resource management

A timely message:

There is a pressing need to address the issue of one of our most important resources, upon which our socio-economic system relies very heavily. One of the most respected thinkers of the twentieth century informed us that this resource is limitless – possibly vaster even than the cosmos itself. And while that may be correct, it still must be managed with due diligence, for it has the potential to be dangerously volatile.
_____Recent observation has shown a pooling effect, with large reservoirs having been allowed to form and not subjected to timely draining measures. These reservoirs present a particular hazard, as the contents tend to become hyper-stabilized in isolation and can maintain a sort of charge imbalance that will feed on itself at an accelerating pace. Since reservoirs characteristically have boundaries, there will be seepage, leakage and overflow: when contact occurs between materials of sufficiently differing charge, the results can be incendiary and sometimes catastrophic.
_____It is essential that we stay on top of this. The reservoirs need to be properly maintained with interlinking channels in order to establish the measured blending that will provide broad enhancement and stability to this vital resource. Mismanaging it by allowing large pools to form in isolation is a recipe for disaster. Our society could easily be poisoned or destroyed by the very element that keeps it going.

The resource in question is stupidity, and maybe ignorance. We need it to keep this system going. The biggest problem I see is that stupid people are being treated as rubes and marks who deserve to be knocked down and fleeced for all they are worth. And, face it, we all have at least a touch of the stupid, where we may be vulnerable to exploitation.

Now, I do find idiots difficult to tolerate, but even with what I perceive as diminished capacity, they are still people, who have basic rights and should be treated with decency. They inability to grasp and hold onto complicated ideas should not be treated as a sort of handicap: stupid people can contribute positively to society without being oppressed for the sake of profit, and treating them betterly is almost certain to have a net positive impact.

Be good to a fucking moron today.

Well, bless your heart.

Regards,
Shodan

I know this is a bit of tongue-in-cheek but there’s a kernel of truth to it.

Larry Niven once posited in a short story that free will and intelligence are inversely related. That is, when confronted with any decision, the more intelligent the decider is, the fewer options for decision they have until with perfect intelligence comes perfect decisions.

So the smarter one is, the less free will one has because one will wish to pursue the obvious - to the smart - decision.

So there’s an element of ‘dumb’ can equal freedom.

I ain’t sure I entirely agree with it, but there’s an element out there.

I can’t think of any option but to agree with you.

Regards,
Shodan

Sure. Aldous Huxley laid out the case for society needing Epsilons as well as Alphas in Brave New World. It works as long as everyone knows their place, as long as the Epsilons don’t come down with Dunning-Kruger Syndrome, or start watching TV channels that tell them they’re the real Alphas, and so forth. Be kind, yes, but be strict.

Isn’t this just “ignorance is bliss” with learned commentary to back it up?