A few days ago, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, owner of some of the most successful companies in history, and perhaps the first man to be radicalised by his own social media platform, shared a racist meme on Twitter.
"Believing that you’re divided from millions of your fellow humans is worse than not feeling that way. And you have to be ignorant to think that way. It’s really that simple."
Word.
Smart people -- on the mistaken premise that a high IQ indicates smartness -- clearly can be racists. Secure people? No. Unless you think that Trump has it all together. HE thinks he does, because he has Mar-a-Lago and you don't and he thinks you want to be him. Well, "you have to be ignorant to think that way. It’s really that simple."
Oh, Steve, you're so right on about Elon Musk. And racism and unhappiness. What continues to eat at me is how much power these unhappy rich mofos have to exponentially make other people's lives miserable. It's one of the deep conundrums of human life: the hunger for wealth and power is never sated, with bad results all around. It's a wonder, really, how much cooperation and kindness you can find out there in the world, given the circumstances.
I missed seeing that Medium article. Like IQ, smart is a bit too broad a concept. In some domains I am rightfully considered "smart" but I've been known to have done things that were arguably stupid. Smart about what?
The same goes for broad monolithic ideas about groups, be it physical features associated with racial groups, political tribes, wealth, etc. They are not all the same, though there will probably be some degree of tribal influence or conformity. How much? Assumptions can rise to the level of stupidity at times.
"Assumptions can rise to the level of stupidity at times."
Indeed. Quite often in fact.
By smart I typically mean "proven themselves to be capable of thinking clearly." This doesn't, by any means, mean they use that ability consistently or reliably, which is what's so frustrating.
“Keeping the focus on skin and not extreme wealth actually works to the advantage of the extremely wealthy.” Bingo! The wealth divide is THE main issue here. Everything else, while still important on some level, is a distraction from this giant elephant in the room.
“There is no "they" my friend. There are racist people and there are people who are smart and secure enough in themselves not to be. I pray, for your own happiness, that one day this hits you.” This won a guffaw from me. ;-)
Elon Musk is a bit of a disappointment to me. Brilliant man but definitely immature. He could use his wealth and position to foment a rational discourse on his concerns. Some of which, like free speech, I align with. Instead, as you intimated, he plays to teenage mindsets. It speaks to the fact that he was likely raised as a princeling. He behaves like one.
I have often ruminated lately that it is possible that the one silver lining of social media is the illumination of how juvenile and tribal the human race is. And that exposing this truth might lead to some wisdom that in turn helps us create more mature, rational institutions that drive fairer, more ecumenical behavior at some point down the road. The cynic in me says "nah" but the better angels of my nature are rooting for this outcome. One can only hope.
"Elon Musk is a bit of a disappointment to me. Brilliant man but definitely immature"
I feel the same way, although I'm past the disappointment phase now and on to acceptance. I was skeptical when he took over Twitter, but wanted, in the ill-fated words of Dave Chappelle, to give him a chance. But he's proven himself to be a hypocrite, even on free speech, never mind vapid enough to dance on social media for the applause of incels and racists.
And yes, whatever people's grievances are with racism or sexism or bigotry in its various forms, however much they worry about "wokeness" and immigration and the cost of living, all of these issues pale in comparison to the yawning chasms of wealth inequality that plague the world.
Obviously I'd love to see a world without any form of racism, but "solving racism" would barely move the needle for almost anybody, including people of colour.
Solving wealth inequality, or just taking meaningful steps to address the most obscene gaps, would be absolutely transformative. It's so frustrating to see people fight amongst themselves while their common enemy laughs.
And difficult not to descend into conspiratorial thinking that there is a conscious effort to drive this state of affairs. I think what is more likely is that garden-variety avarice drives these disparities and if enough people engage in avaricious behaviors, it's starts to look like they are in cahoots. That's not to say that there is NOT some conspiring going on. But, I don't think that's the whole game.
I see it as a spiritual problem. Ego and comfort prioritized over heart and compassion. Our world should work for everyone, not just a select few. The human race just hasn't grown up enough to effect this outcome yet. I am guessing we will evolve our spiritual maturity at some point. The only questions are how long will it take and how many souls will be put through the meat grinder in the mean time? So much human potentiality lost. It makes my heart ache to think about it.
I have a theory that more people would exercise their agency in a positive way if the world weren't quite so brutal. We are enduring a period of horrible contraction in terms of human flourishing. With all of our modern tech and infrastructure, we should be in full bloom. There is a renaissance of possibility in front of us. Can we get past our own venality and egoism to bring it into being? I hear this question in all of your articles, which I why I continue to support you. ♡
I struggle with the label 'smart' when so many 'smart' people are on both sides of controversies, thus controversies existing at all. For this reason, I instead I guess at how much individuals weigh (heavy or light) certain values versus other ones, sometimes so strongly that they make the opposite recommendation to someone who is usually not much different in thought. I suppose that someone who is not racist might weight empathy more than another person who is more racist. Perhaps it is other things too. These are difficult waters to wade with 'smart' labels.
