What's So Great About Being Stupid?

[KissingSunlight]

After reading so many butt-hurt responses to the movie Lucy on this forum regarding the myth of using 10% of your brain, I have to start this thread. Honestly, I find the 10% of the brain myth inspiring. It means to me. If we could apply ourselves, we could be more intelligent. We could come up with solutions to problems that we haven't thought of yet.

However, we seem to be living in a society where stupid is the new normal. Where people act dumb, rude, and obnoxious; then get offended when someone calls them out on their bullshit. Anytime someone points out the decline of intelligent behavior, the response is, "What's so great about being smart?" OK, to those people and also the ones offended by the 10% brain myth: What's so great about being stupid?

 

[DementedSheep]

...what? how is pointing out the fact that the "you only use 10% of your brain" thing is a myth saying it's great to be stupid?

There is nothing great about being stupid. I guess you might be too stupid to realise the opportunists you missed and see that as a good thing.

 

[Caiphus]

I'm slightly confused. Why are you angry at people attempting to educate others and to dispel misinformation, while simultaneously accusing the majority of the population of stupidity? Those two emotional outbursts seem at odds with each other.

 

[shootthebandit]

If we only use 10% then what percent does this moron use?

For some reason he is incredibly popular and the ladies love him. He seems like a nice lad and I hope this is an act to get publicity because someone cant be this dense

 

[Eddie the head]

I'm with everyone else in here. What? I don't follow your logic.

To the first part all I have to say is it doesn't matter if an idea is inspiring or not if it disagrees with the evidence it's wrong.

 

[Malbourne]

I dunno if I'm equipped to answer a loaded question, so I'm gonna try to address the underlying question and say that I take issue with scientific misinformation being translated into popular "common" knowledge and becoming, well, inspirational. There are plenty of other, more poetic quotes that can simultaneously sound artsy and provoke deep thought. Just not this one (I mean, psych textbooks address this quote on page two).

As for being stupid, I imagine there are plenty of advantages! [small]Not that I'd know any of them.[/small]

 

[DoPo]

Honestly, I find the 10% of the brain myth inspiring.

Yet it is both a myth and wrong. Why spread wrongness? Saying "Did you know humans only use 10% of their brain" makes as much sense as claiming that people have three eyes and a single arm.

It means to me. If we could apply ourselves, we could be more intelligent. We could come up with solutions to problems that we haven't thought of yet.

Why does a single wrong piece of trivia mean that to you? Is it not even better to acknowledge that we can do this anyway? Because we do. Every single day, all around the world - we all apply ourselves, we all become more intelligent, we all come up with solutions we hadn't thought of yesterday. All of us. Look at the human history and you'll see that we have gone from just a random lifeform, to masters of this planet. We have conquered plants and animals then went on to do numbers and sciences - we can cross the oceans and even fly through the air - feats all at some point thought impossible. We have went on to trap the lightning in a piece of wire and send our voices through it as well. When a century before that nobody would have dreamed of it. About a century ago, the computers did literal computing - those were calculators, by the 1960's they started being machines widely used to solve problems, and now, within a single lifetime we have what you're sitting in front right now. It didn't come from random factors - actual people came up with everything involved in it. Heck, actually people have been coming up with multiple suggestions for everything involved in a computer - all of them smart suggestions, too. But there is more than just that - we have been to the moon, we have also been smashing the building blocks of the universe into each other.

Our technology...and moreover we advance at, quite frankly, an astonishing pace. We don't need old wives' tails to help us become better. We are better. Why do you want to promote a fairy tale when reality is at least as fascinating, if not better?

However, we seem to be living in a society where stupid is the new normal. Where people act dumb, rude, and obnoxious; then get offended when someone calls them out on their bullshit. Anytime someone points out the decline of intelligent behavior, the response is, "What's so great about being smart?"

Where did you get that from? Seriously, do tell - as far as I can tell we humans have been becoming [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect] smarter [http://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/03/smarter.aspx] all the time.

OK, to those people and also the ones offended by the 10% brain myth: What's so great about being stupid?

