3 ms·

The obvious answer: because if you're wise, you realize that raw intelligence is a fairly small part of what makes someone worth listening to on a given questio

The obvious answer: because if you're wise, you realize that raw intelligence is a fairly small part of what makes someone worth listening to on a given question. On most questions of morals or politics, I'd rather listen to someone of average intelligence, but with a humble, good and patient character, than an MIT grad who's convinced they know everything.

enraged_camel 11y ago
Interesting. I'm not sure I can relate, though. I'd rather listen to Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins talk about evolution and atheism than someone of average intelligence.
- jimbokun 11y ago
  Because you really just want reinforcement for ideas you already believe?
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Dangerous slope. I want constructive arguments, to be sure, especially with people who hold a different view than my own on different topics. But your opinion does not carry the same weight as a fact. Quite a few people I've encountered don't understand that.
  - enraged_camel 11y ago
    I didn't say anything about whether I agree with those ideas or not. Stated simply, I'd rather hear any given argument from someone who is intelligent than someone who isn't. Extraneous factors, such as the arguer's humility or tone of delivery, don't enter the picture for me when evaluating the merit of the idea being argued.
- whatshisface 11y ago
  Intelligence allows you to search through ideas faster. This is worth nothing if you are evaluating them badly. It doesn't matter if you are the greatest geinus to ever live - if you are looking for a reason to believe what you already want to, being smart just means you find it. "You can always design a cryptosystem that you yourself cannot break." Humility and an open mind are probably worth more than intelligence in this way.
- smithkl42 11y ago
  On certain topics, certainly. Listening to me talk about particle physics would do neither of us any good. That's why I constrained my answer to politics and morality (i.e., building the sort of society and becoming the sort of person that tends towards justice). Valuable opinions in those areas have much more to do with what has sometimes been called "practical intelligence", i.e., the ability to sift good ideas from bad using a wide range of personal experiences and a character intentionally shaped in response to those experiences. I suspect raw intelligence generally helps in that process, but it may also hurt, and it's by no means the most important factor.
angersock 11y ago
Counterpoint: it was pretty common knowledge for the majority of the 19th and 20th centuries that women were categorically inferior and unreliable, that blacks were shiftless and dangerous, and that homosexuals were mentally ill.

enraged_camel 11y ago

Interesting. I'm not sure I can relate, though. I'd rather listen to Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins talk about evolution and atheism than someone of average intelligence.

jimbokun 11y ago
Because you really just want reinforcement for ideas you already believe?
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Dangerous slope. I want constructive arguments, to be sure, especially with people who hold a different view than my own on different topics. But your opinion does not carry the same weight as a fact. Quite a few people I've encountered don't understand that.
- enraged_camel 11y ago
  I didn't say anything about whether I agree with those ideas or not. Stated simply, I'd rather hear any given argument from someone who is intelligent than someone who isn't. Extraneous factors, such as the arguer's humility or tone of delivery, don't enter the picture for me when evaluating the merit of the idea being argued.
whatshisface 11y ago
Intelligence allows you to search through ideas faster. This is worth nothing if you are evaluating them badly. It doesn't matter if you are the greatest geinus to ever live - if you are looking for a reason to believe what you already want to, being smart just means you find it. "You can always design a cryptosystem that you yourself cannot break." Humility and an open mind are probably worth more than intelligence in this way.
smithkl42 11y ago
On certain topics, certainly. Listening to me talk about particle physics would do neither of us any good. That's why I constrained my answer to politics and morality (i.e., building the sort of society and becoming the sort of person that tends towards justice). Valuable opinions in those areas have much more to do with what has sometimes been called "practical intelligence", i.e., the ability to sift good ideas from bad using a wide range of personal experiences and a character intentionally shaped in response to those experiences. I suspect raw intelligence generally helps in that process, but it may also hurt, and it's by no means the most important factor.

angersock 11y ago

Counterpoint: it was pretty common knowledge for the majority of the 19th and 20th centuries that women were categorically inferior and unreliable, that blacks were shiftless and dangerous, and that homosexuals were mentally ill.