"Believing that you’re divided from millions of your fellow humans is worse than not feeling that way. And you have to be ignorant to think that way. It’s really that simple."
Word.
Smart people -- on the mistaken premise that a high IQ indicates smartness -- clearly can be racists. Secure people? No. Unless you think that Trump has it all together. HE thinks he does, because he has Mar-a-Lago and you don't and he thinks you want to be him. Well, "you have to be ignorant to think that way. It’s really that simple."
Oh, Steve, you're so right on about Elon Musk. And racism and unhappiness. What continues to eat at me is how much power these unhappy rich mofos have to exponentially make other people's lives miserable. It's one of the deep conundrums of human life: the hunger for wealth and power is never sated, with bad results all around. It's a wonder, really, how much cooperation and kindness you can find out there in the world, given the circumstances.
Right?
I missed seeing that Medium article. Like IQ, smart is a bit too broad a concept. In some domains I am rightfully considered "smart" but I've been known to have done things that were arguably stupid. Smart about what?
The same goes for broad monolithic ideas about groups, be it physical features associated with racial groups, political tribes, wealth, etc. They are not all the same, though there will probably be some degree of tribal influence or conformity. How much? Assumptions can rise to the level of stupidity at times.
"Assumptions can rise to the level of stupidity at times."
Indeed. Quite often in fact.
By smart I typically mean "proven themselves to be capable of thinking clearly." This doesn't, by any means, mean they use that ability consistently or reliably, which is what's so frustrating.
“Keeping the focus on skin and not extreme wealth actually works to the advantage of the extremely wealthy.” Bingo! The wealth divide is THE main issue here. Everything else, while still important on some level, is a distraction from this giant elephant in the room.
“There is no "they" my friend. There are racist people and there are people who are smart and secure enough in themselves not to be. I pray, for your own happiness, that one day this hits you.” This won a guffaw from me. ;-)
Elon Musk is a bit of a disappointment to me. Brilliant man but definitely immature. He could use his wealth and position to foment a rational discourse on his concerns. Some of which, like free speech, I align with. Instead, as you intimated, he plays to teenage mindsets. It speaks to the fact that he was likely raised as a princeling. He behaves like one.
I have often ruminated lately that it is possible that the one silver lining of social media is the illumination of how juvenile and tribal the human race is. And that exposing this truth might lead to some wisdom that in turn helps us create more mature, rational institutions that drive fairer, more ecumenical behavior at some point down the road. The cynic in me says "nah" but the better angels of my nature are rooting for this outcome. One can only hope.
"Elon Musk is a bit of a disappointment to me. Brilliant man but definitely immature"
I feel the same way, although I'm past the disappointment phase now and on to acceptance. I was skeptical when he took over Twitter, but wanted, in the ill-fated words of Dave Chappelle, to give him a chance. But he's proven himself to be a hypocrite, even on free speech, never mind vapid enough to dance on social media for the applause of incels and racists.
And yes, whatever people's grievances are with racism or sexism or bigotry in its various forms, however much they worry about "wokeness" and immigration and the cost of living, all of these issues pale in comparison to the yawning chasms of wealth inequality that plague the world.
Obviously I'd love to see a world without any form of racism, but "solving racism" would barely move the needle for almost anybody, including people of colour.
Solving wealth inequality, or just taking meaningful steps to address the most obscene gaps, would be absolutely transformative. It's so frustrating to see people fight amongst themselves while their common enemy laughs.
And difficult not to descend into conspiratorial thinking that there is a conscious effort to drive this state of affairs. I think what is more likely is that garden-variety avarice drives these disparities and if enough people engage in avaricious behaviors, it's starts to look like they are in cahoots. That's not to say that there is NOT some conspiring going on. But, I don't think that's the whole game.
I see it as a spiritual problem. Ego and comfort prioritized over heart and compassion. Our world should work for everyone, not just a select few. The human race just hasn't grown up enough to effect this outcome yet. I am guessing we will evolve our spiritual maturity at some point. The only questions are how long will it take and how many souls will be put through the meat grinder in the mean time? So much human potentiality lost. It makes my heart ache to think about it.
I have a theory that more people would exercise their agency in a positive way if the world weren't quite so brutal. We are enduring a period of horrible contraction in terms of human flourishing. With all of our modern tech and infrastructure, we should be in full bloom. There is a renaissance of possibility in front of us. Can we get past our own venality and egoism to bring it into being? I hear this question in all of your articles, which I why I continue to support you. ♡
I struggle with the label 'smart' when so many 'smart' people are on both sides of controversies, thus controversies existing at all. For this reason, I instead I guess at how much individuals weigh (heavy or light) certain values versus other ones, sometimes so strongly that they make the opposite recommendation to someone who is usually not much different in thought. I suppose that someone who is not racist might weight empathy more than another person who is more racist. Perhaps it is other things too. These are difficult waters to wade with 'smart' labels.
"I instead I guess at how much individuals weigh (heavy or light) certain values versus other ones"
Yep. Values are most definitely a better predictor of behaviour/stances than intelligence.