How is the act dispelling a myth also promoting stupidity? Is that not a cognitive dissonance?

 

[TakerFoxx]

After reading so many butt-hurt resposes to the movie Lucy on this forum regarding the myth of using 10% of your brain, I have to start this thread. Honestly, I find the 10% of the brain myth inspiring. It means to me. If we could apply ourselves, we could be more intelligent. We could come up with solutions to problems that we haven't thought of yet.

However, we seem to be living in a society where stupid is the new normal. Where people act dumb, rude, and obnoxious; then get offended when someone calls them out on their bullshit. Anytime someone points out the decline of intelligent behavior, the response is, "What's so great about being smart?" OK, to those people and also the ones offended by the 10% brain myth: What's so great about being stupid?

Because it's false. We use the whole thing, but since different parts have different functions, we of course don't use all of it at once all the time. To do so would literally burn us out.

As for society getting dumber, that's also not true. Things are, on the whole, actually improving. It just seems like people are getting stupider because as you get older, you notice stupidity more and the development of media technologies means it has more exposure.

 

[Super Cyborg]

I feel it's better to be between smart and stupid, average I guess would be the correct term. I'll admit, I believe I'm not that smart, but not stupid either. I can make decent arguments and I can admit my faults. At this point I'm in my ignorant Adult stage, since most of the stuff I know well is the entertainment I consume, and biology since I majored in it. I hope to learn a lot of different stuff and become more informed, but I got a ways to go. I prefer not being really smart because things might be harder to enjoy because flaws become more apparent.

I think the problem with looking at shows is that lots of comedies today focus on stupid people for cheap laughs, but that doesn't mean everyone thinks being stupid is better.

 

[Zhukov]

Oh please.

Mate, people have been lamenting the decline of society ever since there was such a thing as society. If it were true, we'd have all drowned ourselves in our own toilets while searching for sunken treasure by now.

I wouldn't be surprised if people have been lamenting how everybody is a stupid sheep except for them since basically forever as well.

 

[FPLOON]

What's so great about being stupid?

Well... You can be happy and not question why, because I assume if you did, it would make you sad somehow... and no one wants to be sad...

Other than that... I got nothing... I'm not smart enough to answer this question with 100% guarantee... yet I'm not stupid enough to claim that I could if I even tried...

 

[VyseRogueKing]

As someone who hates anyone I deem stupid I can still say with certainty that anyone who I think is dumb probably thinks they are perfectly smart and they could be thinking the same of me. You may say people are stupid and they'll probably say it right back. Just another aspect of ignorance is bliss. We are content with what we know and afraid to step out of those boundaries.

That's why I primarily think of what it takes to be smart is the seeking of wisdom. Someone who is aware of their misgivings and seeks to improve their knowledge. You know like the average human being. That's why society is as grand as it is. People are improving at a steady pace and while there are those who fall behind, there always will be, they too are slowly changing. You can see it wherever you look. Even if clashing opinions appear a lot of times there's something substantial to back each claim up. It saves me a lot of headaches thinking like this.

Now the myth. I wouldn't say people are offended rather annoyed that someone is twisting the truth. The myth has a kernel of truth, like most do, but the reason we only use 10% percent is because we our brain is split up of many different parts that take care of different things. It isn't some uniform mass of information holding and distribution. For instance, say you're describing something you just read to someone. Odds are you don't need fine motor skills, long term memory, adrenaline control, and emotional responses to relay basic information. When you see someone doing or saying something objectively wrong is it so bad to correct them? Not teaching and learning? That's an attitude that will only stagnate humanity's intellectual growth.

If you want a proper saying to inspire you, I recommend the age-old phrase: "The first step to knowing anything is to realize that we, in fact, know nothing." Now that there has some philosophical weight to it!

And now a stupid statistical joke:
"About 49% of the population has a below average IQ"

 

[Total LOLige]

Oh please.

Mate, people have been lamenting the decline of society ever since there was such a thing as society. If it were true, we'd have all drowned ourselves in our own toilets while searching for sunken treasure by now.

