a very small percentage of actually intelligent people have carried the rest
That’s both historically and empirically obviously untrue. The sheer volume of professional labor necessary for our society to function smoothly requires legions of intelligent people showing up every day to solve problems particular to their rarefied areas of expertise. Your cell phone doesn’t work, your car doesn’t start, your pipes don’t carry water, your lights don’t turn on - hell, in more than a few cases your heart doesn’t even beat - without these armies of professionals working, often entirely invisibly, to keep things moving.
The world does not turn without the strong arm of proletariat labor moving the wheel.
But individual intelligence isn’t enough on its own merits. Humanity needs a guiding light to function morally and productively. The professionals down at the power plant keeping the lights on don’t know if they’re powering your dishwasher or your electric chair. Their genius is wasted if the surplus they produce is squandered or applied with malicious intent. Attributing their actions to stupidity is naive, as you’re ignoring their professional role in order to indict them for actions they have little meaningful control over. Appealing for their collective punishment only plays into the wickedness that you claim to oppose.
What we have in our modern moment is a very small percentage of nefarious people controlling our means of communication and observation. Monopolies of print and broadcast media limit what we are allowed to observe. Reams of propaganda, distributed physically and electronically, pollute our ability to understand the material world. Rational impulses are distorted by fearmongering. Prudent decision making is complicated by deceit and fraud. Our homes are enclosed, our labor is commodified, and our ability to organize against it is criminalized thanks to the actions of the few in an effort to predate on the many.
Believing that we lack a critical mass of “smart” people is a huge mistake, because it demands too much from singular human intelligence and too little from the social structures that perpetuate history, culture, and identity. What we lack in this moment isn’t brilliance. We are thick with geniuses all competing against one another in a zero-sum game. What we lack is a cohesive and durable community. One that sees the virtue of charity and compassion. One that treats the most vulnerable as generously as the most valuable.
You don’t need a genius to see the merits of a neighborhood full of people you can trust. You don’t need to be a genius in order to survive a world where you love your neighbors more than you fear them.
I’m not talking about people going to work and doing their jobs. I’m talking about the truly intelligent that figure out new solutions to problems. That invent new methods.
The point I’m making is that most humans throughout history have not been particularly intelligent. We see examples of this all around us, all the time. It’s a small percentage of truly intelligent individuals that have pushed us forward so we’re not just a bunch of hardworking hunter gatherers.
What we have in our modern moment is a very small percentage of nefarious people
A majority of voting Americans just voted for a felon rapist who illegally attempted to overturn an election. Add a TON of people so unintelligent they didn’t even exercise their right to vote. That’s not a small percentage. That’s a significant percentage of nefarious/ignorant humans. Those people don’t get a pass because some bad actors are spreading misinformation. I received a public education and I’m not ignorant enough to fall for propaganda. Resisting propaganda is an individual’s responsibility. Especially now that all human knowledge is freely available. Ignorance isn’t an excuse anymore.
For humanity’s entire existence a very small percentage of actually intelligent people have carried the rest.
Humanity, as a whole, is a dumpster fire. If the universe trended toward good we’d have an asteroid with our name on it very soon.
That’s both historically and empirically obviously untrue. The sheer volume of professional labor necessary for our society to function smoothly requires legions of intelligent people showing up every day to solve problems particular to their rarefied areas of expertise. Your cell phone doesn’t work, your car doesn’t start, your pipes don’t carry water, your lights don’t turn on - hell, in more than a few cases your heart doesn’t even beat - without these armies of professionals working, often entirely invisibly, to keep things moving.
The world does not turn without the strong arm of proletariat labor moving the wheel.
But individual intelligence isn’t enough on its own merits. Humanity needs a guiding light to function morally and productively. The professionals down at the power plant keeping the lights on don’t know if they’re powering your dishwasher or your electric chair. Their genius is wasted if the surplus they produce is squandered or applied with malicious intent. Attributing their actions to stupidity is naive, as you’re ignoring their professional role in order to indict them for actions they have little meaningful control over. Appealing for their collective punishment only plays into the wickedness that you claim to oppose.
What we have in our modern moment is a very small percentage of nefarious people controlling our means of communication and observation. Monopolies of print and broadcast media limit what we are allowed to observe. Reams of propaganda, distributed physically and electronically, pollute our ability to understand the material world. Rational impulses are distorted by fearmongering. Prudent decision making is complicated by deceit and fraud. Our homes are enclosed, our labor is commodified, and our ability to organize against it is criminalized thanks to the actions of the few in an effort to predate on the many.
Believing that we lack a critical mass of “smart” people is a huge mistake, because it demands too much from singular human intelligence and too little from the social structures that perpetuate history, culture, and identity. What we lack in this moment isn’t brilliance. We are thick with geniuses all competing against one another in a zero-sum game. What we lack is a cohesive and durable community. One that sees the virtue of charity and compassion. One that treats the most vulnerable as generously as the most valuable.
You don’t need a genius to see the merits of a neighborhood full of people you can trust. You don’t need to be a genius in order to survive a world where you love your neighbors more than you fear them.
I’m not talking about people going to work and doing their jobs. I’m talking about the truly intelligent that figure out new solutions to problems. That invent new methods.
The point I’m making is that most humans throughout history have not been particularly intelligent. We see examples of this all around us, all the time. It’s a small percentage of truly intelligent individuals that have pushed us forward so we’re not just a bunch of hardworking hunter gatherers.
A majority of voting Americans just voted for a felon rapist who illegally attempted to overturn an election. Add a TON of people so unintelligent they didn’t even exercise their right to vote. That’s not a small percentage. That’s a significant percentage of nefarious/ignorant humans. Those people don’t get a pass because some bad actors are spreading misinformation. I received a public education and I’m not ignorant enough to fall for propaganda. Resisting propaganda is an individual’s responsibility. Especially now that all human knowledge is freely available. Ignorance isn’t an excuse anymore.
Good news
Humanity’s existence is a pyramid. Without that base of suffering at the bottom, none of what goes on at the top is possible.