Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Complacency – why people are so stupid

Yesterday’s blog mentioned the word complacency. I cannot recall ever having used that word before in my writing. It’s about the opposite of (internal) curiosity. Another opposite of curiosity is boredom (my blogs). When we complete the (un)able and (un)willing matrix then unconscious is the third and last opposite. See below for the resultant matrix; click picture to enlarge.

The hardest box to fill out was the unable & unwilling one, which now states: unconscious

Hence, boredom, curiosity and complacency must be “degrees” of our consciousness.

I think, feel and believe that this conclusion makes sense. 

Why did complacency take over?

We have no enemies, apart from fellow humans. Humans are the ultimate predator in nature. I came to a similar conclusion in my recent blog The complexity bias (11) and humanoid sapiens:

“Humans, their ancestors and their future descendants might actually be the most scary predators of the Universe (eg, Behavioral Ecology, the Atlantic, Medium, RedOrbit).”

A more relevant question, though, is: why do we let our consciousness slip away? 

A 1977 song by Paul Simon gives an intriguing answer: 

“You know the nearer your destination, The more you’re slip slidin’ away”

Perhaps, homo sapiens sapiens is (almost) at its peak performance and thus complacency is taking over. Again, I think, feel and believe that this conclusion makes sense. What’s left for us to achieve? Immortality? We cannot even eradicate viruses – let alone understanding their role.

Albert Einstein‘s quote on human stupidity (my blog) may be a synonym for human complacency.

Slip Slidin’ Away (1977) by Simon & Garfunkel in 2015

artist-1, artist-2lyrics, video, Wiki-PS, Wiki-S&GWiki-song

You know the nearer your destination 

The more you’re slip slidin’ away

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.

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