So... today Charlie Stross asked the question "Why are there so many stupid people?" and I came up with this:
Once upon a time, I took a course in Developmental Psychology. (I'm dredging up memories from long ago. So, I will qualify the following with the fact that it isn't the most up to date information. Also? Memory isn't a 100% reliable thing.)
I seem to recall that a definitive definition of intelligence is virtually non-existent. There are varying types of intelligence and only a small portion of them are measurable. So, we're starting off on shifty ground here.
Why are there so many stupid people?
That said, intelligence is a bell curve. There will always be outliers, and as someone else said--those at the upper end of the bell curve are more likely to have a different perception of the rest of the bell curve than those positioned in other parts of the bell curve. The wide spectrum of intelligence has (probably genetic) advantages or it is likely it wouldn't exist. Thus, there will always be 'stupid' people. Intelligence is not the sole indicator of other valuable qualities such as specific talents (art, literature, physical abilities, emotional development, empathy) which are also valuable to humanity at large--basically, intelligence isn't necessarily the best measure of what moves humanity forward as a whole. I'm thinking of the long ago television program called "Connections." Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.[1] What if the components required to advance weren't entirely intelligence based but a combination of other talents? It is next to impossible to develop high technology in the middle of a war zone. Smoking piles of rubble don't exactly provide an abundance of resources for advancement. Creativity (and not just the artistic kind) doesn't thrive under extremely adverse conditions. Example: there's a reason Steve Jobs evolved in a prosperous, peaceful area of California and not in war-torn Somalia--and it isn't because Somalians are less intelligent than Californians.
So, *if* there is a shift toward higher intelligence in humanity as a whole (and I'm not entirely convinced there is,) I would say that the reasons why aren't merely due the smart people reproducing or communicating with one another.
Thoughts?
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[1] a certain amount of adversity is required. it's a balance, however. too much is bad as is too little.
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Comments
There are a lot of people who can process information effectively, but their beliefs and assumptions get in the way. They miss facts, or only selectively believe the ones they want to.
Does that make them stupid? Or does that make them differently stupid from people who can't process information well? Or does it just make them human?
There's also the difference between accumulating facts and being able to contextualize them. There are a lot of learned idiots out there. They're very knowledgeable, but can barely tie their own shoes.
I think answering the question of why there are so many stupid people could take up several books and still not come up with a very good answer.
true. and there *are* different kinds of intelligence--being able to use known facts and build from there is definitely one form, but it isn't all of intelligence.
we *all* hold beliefs that color our perceptions and often, we don't see that. it is unavoidable.
To vex us.