Before 2020, I used to think that stupidity was the absence of intelligence. I realize now that having limited intelligence and being stupid are two different things. Stupidity is a malfunction of intelligence not a limitation of it. I understood that with my friends and family. I though they were intelligent because they were intellectually complex, but most of them took the jab, despite the numerous warnings and data I gave them. And on the opposite end, some of my co-workers didn't take it, despite being simpler intellectually speaking (I work in a hotel restaurant). That puzzled me for a while then I understood that intelligence is not made only of intellectual capacity, but is composed as well of strength of character, common sense, instinct and faith. By being simpler their intelligence has less chance to dysfunction. This is like a car. An older car is usually more reliable than a modern one, full of electronics. Sophisticated minds are more prone to being deceived because they are better at lying to themselves. Double-thinking is easier the smarter you are. The fact that I work everyday with simple folks grounded my intelligence and made me listen much more to my common sense, my instinct and my faith, rather that just my mind. I hope I've been clear enough.
What the covid taught me about stupidity
🤔💭 Theory 😲💡
I recommend a book called Thinking Fast and Slow. Some of this deception is rooted in emotional vs rational thinking. The emotional minds will hijack your rational mind and you are unable to rationalize things.
Some of the reasons given by those I know for getting the shot:
I was told I couldn’t see my mom in the nursing home and I don’t know how much time I have left with her.
I couldn’t see my first grandchild until I got it.
I work at a school/hospital/healthcare facility, and I didn’t want to put the people I care for at risk.
I have one semester left of school and it was required for my schooling.
Now there are fear reasons for not getting the shot too:
“Clot shot” “vaccine deaths hidden” “operation warp speed” “trust big pharma”
These may or may not have facts to back them up, but how many just hear, are scared, and comply or don’t comply. It’s rarely done from a rational point of view and when it is, attempting to communicate that rationality, you will be speaking a different language. People don’t want to hear the facts, they were motivated by the emotions and only reasons that reinforce the emotions will be heard.
The book goes into some of the why, some experiments done to prove how and why, etc. and these tricks have been used in advertising, news, and propaganda for decades. People are emotionally manipulated.
When the initial emotions subside and we can think rationally again, we start to justify the choices we made and reject arguments that we were too blind to see at the time. The “fast” emotional thinking can come out and replace the slow calculating thinking at any time. And we’re willing to let the mind do this because it’s less work.
And knowing this does not impact your ability to remove yourself from the emotional traps. You will still fall into them. Like those hackers that sell software to protect your pc, but they still put black tape over their webcams. Or the mentalists that understand how to manipulate people but they don’t watch advertising. So much research has gone into the human mind and it’s being used.
Why is social media free but worth so much money? They sell you. Your data. Data on humanity. On how to manipulate people.