PANDEMIC DIARY
STUPID
July 19, 2022
“I wouldn’t mind being 14 again so I could screw up my life differently. I have some great new ideas.” I saw this remark (or some facsimile) somewhere recently, laughed out loud and forgot it. For some reason it comes to mind this morning. Politics has taken such a hold on us all, we seem not able to meet with friends and avoid talking politics. A preamble to social gatherings begins with, “We are not going to talk about politics.” Yet, we inevitably do. We have allowed the mundane and stupid fringe to become relevant and part of the discourse of American life. People deserve equal time, for sure, but that demands a degree of rational discourse, both sides relatively informed as to what they are speaking about. The difficult way invites us to take the time to educate ourselves. The easy way is to allow others to frame the argument for you.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the former.” attributed to Albert Einstein
From where does stupidity derive? Is it innate in the human being? Humans are indeed stupid - silly, absurd, goofy and crazy - as distinct from ‘can act stupidly. I think Frank Zappa got it right. “Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.” Napoleon (Yes! as in Bonaparte) said, “In politics, stupidity is not a handicap”, to which I would add religion. But even if you disagree with me, would you then disagree with Pope John Paul II, “Stupidity is also a gift from God, but one mustn’t misuse it”. So, can we all agree that either as an inborn trait or a gift from God, stupidity is with us human’s in equal or greater measure than intelligence. And, if so, that stupidity should be observed carefully, monitored, and defended against so we do not do ourselves harm.
Sadly, we live in an era of stupidity dominance. I believe this can be tested by what I call the “Truth Indicator” (TI), an arm of a pendulum that swings from one side to another, the extreme measures being “Absolute Verifiable Truth” AVT to “Absolute Verifiable Falsehood” AVF. Forgetting for the moment political partisanship and dealing strictly with an objective reality check, the current TI has swung almost entirely to the AVF. Although the truth or falsehood phases have always existed, I cannot remember it ever being so stilted in one direction. And, given the nature of politics, stupidity has always been utilized in equal measure by all parties to appeal to their discreet base of voters. It also appears, as a general statement, that the arm of the pendulum has swung far more to the AVF ever since the advent of the phrase, ‘Alternative Facts’. This seems to have given permission for one party, in particular, to effectively disregard and, dare I say, disparage reality. Where there was once debate there is now intransigence. Where there was once compromise there is now resoluteness. Where there was once flexibility there is now calcification. Where there was once movement toward progress, as defined by enlightenment, openness, and freedom, there is now regression defined by narrowness, diminishment, and retaliation.
“Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain”
Frederick Schiller
Stupid is winning.
Stupids insisting that Stupid is right;
asserting that Stupid need not be analyzed or explained;
demanding equal treatment from TV, journals, commentators, opinion pieces, etc.;
insisting that those on the fringe of the non-stupid plane take non-stupid way too far;
claiming the unfairness of and objecting to attribution of “Stupid-privilege” charging that non-stupid people are actually the ones being treated preferentially;
challenging whether books by non-stupid people should be read in classrooms where our kids might be exposed to non-stupid truths and ideas which may have them think and act non-stupidly as adults;
believing that non-stupid people think that ‘facts’ are incontrovertible;
or, that stupid people don’t have a right to claim ‘alternative facts’ as facts;
accuse non-stupid people of allowing kids to read non-stupid books that stupid people wish to ban because continued exposure to non-stupid information may be influential and have vulnerable minds impacted such that they grow up as non-stupid adults thinking non-stupid things and acting in non-stupid responsible ways;
are threatening non-stupid people with harm for their non-stupid opinions, citing their attitudes of arrogance and superiority, believing that stupid people should not be questioned.
reserve the right to make up shit like Robert Kennedy is returning to lead the movement of stupids.
“In one recent experiment, Paul Glimcher, a neuroscientist at New York University, and his collaborators asked people to choose among a variety of candy bars, including their favorite — say, a Snickers. If offered a Snickers, a Milky Way and an Almond Joy, participants would always choose the Snickers. But if they were offered 20 candy bars, including a Snickers, the choice became less clear. They would sometimes pick something other than the Snickers, even though it was still their favorite. When Glimcher would remove all the choices except the Snickers and the selected candy, participants would wonder why they hadn’t chosen their favorite.”
This is, I perceive, the Republican strategy which, to their credit, derives from their insight that humans are innately stupid as confirmed by Pope John Paul as previously cited. Therefore, Republicans have come to understand that if you throw as much sh_t as possible against a wall the result will be one of two outcomes: 1. already stupid people will not bother to consider how stupid what being asked of them is and will reliably be counted upon to remain and act predictably stupid; or, 2. people who are not stupid will be confused about being non-stupid and question their own non-stupidity, ultimately and likely making a perfectly stupid decision to only later realize how stupid they were.
Now here’s the thing: to believe that when you see or hear something stupid it is an aberration would be a severe error. It is not. This needs to be shouted from the rooftops. It is human to err. It is also human to be totally bat-shit stupid. It is this awareness and only this truth that can provide hope and solidarity. It is all our responsibilities to call out stupid how, when and where it occurs. And, that goes for when non-stupid people are stupid.
“In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity.”
Konrad Adenauer
“Irrationality may be a consequence of the brain’s ravenous energy needs”
At the core of the model Glimcher designed lies the brain’s insatiable appetite. The brain is the most metabolically expensive tissue in the body. It consumes 20 percent of our energy despite taking up only 2 to 3 percent of our mass. Because neurons are so energy-hungry, the brain is a battleground where precision and efficiency are opponents. Glimcher argues that the costs of boosting our decision-making precision outweigh the benefits. Thus we’re left to be confounded by the choices of the modern American cereal aisle.
The brain is an evaluative elimination organ. It divides choices according to their value, eliminating the lower value choices to make decision-making easier. One way of doing this is not bothering with prior negative or lesser valued entities. In this instance, you eliminate any evaluation or comparison of worth and value, staying with the choice you know and prefer. Receiving benefits that are more advantageous to you are also dismissed in this process. This stagnation can get worse over time and can be reinforced by your environment. Energy reduction in the brain, the elimination of any conflict-resolving and choice making, also deprives us of a prime gift of the brain. This irony can explain a great deal about stupid.
Buddhists have gone to mountain tops to meditate in order to realize that our attachments cause us suffering. The religious retreat into silence also. They pray, sing, dervish, daven, and repeat mantras in hopes of finding wisdom and oneness with the universe. Enlightenment does not come easy. But, the desire for easy seems part of the pillars of our neural construction. All easy must be fought against. This may be why human intelligence is losing to stupidity.