What's So Great About Being Stupid?

[Thaluikhain]

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.

Er...while it is definitely true that the skills needed in out society aren't going to be the same as the ones needed if ours should suddenly fall down, it doesn't mean that someone lacking the skills for one has skills in the other.

 

[Vivi22]

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

Considering I've never encountered the former, and I've never seen the latter argue that being stupid is good, I think you'll be waiting a while for any real answer. Your assumptions don't make sense to me.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Like many other people here, I'm not following your logic (assuming you want to call it logic). How is calling the 10% of the brain thing a myth saying it's great to be stupid? And speaking of the myth, it is a myth. It's that we only use about 10% of it consciously. The conscious mind, which is pretty much the frontal lobe, makes up about 10% of the brain. The rest used for storing memories, regulating body functions, and other things that don't require conscious effort.

EDIT: Also this seems relevant.

 

[Fox12]

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?

So you're offended that people support stupidity, but you're defending something that is factually inaccurate because it makes you feel better? How are the people offended by the brain myth defending a culture of stupidity?

In any case, there is no decline in intelligent behavior. People are getting smarter, or rather, more educated. There is no stigma against intelligence in this country. In fact, it's incredibly attractive, desirable, and respected. When people say something like "what's so great about x" it's because they feel looked down upon, not because they actually hate the thing itself.

Also, I hate the 10% brain myth because it's stupid, but it's a common belief. It's also a stupid movie premise that keeps getting recycled. Seriously, we use different parts of our brain at different times. Why would we only be able to access 10% of our brain power?

 

[Bestival]

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.

Pff, who's stupid now!? We don't drown because we use scuba suits! Duh!

(I was going to put the Freddy Got Fingered scene here, but the only 2 results I found on youtube for it could actually serve as proof that stupidity IS spreading. The fact that there's at least 2 people in the world that thought uploading something of such abysmal quality is acceptable boggles the mind.)

 

[ccggenius12]

Well, someone already dropped the Weird Al video, so I'll just leave this:

Spoiler: Craig Ferguson's Explanation

 

[Mahorfeus]

I thought this was going to be a thread about it being all right to enjoy movies and other media with blatantly stupid premises (i.e. Lucy). I guess it isn't?

 

[NoX 9]

...What? Inspiring bullshit is still bullshit, and I do not think it should be spread as fact. You seem to think that the people that want this myth to be dispelled want the world to be stupid, but that is an absolutely ridiculous idea! They are trying to edjucate; if people don't believe in the '10%' thing it won't make them stupider! They would in fact be less ignorant as a result, and that is pretty much always a good thing.

Please note that I do not dislike this movie because of the '10%' thing (haven't seen it btw). If I disliked a sci-fi movie based on factual errors I could never watch Star Wars (or most other sci-fi movies) ever again! I still think your notion that pointing out these inacurracies dumb the world down is complete nonsense.

 

[VaporWare]

If I may take a moment to try to clarify where this bit of inane trivia comes from, it refers to a terrible misunderstanding of the prefrontal cortex. The PFC makes up around 12ish percent of the average human's total neuromass, and is the section of the brain most concerned with being 'you'...which is to say, 'you', your sense of self and consciousness. In this regard 'you' only takes about ten percent or so of your brain's run time at any given moment.

The gross misapprehension is that the rest of your brain isn't doing anything, which is absurd...the rest of your brain is extremely busy gathering and processing data into forms 'you' can collate, process and make decisions about, as well as running the myriad complex autonomic processes that keep you and your sensory apparatus alive to do so.

If 'you' used more of your brain, you would begin to lose critical functionality in every other area of your body which would rapidly render the whole exercise anywhere from futile to self destructive. Your brain is, in fact, a very busy place and 'you' has already been given quite a bit of room to work with.

This is, of course, still a very stripped down discussion of the subject. I encourage you to take your 'you' and your sensory apparatus to your public library analog of choice and read up on the subject yourself.

