Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things.

[Sirius]

 We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do'.


this makes me want to start up a giant nuclear powered robot

[UltraBudgie]

Only because of my anal nature to enforce topic consistency...

Rumsfeld... in terms of "Smart people believing stupid things" how does this apply?

What is "stupid" idea that he believed?  In what way was he so intelligent as to merit special significance to the contrast?

(I offer a concession to make this meaningful to me as a member... my own position is that he was following a script - probably not of his own design - he 'represented' an agenda... one that I have never heard authoritatively defined.  Like most who are put in such positions, he was highly competent to do so.  My agreement or rejection of his positions and utterances is irrelevant.)

Let's try to bring this back to "stupid ideas" embraced by intelligent people.

I did edit in a little closure that you may have missed:

Edit to summarize: Great call xpert11! Rumsfeld: a smart person who doesn't believe stupid things. Very very carefully and well.

Because it helps contrast the point, it's not about smart or not. It's about operation worldview: working outside the lines, working inside the lines, or working to move the lines (deconstructionism or revolution). Rumsfeld is a great example of "inside the lines", without modal flexibility, although he seemed perfectly aware of the larger scope, he didn't see that as his role.



budgie say lines what lines only happy joyflight!

[Karl12]

Thanks for bringing this up... I love many of these 'After Skool' videos generally...  They are almost always worth the time it takes to experience them.

Thanks for the post from you (and others) mate - some very insightful reading.

The question of the video is "Why do smart people believe stupid things?" But this video doesn't really explain why... only how.

Good call and fair point - as another member raised the subject of 'curiousity' maybe part of the answer lies with the absolute genuine lack of it (also 'imagination') within a certain subsection of society.. whether they consider themselves 'smart' or not.

Suppose this absence (and apathy) could also help to explain the 'surrender to conformity' we seem to see so much of these days - whether a bought and paid for 'fashionable' ideology is absolute bollocks or not.

1950's Ash experiments get brought up in this vid and would say some of the channel's other videos are also relevant - especially when it comes to 'manufacturing collective illusions of consensus'.



Video



Granted implanting socially destructive agendas are actually part of global warfare these days and it's always worth following the money on synthetic ideologies - especially when directed toward young people.

That being said I'm sure I'm just as susceptible to the bandwagon effect (and 'bias blind spot') as anyone else lol.

[UltraBudgie]

Everyone is posting interesting videos about social conformity, so I think I will too. This one is great:



talk about "following the heard" hahahaha okay sorry

[schuyler]

Now ask why so many stupid people think they are smart.

[Anna]

Everyone is posting interesting videos about social conformity, so I think I will too. This one is great:

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8BkzvP19v4]

talk about "following the heard" hahahaha okay sorry

That was extremely funny. It reminded me of the situation at work. So we have a chapel in our nursing home where the mass is held every week. And you know how it is with the Catholic mass; you stand up, you sit down, you kneel down and then again stand up, sit down etc. No wonder that the patients who are mentally disabled get confused and stand up or sit down at odd times. But the funniest thing that the staff members who should know better imitate them. Sometimes, you can't say who is who.