3 ms·

People Are Stupid

3 points by adamzerner 13y ago

adamzerner 13y ago
Can I get some feedback? I see via google analytics that 73 people viewed this, but no upvotes.
- foobarbazqux 13y ago
  I'd be careful about discounting emotions. A closed heart is just as dangerous as a closed mind.
  - adamzerner 13y ago
    Agreed. However, I think you're misinterpreting my point about emotions (probably because I did a bad job making that point clear). I didn't talk about this in People Are Stupid, but emotions can be useful. Sometimes they help you by motivating you and triggering appropriate thoughts. Without them, often times you wouldn't reach the same thoughts as you do with them. HOWEVER, often times they're used improperly. Often times things like anger, spite, frustration and ego lead people to... be stupid. And again, this happens both frequently, and about very important things. It is this that is my point. I think it is both true, and important to say. You can't solve a problem without admitting it. People are stupid, and the world would be much better off it people weren't. So I'm saying it.
    - foobarbazqux 13y ago
      Well, labeling people as stupid is shaming. Instead of containing your anger and frustration about their behavior, you're putting them down with shame. The world would also be much better off if people didn't shame each other. I think the answer is not simply more rationality but more self-awareness. Awareness of one's thoughts, one's emotions, one's past and present experience, one's hopes for the future, and the interplay between these things. So the real challenge is encouraging people to embark on a quest for self-awareness. People generally don't do this unless life's circumstances force them to. I think you didn't get any upvotes because it's essentially a philosophy essay (i.e. it's kind of off-topic) and because we've all encountered ideas about closed mindedness and assumptions before.
      - adamzerner 13y ago
        Thank you for you're explanations. They're useful. I understand and sort of agree with what you said about the upvotes. I know that it isn't really anything new, but I thought that I did a solid job of articulating things that people think, but don't necessarily know how to say. I know that personally, I always sort of thought them in an abstract sense, but after writing this essay I became more aware of what it is I was actually thinking. So for that reason, I thought people might like it enough to give it significant upvotes. Anyway, I understand what you're saying about this being insulting, and about self-awareness, but I respectfully disagree. While I may have came across as an asshole, I am actually a benevolent person. I care about the world and the happiness of society. There are a lot of things I think I can do in my lifetime to drastically improve the world. One of them, is making people more rational. I think that self-awareness, among other things, would be a consequence of rationality. By thinking rationally, by definition - http://lesswrong.com/lw/31/what_do_we_mean_by_rationality/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/31/what_do_we_mean_by_rationality/, you're making the right choices. Encouraging self-awareness would have its benefits, but I think that encouraging rationality would have those same benefits, as well as many many others. Regarding the insulting nature of calling people stupid, I think it's necessary. I feel hesitant to do so, but I really really think it needs to be done. In our culture, people are so reluctant to disagree with one another and offer constructive criticism. It is ridiculous. People are always encouraging irrational thought by saying "you can think whatever you want to". It's ok to disagree. Me calling people stupid is my way of proclaiming mass disagreement. Granted, I could do so in a less insulting way. Still, I think that the costs of me insulting people are outweighed by the benefits of 1) the fact that it gets peoples attention, and 2) it more clearly conveys my point than me saying that "people make epistemically and instrumentally irrational decisions both frequently, and about important things". Note: I think this conversation would be more productive and clear by me giving an example of people being stupid, so you could picture that in your mind instead of the abstract concept of people being stupid. People don't put thought into what they're going to do with their lives. They just choose from the handful of options that are common for the neighborhood in which they grew up. See http://www.collegeanswerz.com/i-graduated-high-school-now-what http://www.collegeanswerz.com/i-graduated-high-school-now-wh... and http://www.collegeanswerz.com/being-wrong-about-what-you-like http://www.collegeanswerz.com/being-wrong-about-what-you-lik....
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

People Are Stupid

3 points by adamzerner 13y ago

adamzerner 13y ago

Can I get some feedback? I see via google analytics that 73 people viewed this, but no upvotes.

foobarbazqux 13y ago
I'd be careful about discounting emotions. A closed heart is just as dangerous as a closed mind.
- adamzerner 13y ago
  Agreed. However, I think you're misinterpreting my point about emotions (probably because I did a bad job making that point clear). I didn't talk about this in People Are Stupid, but emotions can be useful. Sometimes they help you by motivating you and triggering appropriate thoughts. Without them, often times you wouldn't reach the same thoughts as you do with them. HOWEVER, often times they're used improperly. Often times things like anger, spite, frustration and ego lead people to... be stupid. And again, this happens both frequently, and about very important things. It is this that is my point. I think it is both true, and important to say. You can't solve a problem without admitting it. People are stupid, and the world would be much better off it people weren't. So I'm saying it.
  - foobarbazqux 13y ago
    Well, labeling people as stupid is shaming. Instead of containing your anger and frustration about their behavior, you're putting them down with shame. The world would also be much better off if people didn't shame each other. I think the answer is not simply more rationality but more self-awareness. Awareness of one's thoughts, one's emotions, one's past and present experience, one's hopes for the future, and the interplay between these things. So the real challenge is encouraging people to embark on a quest for self-awareness. People generally don't do this unless life's circumstances force them to. I think you didn't get any upvotes because it's essentially a philosophy essay (i.e. it's kind of off-topic) and because we've all encountered ideas about closed mindedness and assumptions before.
    - adamzerner 13y ago
      Thank you for you're explanations. They're useful. I understand and sort of agree with what you said about the upvotes. I know that it isn't really anything new, but I thought that I did a solid job of articulating things that people think, but don't necessarily know how to say. I know that personally, I always sort of thought them in an abstract sense, but after writing this essay I became more aware of what it is I was actually thinking. So for that reason, I thought people might like it enough to give it significant upvotes. Anyway, I understand what you're saying about this being insulting, and about self-awareness, but I respectfully disagree. While I may have came across as an asshole, I am actually a benevolent person. I care about the world and the happiness of society. There are a lot of things I think I can do in my lifetime to drastically improve the world. One of them, is making people more rational. I think that self-awareness, among other things, would be a consequence of rationality. By thinking rationally, by definition - http://lesswrong.com/lw/31/what_do_we_mean_by_rationality/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/31/what_do_we_mean_by_rationality/, you're making the right choices. Encouraging self-awareness would have its benefits, but I think that encouraging rationality would have those same benefits, as well as many many others. Regarding the insulting nature of calling people stupid, I think it's necessary. I feel hesitant to do so, but I really really think it needs to be done. In our culture, people are so reluctant to disagree with one another and offer constructive criticism. It is ridiculous. People are always encouraging irrational thought by saying "you can think whatever you want to". It's ok to disagree. Me calling people stupid is my way of proclaiming mass disagreement. Granted, I could do so in a less insulting way. Still, I think that the costs of me insulting people are outweighed by the benefits of 1) the fact that it gets peoples attention, and 2) it more clearly conveys my point than me saying that "people make epistemically and instrumentally irrational decisions both frequently, and about important things". Note: I think this conversation would be more productive and clear by me giving an example of people being stupid, so you could picture that in your mind instead of the abstract concept of people being stupid. People don't put thought into what they're going to do with their lives. They just choose from the handful of options that are common for the neighborhood in which they grew up. See http://www.collegeanswerz.com/i-graduated-high-school-now-what http://www.collegeanswerz.com/i-graduated-high-school-now-wh... and http://www.collegeanswerz.com/being-wrong-about-what-you-like http://www.collegeanswerz.com/being-wrong-about-what-you-lik....

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]