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...
Stupidity
Why do we compare?
29 Aug, 2023
Each day, we compare, whether relevant or not. Some recent blog examples: Is stupidity worse than evil?? and Natural Stupidity vs Artificial Intelligence and inclusivity vs honesty. Without that Big Think article, I would not even have considered a comparison between evil and stupidity. Another example: the almost daily drownings of immigrants, aiming to cross the...
Natural Stupidity vs Artificial Intelligence
17 Aug, 2023
Introduction LO: This comparison makes logical sense. If and when human stupidity is society's default then artificial stupidity (eg, PS-2023, Tilburg University-2022) would make (much) more sense than artificial intelligence. Today, it's impossible that technology would be more intelligent than humans. Source: my 2017 blog Human intelligence includes 4 areas: Known...
Is stupidity worse than evil??
15 Aug, 2023
Recently, I noticed a Big Think newsletter on the theory of stupidity by German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945). In his view, stupidity is worse than evil. Ironically, it was Nazi evil that took his life on 9 April 1945. Hence, I wonder if he would have changed his view - if he could. “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may...
From permissive to intolerant societies (and back)
7 Mar, 2023
Being born in 1960, I was a teenager in the 1970s. If any society was permissive then it was back then. Nowadays, intolerance seems to be the driving force in (Western) societies. It's an example of Isaac Newton's third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (source). In the 1970s, Labour-Left was a dominant political force that...
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer can barely say the B-word (The Times)
14 Jan, 2023
Introduction LO: This topic is truly amazing: a majority of the British population now regrets Brexit except for its politicians (eg, Times). The article argues that it's fear that keeps politicians away from discussing it. Perhaps, it is indeed. However, fear over what exactly? And - more importantly - why? It has been argued by others that it will take "decades"...
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