I wouldn't be surprised if people have been lamenting how everybody is a stupid sheep except for them since basically forever as well.

I was kind of surprised that the OP didn't mention how we're heading for a situation like Idiocracy [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/]

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I can't find something blatantly untrue inspiring. Now that's stupid, to me. I don't like misinformation being spread as fact- it's one thing to believe something incorrect, it's another to spread the burden of idiocy to other people.

And I really don't think the 'decline of intelligent behaviour' is a thing. We've always had fucking idiots, and we always will. You just hear more about them now because you hear more about everything. I'm sorry, but it really grinds my gears when people whine about this shit. Of course, the person complaining is always part of the smart minority and it's everyone else that's the problem. Things really aren't as bad as you think and you're probably not any better than everyone else.

 

[DocMcCray]

The great thing about being stupid is that you can easily get other stupid people to follow you and give you stupid amounts of cash to spread your stupid message to others. (See: Anita Sarkeesian)

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Oh please.

Mate, people have been lamenting the decline of society ever since there was such a thing as society. If it were true, we'd have all drowned ourselves in our own toilets while searching for sunken treasure by now.

I wouldn't be surprised if people have been lamenting how everybody is a stupid sheep except for them since basically forever as well.

You have a wonderful talent of wording what I wish to say in a succinct manner, you sly dog.

But it's nothing really, OP, your logic's a bit iffy and complaining how everyone else is so sub-par and you're the one to see the light makes you seem like a teenage nihilist (i.e, dime-a-dozen and not particularly original) I'm sure you're not, but complaining about something which people complained about since the bloody Pyramids.

 

[Vegosiux]

Oh please.

Mate, people have been lamenting the decline of society ever since there was such a thing as society. If it were true, we'd have all drowned ourselves in our own toilets while searching for sunken treasure by now.

I wouldn't be surprised if people have been lamenting how everybody is a stupid sheep except for them since basically forever as well.

There's a treasure in my toilet? I gotta get my toolbox, pronto! And a snorkel.

But yes, I shall just leave an XKCD here:

Still, the saying "ignorance is bliss" does have a point...you will stress out less in the short term if you don't know some things. But on the other hand, I disagree that what you don't know won't hurt you. It's usually things you don't know that hurt you, because they catch you unawares.

 

[Zhukov]

Oh please.

Mate, people have been lamenting the decline of society ever since there was such a thing as society. If it were true, we'd have all drowned ourselves in our own toilets while searching for sunken treasure by now.

I wouldn't be surprised if people have been lamenting how everybody is a stupid sheep except for them since basically forever as well.

You have a wonderful talent of wording what I wish to say in a succinct manner, you sly dog.

Heh, thanks. I get comments to that effect every now and again and it always makes me happy.

 

[briankoontz]

However, we seem to be living in a society where stupid is the new normal. Where people act dumb, rude, and obnoxious; then get offended when someone calls them out on their bullshit. Anytime someone points out the decline of intelligent behavior, the response is, "What's so great about being smart?" OK, to those people and also the ones offended by the 10% brain myth: What's so great about being stupid?

Well - intelligence was what got us the perpetual possibility of being annihilated in a nuclear holocaust, genocide, global warming, hatred and exclusion, and other wonderful things so it's natural that during the death of the world there has been and is going to continue to be, a turning away from a culture that is killing us.

"Stupidity" is the incapacity to benefit modern civilization, so it amounts to a moral choice.

The population in the Mad Max universe and Amazonian rainforest tribespeople have a lot in common. They are both considered "stupid" in the usual way, their awareness is very limited relative to let's say a New York intellectual.

But the better question is what the wide-spanning awareness of the New York intellectual is really good for. It's great for maximizing his well-being within global capitalism - what he knows about India can be leveraged in capital transactions there, for example. But how useful will it be when the world's population is reduced to 500 million and what matters is day to day survival? Someone with experience at that is going to be more successful than the New York intellectual with all of his awareness, knowledge, and intelligence.

So modern humans are preparing for the future by being "stupid" NOW.