That aside, to answer the OP's question anyway, one must understand another fallacy of the brain. We have long labored under the idea that the brain was a fountain of infinite thought...that thinking about something costs one nothing, and that thus the only thing separating the stupid from the intelligent was the degree to which they cared to think at all.

In truth, as a physical asset, the brain is as finite in it's function as any other organ. Firing neurons takes energy...small amounts to be sure, at least individually, but it turns out that the brain is overall enormously power hungry (taking up around 20% of our resting metabolism) and a significant factor in our addiction to fast-burning sugars. Thinking too much can leave one as exhausted as any other physical activity, and at least if you've gone for a jog you've gotten somewhere and fortified your heart (which is, incidentally, also good for your brain).

So, what's so great about being stupid? Well, it's easier on the metabolism for starters, and leaves one feeling otherwise more energetic and able to deal with and enjoy the simple things in life without over-thinking them.

I wouldn't advocate being stupid as a matter of course, but it must be understood that a resting state is as necessary to one's mental health as one's physical.

I think you will find, at the end of the day, that those you perceive as stupid are actually quite mentally agile in the milieu of things they actually think about.

 

[Retsam19]

Is it ironic to anyone else that a post about how great being intelligent is has such terrible logic?

I actually think it's interested that it seems like the idea of intelligence (and particularly science, because popular conception seems to be that the two are the same thing) has become trendy. People who don't care a bit about math, or have ever cracked open a book (about anything) when they haven't been forced to, join facebook groups like "I fucking love science".

 

[IceForce]

Anytime someone points out the decline of intelligent behavior, the response is, "What's so great about being smart?"

Citation needed?
I've never heard of anyone giving this response.

Also I, along with everyone else, can't follow your logic.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Uhh I mean I guess if you're stupid you can enjoy a lot more stuff. Media and entertainment in particular is kind of tailored towards stupid. Having a rudimentary understanding of music theory and playing an instrument makes listening to the radio a legitimately depressing experience.

And I don't mean like, I say "FAITH IN HUMANITY LOST LOL" to my friend depressing. I mean that I'm watching the thing I'm most passionate about in life and my dream career slowly being phased out of existence to make room for fucking Robin Thicke, and now that Robin Thicke has officially entered my mind it's legitimately an act of restraint not going into a 14 paragraph tirade that would only scratch the surface of how abysmal "Blurred Lines" is from a composition and production standpoint.

Honestly, it's hard to say I wouldn't be happier if I could enjoy clapping along with a 4 second loop while mouthing along with the lyrics "you want to hug me, what rhymes with hug me?" Especially since we live in a world where

Spoiler: This guy has a platinum record because of a track that was made using loop presets in the demo version of FLstudio.

 

[KissingSunlight]

First, I would like to thank everyone who has posted. This was a subject that has been bugging me for a while. Honestly, I wanted to wait when I had more time to write a better original post. I just got really upset by the responses to Moviebob's review of Lucy. I wrote the OP in too much of a hurry.

OK, the 10% of the brain is more of a misstatement than a myth. Human beings do use the whole brain. When we are thinking, we use 10% of it. The fact that people are so adamant against it. It suggests to me that they are saying, "We can't be any more intelligent than what we are." We can. Most importantly, we should try.

We are living in an anti-intellectual society. There is tremendous distrust about intelligence and facts. Especially facts. This is the age where everybody have their own set of "facts" to support whatever opinion that they have. Most of the time, the "facts" that they present are something that has been made up to feel truthful. Anytime people are confronted to real, scientific facts they are quick to reject it, because it's the same as their "facts".

My biggest peeve is the one that nobody is addressing. Stupid behavior. Someone mentioned the movie Idiocracy earlier. The movie reference I have in mind, regarding stupid behavior, is a scene from Scary Movie. Carmen Electra is being chased by a killer. She comes up to a sign that has 2 arrows. One arrow on the sign reads "Safety". The other arrow on the sign reads "Certain Death". She reads the sign, then runs screaming in the direction of certain death.

