In C M Kornbluth’s bitter 1952 classic, a 1980s real estate swindler wakes up in the future, where he advises oligarchs on how to con millions to their deaths.
Maybe I'm an idealist, but it seems dangerous and unnecessary to get into genetics and evolution when it's as likely to be a choice to be ignorant. Moron, idiot, and stupid imply some kind of biological lacking that isn't likely to be overcome. Ignorance, on the other hand, can be overcome. Alas, many are passionately ignorant: they work at it. Sad, but recoverable. Passionate ignorance defines much of human history; so does a range of brilliant ways (sciences, humanities, literature, etc) to dismiss the old prejudices and move on to something better.
That’s absolutely the case. My dad used to say that the idea of intelligence is being able to reason quickly from false premises to mistaken conclusions.
As Josh Billings said, “It ain’t what you dont know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you do know that ain’t so.”
I'd no idea that it was based on "The Marching Morons"... while it seems clear that "intelligence" is not as heritable as many imagine, the machines and pleasures we have provided ourselves may create an environment conducive to the same result by lacking any stimulus to exercise our faculties. I'm coming around to the idea that maybe the Butlerian Jihad had a point, as a an apparent "speciest"..
Douglas you’ve just validated every thought, notion, and conviction I’ve had over the last year. This is a very dark essay that’s somehow strangely comforting to read. Yep, we’re doomed. Yep, the Silicon Valley tech-authoritarians are twisted, ignorant child-men, even more miserable than we all are. Some world.
Whatever you do, just pull the blanket of stupidity back over your head and DON'T READ THIS!
No, seriously, thank you Dougald for this important outlook on this sad state of affairs!
It's not "survival of the fittest", it's "survival of the most fitted".
In times of scarcity being the "fittest" (large & strong) can be a significant disadvantage in evolutionary terms.
Peter Kropotkin's "Mutual Aid" was dismissed at the time but modern evolutionary biologists find much to agree with.
Exactly. Social status is not fitness.
Maybe I'm an idealist, but it seems dangerous and unnecessary to get into genetics and evolution when it's as likely to be a choice to be ignorant. Moron, idiot, and stupid imply some kind of biological lacking that isn't likely to be overcome. Ignorance, on the other hand, can be overcome. Alas, many are passionately ignorant: they work at it. Sad, but recoverable. Passionate ignorance defines much of human history; so does a range of brilliant ways (sciences, humanities, literature, etc) to dismiss the old prejudices and move on to something better.
That’s absolutely the case. My dad used to say that the idea of intelligence is being able to reason quickly from false premises to mistaken conclusions.
As Josh Billings said, “It ain’t what you dont know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you do know that ain’t so.”
I'd no idea that it was based on "The Marching Morons"... while it seems clear that "intelligence" is not as heritable as many imagine, the machines and pleasures we have provided ourselves may create an environment conducive to the same result by lacking any stimulus to exercise our faculties. I'm coming around to the idea that maybe the Butlerian Jihad had a point, as a an apparent "speciest"..
Executing the mooching billionaires enmasse for the crime is the only way to get America on par with China.
Douglas you’ve just validated every thought, notion, and conviction I’ve had over the last year. This is a very dark essay that’s somehow strangely comforting to read. Yep, we’re doomed. Yep, the Silicon Valley tech-authoritarians are twisted, ignorant child-men, even more miserable than we all are. Some world.