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I assume that you have the best of intentions. However, I think it is exactly thanks to our Western societies focusing so much on intellectual merit, that we a

by smokel 3y ago

I assume that you have the best of intentions. However, I think it is exactly thanks to our Western societies focusing so much on intellectual merit, that we are running into serious problems with a part of society not being able to keep up. Why is it better to be smart? Why would you give more freedom and more money to someone who has a larger brain capacity? It's not something most people can do something about. And even if people can do something about it, it's a race to the bottom. Initially we have given many more people proper education, raising the average bar, and now we have to compete with computers as well. I'd prefer a society where we would value kindness, bodily flexibility, strong hands, or random other traits as much as having fast processing speed in your brain.

labrador 3y ago
> Why is it better to be smart? Why would you give more freedom and more money to someone who has a larger brain capacity? It's not something most people can do something about. I'm saying it is something a person can do something about, just like an athelete can train for the Olympics. Also, it takes creative intelligence to solve our problems, which benefit even those that don't have creative intelligence skills. From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs. I have nothing against working with my hands and have enjoyed it myself in the past. My suggestion is for those young people who want white collar jobs and want to compete with AI, which isn't a great thinker - yet.
- vunderba 3y ago
  I would qualify that with "To a degree". whether or not we concede that nature or nurture is the most predominant factor for the upper potential threshold for a persons intelligence, that doesn't really help the person born... as they have control over neither. There are plenty of snake oil companies that have attempted to sell a silver bullet towards being able to increase somebody's fluid intelligence everything from luminosity to hucksters which claim to be able to teach you how to have an eidetic memory, but it's mostly a con. Interesting that you decided to pick athletes because I would argue that genetics play a far larger part in determining one's aptitude for being able to participate at the Olympic level than anything else. Do you think that the 10,000 other diligent athletes that can't even get close to Usain Bolt don't train just as hard as he does? What about the thousands of equally studious physicists who will never get close to a Richard Feynman or an Enrico Fermi? I will grant that through diligence and dedication one can increase one's ability to pattern match to solve certain problems.
vunderba 3y ago
I'm not really sure this is actionable. Why is it better to be smart? Okay.... Why is it better to be beautiful? Why is it better to be physically fit? I don't think anyone in the universe would disagree that we wish society was based more heavily on a culture of empathy, i'm just not sure I understand what your point is.
- smokel 3y ago
  Compare our society with one from anywhere before the Enlightenment. Brains and science were not held in high esteem. Obviously these societies were horrible for a lot of people. Our current one is horrible for many as well. My comment was supposed to revoke action, not invoke.
dkarras 3y ago
>Why would you give more freedom and more money to someone who has a larger brain capacity? preferences aside, you "get" things because you either make them yourself, or you barter the value you are able to generate. money is just the fungible medium to mediate such barter, it makes the value you generate exchangeable in a generic way instead of limiting you to barter only with people who has things you want / need. if you are smart, you can generate more valuable things and provide more valuable services for other people. in return you get more things. it is perfectly natural. it is not random. your bodily flexibility or strong hands don't produce things, by themselves, that you can exchange for things you need / want. you can convert those skills to generate value (for yourself to survive, or for others to exchange with things for your survival) but by themselves they don't mean much. I am not saying it is a good deal for most people, but it is a perfectly natural order in how things work.

by smokel 3y ago

labrador 3y ago

> Why is it better to be smart? Why would you give more freedom and more money to someone who has a larger brain capacity? It's not something most people can do something about. I'm saying it is something a person can do something about, just like an athelete can train for the Olympics. Also, it takes creative intelligence to solve our problems, which benefit even those that don't have creative intelligence skills. From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs. I have nothing against working with my hands and have enjoyed it myself in the past. My suggestion is for those young people who want white collar jobs and want to compete with AI, which isn't a great thinker - yet.

vunderba 3y ago
I would qualify that with "To a degree". whether or not we concede that nature or nurture is the most predominant factor for the upper potential threshold for a persons intelligence, that doesn't really help the person born... as they have control over neither. There are plenty of snake oil companies that have attempted to sell a silver bullet towards being able to increase somebody's fluid intelligence everything from luminosity to hucksters which claim to be able to teach you how to have an eidetic memory, but it's mostly a con. Interesting that you decided to pick athletes because I would argue that genetics play a far larger part in determining one's aptitude for being able to participate at the Olympic level than anything else. Do you think that the 10,000 other diligent athletes that can't even get close to Usain Bolt don't train just as hard as he does? What about the thousands of equally studious physicists who will never get close to a Richard Feynman or an Enrico Fermi? I will grant that through diligence and dedication one can increase one's ability to pattern match to solve certain problems.

vunderba 3y ago

I'm not really sure this is actionable. Why is it better to be smart? Okay.... Why is it better to be beautiful? Why is it better to be physically fit? I don't think anyone in the universe would disagree that we wish society was based more heavily on a culture of empathy, i'm just not sure I understand what your point is.

smokel 3y ago
Compare our society with one from anywhere before the Enlightenment. Brains and science were not held in high esteem. Obviously these societies were horrible for a lot of people. Our current one is horrible for many as well. My comment was supposed to revoke action, not invoke.

dkarras 3y ago

>Why would you give more freedom and more money to someone who has a larger brain capacity? preferences aside, you "get" things because you either make them yourself, or you barter the value you are able to generate. money is just the fungible medium to mediate such barter, it makes the value you generate exchangeable in a generic way instead of limiting you to barter only with people who has things you want / need. if you are smart, you can generate more valuable things and provide more valuable services for other people. in return you get more things. it is perfectly natural. it is not random. your bodily flexibility or strong hands don't produce things, by themselves, that you can exchange for things you need / want. you can convert those skills to generate value (for yourself to survive, or for others to exchange with things for your survival) but by themselves they don't mean much. I am not saying it is a good deal for most people, but it is a perfectly natural order in how things work.