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His definition of "stupidity" seems to be the same thing as "willful ignorance".
by tunesmith 12y ago
His definition of "stupidity" seems to be the same thing as "willful ignorance".
- dredmorbius 12y agoNot necessarily. Stupidity can arise out of having the wrong model for solving a problem. Say, the theory of humors or of spirits rather than a germ theory of disease. You can collect all sorts of information _consistent with your model_ and still end up no better than, or even worse off, than you were before. E.g., determining that you've got to bleed a patient to death. You lack the appropriate model to solve the problem. In the case of wilful ignorance, and as illustrated in the examples of continental drift and Mars cananls, or today, global warming, requires not only having the wrong model, but in rejecting the correct model. Related, I particularly like his definition of genius.