There is a Dutch saying: “A donkey does not bump into the same stone twice.” I didn’t see foreign equivalents. An alleged quote by Albert Einstein states: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The key difference between animals and humans is (not) having beliefs.
Recently, I noticed this question: If Humans Are the Smartest Animals, Why Are We So Unhappy? That question includes at least three assumptions. Hence, it is impossible to answer without first addressing its assumptions. In my view, it belongs to the most stupid questions ever.
A 2021 Psyche article in Aeon magazine, Why some of the smartest people can be so very stupid, argues that human “stupidity is a very specific cognitive failing”. Or, in my words: a blind spot in our thinking. That explanation seemed rational though not logical. I felt something was missing.
Humans may view donkeys as dumb animals but apparently these animals are not stupid. On the other hand, humans can be (very) intelligent and (very) stupid (eg, Psyche-2021).
In my recent blog on Parenting, a new – and logical – line of thought emerged:
Stupidity might well be the flip side of having beliefs rather than a ‘blindspot in our thinking’.
If (human) stupidity is the flipside of having (human) Beliefs then what about the following:
- do Needs and Wants also have flipsides?
- is Greed the flipside of Needs?
- is Lust the flipside of Wants?
- or is Wants perhaps the flipside of Needs?
At the moment of writing this, I only have questions. This line of thought is overwhelming.
There is, however, another and very different – though logical and rational – explanation available:
Stupidity is the Great Filter in societies all around the world that separates its three collective development stages, being:
from the two subsequent individual development stages, being:
My diagram also feels like an explanation for many societies in this day and age.
I may have found what I’ve been looking for.
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (1987) by U2
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-song
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
Este si la mine , in Romania , un proverb : ” ULCIORUL NU MERGE
DE MULTE ORI LA APA ” . CE ese UN U ULCIOR ?? UN VAS DIN CERAMICA PENTRU TRANSPORTAT APA ..DE PREFERINTA, DE LA IZVOR. ieea e ca a n-a data s-ar putea sa se sparga . In opinia mea este vorba
despre incercarile repetate de a ascunde ceva, de a minti pentru a obtine un folos, de a face o smecherie care ‘a tinut’ prima si a doua oara. Dar nu mereu . Conluzia , mai bine pierzi , decat sa te faci de ras fiind prins si dat in vileag ( ‘spargerea’ uLciorului’). post scriptum :Google nu stie sa traduca coresct acest text..Cine este intelept va intelege..
Your reply is not really on topic…….