> The Enduring Power of Stupidity
> There are two basic forces in the world: Intelligence and
> stupidity.
I might rephrase this slightly and say there are two basic forces:
intelligence and fear. In a situation where death or bodily harm are
imminent, fear can be useful to give one the motivation and energy to fight
or flee. But people are not good at dealing with fear of abstract or future
dangers.
The fear-based reactions to the 9-11 terrorist attacks are doing *far* more
harm than the attacks themselves. To take one small part of it--shutting
down the aviation industry has caused, and continues to cause, vast economic
damage. I understand that at the moment, no general aviation VFR flights are
being allow, including *crop dusters*. Given the dependence of present-day
agriculture on chemical applications, this move carries the effects of the
attack even to that industry.
I've heard that people are canceling plans to travel by commercial airliner
out of fear. And yet, statistically, they're far more likely to be killed
driving to the airport than flying on the plane. Please realize that this
was true *even on the morning of 9-11*. Flying now is safer than it was
before the attacks, because the terrorist organizations now have fewer
members willing to die in suicide attacks.
I don't even want to go into a discussion of the stuff I've heard and read
about wiping out several million innocent people.
Humans are notoriously bad at risk assessment. They do things such as drive
five blocks to the store because they're afraid of getting mugged on the
streets, but at the same time they smoke cigarettes. One might have hoped
for a better performance from those who hold positions as the USA's leaders
and policy makers. But one has to remember that, as Charles Platt wrote,
most of the leaders are guided, at least in part, by an archaic book of
primitive myths. And, I would add, by fear.
Even many of the people on this list, some of the smartest people I know,
seem to be experiencing some form of panic. Look. Consider the situation
objectively for a moment. While it's quite likely that there are at this
very moment terrorists in the US and other western countries, terrorists who
may even armed with small nuclear devices or biological weapons, I think
your odds of being taken out by one are quite small. and that you're far
more likely to die in a car crash over the coming year than from a terrorist
attack. If anyone has reason to believe otherwise, I'd be interested to see
how they've calculated the odds.
You're also far more likely to be harmed by idiotic government policies than
by terrorists. Objectively assessed, the limitation on stem cell research is
far more lethal than the 9-11 terrorist attack.
Charles Platt wrote: << I feel a great, overwhelming melancholy. The
wonderful smart
innovations in the past decade have empowered us in so many
ways, yet we are still impotent compared with the techno-
illiterates who claim a mandate to act stupidly on our
behalf. >>
I felt a great melancholy when I first heard about the terrorist attack and
realized that war was inevitable. But I'm not ready to give up and hand
everything over to people who are guided by fear and archaic books of
primitive myths.
I would like to ask you guys to contribute your considerable brain power to
the following pragmatic questions:
Precisely what are your goals?
How do you want to spend your lives?
Given the current situation where most of the world's resources are
controlled by a handful of people who act stupidly, how can you best achieve
your goals?
Is there any way to withdraw your support from stupid acts done supposedly
on your behalf while still pursuing your goals?
I realize these are personal questions rather than general policy questions,
but I believe that general policy is best based on the welfare of the
individual person and that the best policy decisions come from considering
individual goals and determining what public policy best promotes such
goals.
I'm seeking practical solutions with a substantial chance of success rather
than fanciful suggestions of space colonies, which might be a good idea at
some point but which will require some preliminary work that hasn't yet been
done. What are the preliminary stages? What can people do today or tomorrow?
Barbara
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:50 MDT