Thought for the day...

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,775
I would've included a picture of AOC instead. But the article does have a point:


This new theory of stupidity I have proposed here — that stupidity is not a lack of intelligence or knowledge, but a lack of awareness of the limits of one’s intelligence or knowledge — is more important right now than ever before, and I’ll tell you why. The same study by Anson mentioned above showed that when cues were given to make the participants “engage in partisan thought,” the Dunning-Kruger effect became more pronounced. In other words, if someone is reminded of the Republican-Democrat divide, they become even more overconfident in their uninformed positions. This finding suggests that in today’s unprecedently divided political climate, we are all more likely to have an inflated sense of confidence in our unsupported beliefs. What’s more, those who actually have the greatest ignorance will assume they have the least!
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
I would've included a picture of AOC instead. But the article does have a point:

Sill using the obsolete Dunning-Kruger effect meme in that article. :rolleyes:

These types of people are IMO not stupid in any meaning of the word, they are manipulators, con artists, grifters who are experts at their craft.
DUNNING–KRUGER TODAY
The original paper by Dunning and Kruger starts with the quote: “It is one of the essential features of incompetence that the person so inflicted is incapable of knowing that they are incompetent.” This idea has spread far and wide through both scientific literature and pop culture alike. But according to the work of my colleagues and me, the reality is that very few people are truly unskilled and unaware.

The Dunning and Kruger experiment did find a real effect – most people think they are better than average. But according to my team’s work, that is all Dunning and Kruger showed. The reality is that people have an innate ability to gauge their competence and knowledge. To claim otherwise suggests, incorrectly, that much of the population is hopelessly ignorant.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-dunning-kruger-effect-isnt-what-you-think-it-is/
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
https://nypost.com/2024/04/26/us-ne...nti-israel-encampment-over-lack-of-diversity/
University of Washington anti-Israel encampment postponed over lack of diversity
A planned anti-Israel encampment at the University of Washington was scrapped at the last minute because of a lack of diversity — following fierce backlash for not involving any Muslim, Palestinian or Arab students.

“After long discussions, we have had to make the hard decision to postpone our action for several days,” the school’s Progressive Student Union announced Thursday, the day its “UW Palestine Encampment” was supposed to take over a quad at 8 a.m.
...
“Please listen to the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students criticizing this event and cancel it,” one person commented to the initial post.

“Y’all have zero community support in this bc of your inability to center Palestinians and Arabs and this is so poorly planned,” someone else stated.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68909942
Columbia campus protester apologises for 'kill Zionists' comments
Mr James posted the comments to Instagram in January. He also said: "Be grateful that I'm not just going out and murdering Zionists."

The comments were made both before and after Columbia administrators called him in for a disciplinary hearing.

"I don't fight to injure or for there to be a winner or a loser, I fight to kill," he said in a post.
Asked about it:
A Columbia administrator asked, “Do you see why that is problematic in any way?”

Mr. James replied, “No.”

He also compared Zionists to white supremacists and Nazis. “These are all the same people,” he said. “The existence of them and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, it’s all antithetical to peace. It’s all antithetical to peace. And so, yes, I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, calling for those people to die.”
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,775
Oh, come on!

You post a political hit piece masquerading as Science® for a Thought for the day?
You're right. The article leaves much to be desired. Especially considering the source, which has a clear political agenda but pretends to pass as journalism.

My intention was to draw attention to the fact-free systems of beliefs that have taken root in the last couple of generations.

This is, more or less, the point I was trying to make:

“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffen
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,311
This is, more or less, the point I was trying to make:
Ok, so we need to BOLO the stupid.

And take some action against them? Why not? They're dangerous!

And who gets to decide who the stupid is?

The stupid, of course.

This is why I hate do gooders.

C.S. Lewis said:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,330
You're right. The article leaves much to be desired. Especially considering the source, which has a clear political agenda but pretends to pass as journalism.

My intention was to draw attention to the fact-free systems of beliefs that have taken root in the last couple of generations.

This is, more or less, the point I was trying to make:

“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”

- Dietrich Bonhoeffen
I don't think we are defenseless against stupidity. Identity stupidity (easy task), setup a stage for stupidity and sell tickets for a tidy profit on stupidity.

 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,311
I don't think we are defenseless against stupidity. Identity stupidity (easy task), setup a stage for stupidity and sell tickets for a tidy profit on stupidity.
Stupidity tends to take care of itself, if left to its own devices.

Our culture, unfortunately, has evolved to protect the actually stupid.

Reverse Darwinism, if you will.
 
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