gain followers who will literally follow these fake leaders into the bowels of hell.

But why? How did we come to embrace ignorance and misinformation? I don’t have all the answers this query but I have some intriguing information about the people that spread lies. From there you will be able to see how following these ministers of misinformation can lead to disaster.

Recently I was fortunate to run across an article written by a cognitive neuro neuroscientist. He had written this article about stupidity and how it can be harmful to our society. The key new piece of information he introduced me is the Dunning-Krueger effect.

The Dunning – Krueger effect is known psychological condition. Basically, what it is, is the tendency of individuals to overestimate their level of intelligence, knowledge, or competence in any specific area.

Let me say that again - The Dunning Kruger effect is a psychological condition in which the individual overestimates their level of intelligence, knowledge, or competence in any particular area. When I read this, as you can imagine, I immediately screamed Wow. What is this? I wanted to read more and find out more. Well, the, the reality, the more I have read, the more it explains so much about what's going on.

You see people with this condition, tend to see themselves knowledgeable about anything they feel like talking about, even if they have no experience, education, training, or anything about that subject. The more they talk, and the more other people listen to them, the more emboldened they become feeling like they know what they're talking.

It is the ability to not see themselves. They don't see their failure, their incompetence, or their lacking knowledge. They do not see any of that. For whatever reason, in their minds, it clicks that they are the person that has the knowledge and the ability on the subject that nobody else.

Now let us take a step back. In the three or four years, we have seen a lot of our politicians (or wannabe leaders) that have begun to step up and make very bold pronouncements about various things. Two things become very clear: (1) And a staggering number of these people don't have any knowledge or background in that particular area, and (2) they don't have any proof.

As I’ve witnessed these individuals making these unfounded pronouncements, I tried to figure what the hell is going on. How is this possible that you have this man or woman standing before the public making these statements without anything to back up what they are saying?

For example, former President Trump, was quick to dismiss the Covid virus as just another “flu”. He also indicated that based on what he had read and people he had spoken with, this virus would disappear by summer. He also knew that the noise from wind turbines caused cancer. Did he have any knowledge or education regarding either of these subjects? No. But that did not stop him from make bold statements and arguing with individuals that did have expertise in those areas. In trumps mind, he knows everything, and he is always right.

This is the Dunning Krueger effect. And trump is not the only one. In America today, particularly within the conservative republican ranks, the Dunning Krueger Effect seems to have taken over. These people (the DKs) have totally dismissed empirical or scientific knowledge for bravado and BS. These new age snake oil salesman are convincing millions of people to ignore traditional knowledge for whatever can be imagined.

Now at this point, you should be able to see how this psychological condition is connected to our current society. You should also be able to see how dangerous this can be. You see, the last thing you want is for these people to be in power or become the majority because everything they do will not be for the good of society but rather to satisfy their own delusional fantasies.

Traditionally we base our lives on reality, science, and experience. The people that have the Dunning Krueger condition won't base their decisions on any of those principles. They won't base their decisions on anything that resembles truth. All of their decisions on their grandiose view of themselves. So when a situation like another pandemic arises, the DKs will very likely reject common sense, science and love and declare that this new illness is fake. In turn society will be plunged into chaos and unnecessary deaths.

Friends, upon reading the article about Dunning Krueger, I came away with a sort of awakening to the world outside my windows. I’ve long tried to understand some of the craziness that was coming from the mouth of the extreme people, but I could not put into clear and concise summary. The Dunning Krueger Effect really helped me to better understand the mental breakdown around me. I could see this condition, while not fatal, can be dangerous. I also came to understand that this condition makes people believe something is real when it is not.

The DKs and those that follow them are real. But just like these people are real so too, do we have to be real in our response to them. We must be bold. We must be passionate in our response. We cannot give in. We must show them that reality Is the foundation for today and the future.

The delusional DK thinks ignoring reality will somehow make all the bad things go away. We know that is not true. We cannot just wish away bad things. We must deal with it, regardless of how unpopular that reality may be.

I believe in America. I truly do. In the history of humankind, there have been many attempts to build a strong civilization. Most have failed. However, the formula that we here in America have come up with is the best thing going. It is not perfect, but it's the best thing going. Unfortunately, even this strong, beautiful society can be destroyed if those of us who believe in it, simple stand by and allow the DKs or any ignorant group to control over are society.

The Dunn-Krueger effect is real and ignorance like this can be dangerous. But it doesn’t have to destroy our society. It is up to us, the majority, to stand against ignorance and stand for intelligence.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/17/2158770/-Make-no-mistake-ignorance-and-stupidity-are-real-dangers-to-our-society

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