3 ms·
Timely essay. "Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice." I was thinking the other day that the real problem with people who have autocratic
by discreteevent 2y ago
Timely essay. "Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice." I was thinking the other day that the real problem with people who have autocratic tendencies is not that they are bad people (although they may be) but that the systems they set up end up being so incompetent. The article is probably correct when it points out lack of humility as the root cause - Lack of humility being one of the defining characteristics of the autocratic type.
It also explains why intelligent people do stupid things. Just because they are a bit smarter than someone else doesn't mean anything relative to the complexity of reality. They still need to be humble but being told they are smart doesn't help.
- mistermann 2y agoChina is rather autocratic, and most charts seem to indicate they've been doing pretty well over the last few decades. Indeed they are not perfect, and there is no shortage of popular memes in that space that can facilitate rapid distribution of such matters, but all Things considered I'd say they're doing a lot better than many of their "free and democratic" counterparts, which I believe (perhaps incorrectly!) is reflected in public opinion polls across nations.
- discreteevent 2y agoChina was very autocratic and it was a disaster. Not just poverty but mass starvation. Then it loosened up and the strength of its people brought it back up. Xi is more autocratic and he hasn't been in charge long. It would be hard to destroy it overnight but right now it looks like he is beginning to bring it down.
- mistermann 2y agoDo you think China degraded under Xi's authoritarian rule?
- from-nibly 2y agoYes humility is the cure. Humility is unconditional self worth. If you don't need to worry about your appearances then you will be open to your own stupidity.