I think at this point I should better clarify what I mean by "stupid". I define it as saying something to a person that should go without saying. It's basically common sense. Like I said in the OP, people are getting offended when they are confronted by their stupidity. Some reason they believe that the action they took is beyond reproach. It's that combination of arrogance and narcissism that is really bothering me.

 

[Vegosiux]

OK, the 10% of the brain is more of a misstatement than a myth. Human beings do use the whole brain. When we are thinking, we use 10% of it. The fact that people are so adamant against it. It suggests to me that they are saying, "We can't be any more intelligent than what we are." We can. Most importantly, we should try.

We are living in an anti-intellectual society. There is tremendous distrust about intelligence and facts. Especially facts. This is the age where everybody have their own set of facts to support whatever opinion that they have. If you can post a link to it, than it must be true.

Well, so, where are the "facts" that support the 10% hypothesis?

And besides, I wouldn't, ever, want to use my brain purely for thinking. I'd literally die if I did, and I mean "literally" literally. I want to keep the parts of my brain doing all that maintenance of homeostasis business. I mean, this is like saying that "we're only using 10% of a car" then pointing at how the engine is just a part of it.

My biggest peeve is the one that nobody is addressing. Stupid behavior. Someone mentioned the movie Idiocracy earlier. The movie reference I have in mind, regarding stupid behavior, is a scene from Scary Movie. Carmen Electra is being chased by a killer. She comes up to a sign that has 2 arrows. One arrow on the sign reads "Safety". The other arrow on the sign reads "Certain Death". She reads the sign, then runs screaming in the direction of certain death.

That movie was satirical. As in, poking satire at the fact that in horror movies, people always do the most incomprehensibly stupid shit, because if they just acted like reasonable people, there'd be no movie.

I think at this point I should better clarify what I mean by "stupid". I define it as saying something to a person that should go without saying. It's basically common sense. Like I said in the OP, people are getting offended when they are confronted by their stupidity. Some reason they believe that the action they took is beyond reproach. It's that combination of arrogance and narcissism that is really bothering me.

Uhm...I have to consciously resist the temptation right now, but you do realize even Sergio Ramos would have trouble missing a goal this large, yes?

 

[Gluzzbung]

This thread is stupid. Also, you only *consciously* use a fraction of your brain's total brain power, because loads of it is taken up with regulating bodily functions that keep you alive and another huge chunk is devoted to memories. Also, has there been a decline in intelligence? This sounds like a grumpy old man to me, a grumpy old man who likes to say "things were so much better in my day" because they suffer from "survivor bias." I bet more than a few people have to look that up to know why it's relevant. How's that for intellectual decline?

 

[TheIceQueen]

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?

I'm against the spread of scientific misinformation in all forms as that does indeed lead to stupidity. Just ask those who believe Andrew Wakefield's crock of shit study.

The better question here, since we're all asking loaded questions, is: Why are you happy to let others believe in false myths?

 

[KissingSunlight]

OK, the 10% of the brain is more of a misstatement than a myth. Human beings do use the whole brain. When we are thinking, we use 10% of it. The fact that people are so adamant against it. It suggests to me that they are saying, "We can't be any more intelligent than what we are." We can. Most importantly, we should try.

We are living in an anti-intellectual society. There is tremendous distrust about intelligence and facts. Especially facts. This is the age where everybody have their own set of facts to support whatever opinion that they have. If you can post a link to it, than it must be true.

Well, so, where are the "facts" that support the 10% hypothesis?

And besides, I wouldn't, ever, want to use my brain purely for thinking. I'd literally die if I did, and I mean "literally" literally. I want to keep the parts of my brain doing all that maintenance of homeostasis business. I mean, this is like saying that "we're only using 10% of a car" then pointing at how the engine is just a part of it.

My biggest peeve is the one that nobody is addressing. Stupid behavior. Someone mentioned the movie Idiocracy earlier. The movie reference I have in mind, regarding stupid behavior, is a scene from Scary Movie. Carmen Electra is being chased by a killer. She comes up to a sign that has 2 arrows. One arrow on the sign reads "Safety". The other arrow on the sign reads "Certain Death". She reads the sign, then runs screaming in the direction of certain death.

