Perhaps an unsurprising source for something like this, but sometimes it is necessary to skip the political correctness and say exactly what you mean. I am sure that I have at least mentioned Dunning-Kruger before – the problem with something like that is that it seems like high falutin’ mumbo jumbo to the ears of many people – so perhaps it is better coming from the mouth of John Cleese.
What he said was
Not the way to put it if what you are trying to do is win friends and influence people, perhaps, but it does paraphrase the Dunning/Kruger effect perfectly for me. The softening effect that I would probably insist on is that just because someone is stupid about one thing doesn’t mean that they are stupid about everything. So Cleese’s rather generalised statement should be tones down a little – but then it might lose its impact.
A realisation that we are “stupid” is the first step on the road to becoming more wise. It opens the door to “I don’t know” and a realisation that perhaps not everything we believe is actually true.
I have – over the last few years watched american politics with – shall we say “amazement”!! Perhaps incredulity would be better – but its less accurate since – up to a point – I can understand the “why” of what is going on. (Can I also say that I do not think that america has a monopoly on “amazing” politics – you can see equally “stupid” things happening all round the world)
I don’t often “talk politics” – mainly because I believe that my views are mine – yours are yours – and we are all free to hold them. I guess that I would be (in UK terms) classified as slightly “left of centre” in terms of my own particular views, but certainly not extremely so. Translated to a society like the USA it is entirely possible that I would start to be classified as amongst the “loonie left”. 😀 The point here is it is very much dependant on what you are comparing it with.
I guess that most people are most comfortable with the “political system” that they are most used to – so as a lifelong Brit my tendency is to think that “democracy” is the way to go. However, in my view ALL political systems are flawed – just as ALL political systems have some things going for them.
Perhaps my thoughts on democracy could be summarised by a single quote – “the best thing about democracy is that everyone has a vote, the worst thing about democracy is that everyone has a vote” – I’m not sure whether I am quoting someone or being original – but that is where I am at with my own personal thinking.
The “stupid people” get to decide alongside those who know better. On many subjects I would have to be within the “stupid people” set (you may recall that this blog has the overall title of ‘feeding my ignorance’ – I know there are gaps in my knowledge). The fact that I realise this doesn’t help – because it also means that I also realise that on any particular subject the vast majority of those voting for a particular decision will be entirely ignorant of the repercussions. (Brexit being one of the ultimate examples of this)
It is all very well saying simply “follow the science” – “follow the facts” – but we see numerous examples of where a significant proportion of people cannot even manage to agree on the facts and a significant number of those empowered to make decisions for us (our politicians) are swayed by factors that are unrelated to the particular situation. Again – looking “across the pond” at the moment this sort of contamination of decision making is seemingly becoming hopelessly out of control.
There is more to be written on this – perhaps I ought to blog more frequently (or perhaps not 😀).