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Why are there so many idiots? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-20

Stupid people make stupid decisions. Like teasing a wild animal. Or vaping after losing a lung to cigarette smoking. But no worries- in principle, Natural Selection will slowly decimate their ranks.

In principle.

Unfortunately, instead of living in nature “red in tooth and claw”, civilization buffers us from the consequences of our actions. Breaking Natural Selection’s feedback loop. True, a few covidiots expired from the disease. Which is sad. And ironic. But many more were spared by the very public health system they maligned for actually trying to save their lives.

Clorox cocktails, anyone?

We are a stupid country. Our life expectancy has declined while the rest of the developed world’s has risen. We believe in the healing power of crystals while failing to support cheap public health measures. Infant mortality, mass shootings, incarceration rates and even democratic benchmarks rank near the bottom of our peers.

What is the root cause of our persistent stupidity? There are two: blind faith and consequence-free speech.

If the Catholic Church was unable to hide behind the veil of religion, by now a court would have ordered the Pope to resign and be replaced by an independent special master.

Trust is the glue that binds society together. Without trust, we would spend all our waking hours on high alert, never benefiting from the knowledge or kindness of others. Even so, as Ronald Reagan so famously quipped, there are limits to faith- “trust, but verify” was his motto. Trust must be tested, earned, and challenged again. Otherwise, by mindlessly following a politician, religion, or TikTok meme out of blind faith, you may accept dumb ideas as scripture. And since trust is emotionally reinforced by peer pressure, “verifying” is not celebrated as a virtue, but seen as a threat to your core group identity.

For these reasons, it takes generations to undo the damage blind trust may cause. Look how long it took for Catholics to hold the church accountable for its systemic pedophilia and coverups. Despite the evidence from brave investigative reporting, eye witness testimony and the reluctant confession of church elders, true believers remained unconvinced. Logic and facts are blunt instruments against the sharp knife of blind trust.

And the threat of eternal damnation.

As Billy Murray noted “It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person. It’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.” Yet some people hope a free market in the exchange of ideas will convince the stupid of the error of their ways. “Sunshine in the best disinfectant” they proclaim, encouraging big money, AI disinformation agents, conspiracy mongers and just plain old idiots to make their case. Hoping truth will crowd out stupidity in the marketplace of ideas. And that rational inquiry will prevail.

But ideas without consequences are dangerous.

Our overly expansive First Amendment diminishes personal responsibility for our tirades, leaving society to clean up the mess. Absent consequences, the stupid never learn their lessons.

In America, it’s essentially impossible to sue or be prosecuted for speech offered as protected “opinion”, even if that speech is demonstrably a lie. Believing space lasers start wildfires or obscure jungle fruits are a “super-food” able to cure the latest ailment, seems innocuous enough. Yet words have consequences. Followers putting their faith in your ideas can be harmed. And repetition is as powerful a cudgel as an immediate call-to-action. That’s why propaganda works.

False opinions splinter society’s ability to draw together in times of crisis. It crowds out effective solutions and wastes precious resources. And most critically of all, fails to distinguish between effective rational discourse and incoherent arguments. Intelligence is a muscle and without proper exercise, atrophies.

Caveat emptor.

I’ll offer a few solutions to address rampant stupidity, but perhaps we should move cautiously and tolerate a little bit of idiocy? After all, evolutionary biologists recognize the benefits of genetic and cultural diversity. In times of stress, evolution draws upon a reservoir of variation to assure the survival of the species. A gene halving seed production appears deleterious- stupid even. It should quickly die out. But if that same gene also improves drought tolerance in a world of global warming, that stupid plant holds the blueprint for the future.

Perhaps stupid people force the rest of us to better hone our arguments? To avoid complacent rationality? Even serving as object lessons- acknowledging that luck plays as much a role in life as raw skill. We all are stupid sometimes, and should cut each other a bit of slack.

And sometimes stupid is right.

Except the ranks of the stupid have grown so numerous, they now block, rather then incentivize, smart solutions. We’re not concerned with a single dumb act or political/moral disagreements. The lung cancer victim who vapes may be otherwise rational except in this one area, where their mind is clouded by a powerful addiction.

The problem is systemic idiocy. Brainwashing an entire generation of young men into solving problems with violence or misogyny. Transferring a blind faith in god to a blind faith in demagogues. Allowing our base instincts for power to overwhelm reason, inventing excuses to force our desires on others without considering the likely consequences.

You know, being stupid.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/20/2194401/-Why-are-there-so-many-idiots

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