That movie was satirical. As in, poking satire at the fact that in horror movies, people always do the most incomprehensibly stupid shit, because if they just acted like reasonable people, there'd be no movie.

I think at this point I should better clarify what I mean by "stupid". I define it as saying something to a person that should go without saying. It's basically common sense. Like I said in the OP, people are getting offended when they are confronted by their stupidity. Some reason they believe that the action they took is beyond reproach. It's that combination of arrogance and narcissism that is really bothering me.

Uhm...I have to consciously resist the temptation right now, but you do realize even Sergio Ramos would have trouble missing a goal this large, yes?

Talking about missing the goal! Everyday I see people act like Carmen Electra did in Scary Movie. Just last night at work, I had to put up a 2 word sign. One of those words on the sign was "No". Afterwards, I had one person after another asking me "Yes?".

The whole 10% brain facts has been explained over and over again. The fact that you are so afraid of the thought of using more than 10% of your brain for thinking. It confirms my theory that some people are really pro-stupid.

 

[Vegosiux]

Talking about missing the goal! Everyday I see people act like Carmen Electra did in Scary Movie. Just last night at work, I had to put up a 2 word sign. One of those words on the sign was "No". Afterwards, I had one person after another asking me "Yes?".

That tells me approximately nothing. Hell, the person might as well have been asking about something completely unrelated for all I know, but I agree that "Yes?" without any context whatsoever is always a stupid question, because seriously, it doesn't even ask anything.

The whole 10% brain facts has been explained over and over again.

You're bringing it up, you do your homework.

The fact that you are so afraid of the thought of using more than 10% of your brain for thinking.

That's not a fact, that's an assertion. "Facts" would be what you need to back up that assertion. So tell me, what are your facts? Have you smelled fear? Tasted it? Did you 375 tests in controlled environment in order to study my behavioral patterns so you'd have a good idea of how I express "fear"? Did you do it while I was asleep? That's the only time it could have happened, and I'm totally going to sue you if I find out you sneaked into my house without my consent to study my behavior merely so that you could use the findings of your research in case you needed to shove them into my face on the internet?

Wait, you didn't study my behavioral patterns? Well in that case that talk about "afraid" is nothing but hoghwash you've pulled from somewhere.

You know, I'm all for creativity and stuff, but could you please be creative with something that has a purpose past convincing yourself you're just so much smarter than everyone else?

Confirmed my theory that some people are really pro-stupid.

Of course I'm in favor of people being stupid! How am I going to feel smart otherwise? You know what happens when everyone is as awesome as you are? You become average! Why would I want people to be smarter? All that would do is erode my sense of intellectual superiority, and I'm so insecure I simply must pretend everyone else is stupid.

 

[Chris Moses]

I'm sorry but I am secure enough in myself and in humanity's advancements to be content to allow people to be stupid. Some people are born smart (or at least with the propensity to be so), others are able to become smart through hard work. Some people will NEVER be smart no matter how hard they work at it. Maybe they recognized this fact and decided to funnel their efforts in other areas of their lives.

Not everyone has to be smart. Just like not everyone has to bench press 350 lbs. It takes a lot of effort to do either and even more to do both. WTF is wrong with people that are smart but haven't invested the extra effort to be physically strong too?! (sarcastic question)

Never mind physical or mental abilities, some people aren't born with that much ambition. Life is a balancing act and most people will fall short of their full potential whether it be mental or physical... AND OMG how much time and effort they could have spent helping those that are less fortunate?!

If you value intellectualism so much just think how much smarter you'd be if you didn't spend so much time worrying (and/or thinking) about how stupid everyone else seems to be. Any time and energy spent lamenting what other people are not is time and energy you have wasted to improve yourself.

Or... you could become a teacher and you could at least try to influence that small(ish) group of people to become smart enough to satisfy your standards...

/ramble-rant