Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Collective stupidity vs individual wisdom

My latest blogs were about ideology versus reality. It occurred to me that this difference may provide a fundamental explanation for collective stupidity vs individual wisdom. Before, I assumed that pragmatism was the antidote for ideology. My latest insights are in my diagram below.

Our ideology is represented by our beliefs and in particular the 7 Belief systems (ie, 2015 concept, 2019 update, 2023 update). A belief is a known unknown: we know that we do not know and/but we still believe in our perception of that reality. Reality will always result in pragmatism.

The diagram may – implicitly – also explain why collective wisdom is “impossible”. Each of us grows up believing (eg, education, parental nurturing), and it will take decades before we can shake off those beliefs – if at all. In my case, it took a severe burnout and depression in 2013-14.

In other words: the less we believe, the more wisdom we can achieve. Beliefs are an obstacle towards wisdom. Wisdom requires an open mind, while beliefs cause closed-mindedness.

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”

A quote from the novel Diggers (1990) by Terry Pratchett (1948-2015), “an English humorist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels”

Still Believe (1978) by Sweet D’Buster
band, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-song

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

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