> Anyone (barring mental disability, and even then) can learn, and can be taught.... the vast teeming masses of "dumb people" are a lot smarter than most would

> Anyone (barring mental disability, and even then) can learn, and can be taught.... the vast teeming masses of "dumb people" are a lot smarter than most would believe. I'm generally in agreement with the potential, but people need to desire to learn (or be smarter, or whatever you want to call it). There seems to have been a backlash against 'intelligence' which glorifies 'stupidity'. Not specifically with that word, but the notion of 'book learnin' being something to look down on, people getting 'too smart for their own good', etc. There are many folks who have far less 'raw intelligence' - whatever biological component we're born with - than I do, but are far more capable because they've applied themselves far more rigorously than I have over the years. So yes, of course, almost anyone can really learn more, but they have to want to do it in the first place, and get out of whatever cultural norms bind them to their notions of looking down on intelligence (and accomplishment in general).