Drones

Disclaimer: The following post, like many/most of my posts, is extremely biased. Also, what I mean by "stupid people" is either people who deliberately or inadvertently forgo "thinking" about their existence in the world or the effect thereof or people who think that their interests/actions are beneficial when in reality (yes, my perception of reality) they are self-serving, ego-driven and damaging to a large portion of the world.

So, I just watched a hair tutorial online...yeah, I did that...and the girl who was giving the tutorial was incredibly ditzy, but she seemed to be a genuinely nice person. It occurred to me, however, that doing her hair and makeup, and talking about doing her hair and makeup, likely constitutes a good percentage of her life. So I started thinking: stupid people are not innately assholes. They may have a negative or detrimental effect on the world around them, but it is generally inadvertent. There are two primary issues at hand: a) because they are lazy (they are not simply ignorant - stupidity is a choice, albeit a subconscious one), they are sheep - they will do whatever the corporate oligarchy wants them to do - consume unsustainably, carelessly compete with their fellow humans for scarce resources, etc. - because to do otherwise would require effort and thought, and b) because they seek only the easeful and pleasurable existence of immediate gratification, they have no consideration for or awareness of the effect that ease and pleasure is having on the world around them. They have no intention of hurting anyone or anything; this effect is just a byproduct of their stupidity and one of which they may never gain awareness.

Further, because they likely come from stupid stock or are rebelling against unstupid stock, and because they surround themselves with a stupid community, they are rarely confronted with the suggestion or option to discontinue stupidity perpetuation. If and when they are, they either shut down (Ugh, thinking!) or get defensive (must maintain easeful and pleasurable lifestyle).

Intentionally stupid people (Republicans, pro-life activists, etc.) genuinely believe they are doing the right thing. For instance, wealth and "progression" over sustainability is fine because the Rapture is about to happen anyway.

Further, it is possible that part of the reason my students can't/won't think critically or analyze anything (aside from shitty K-12 education and years of consumerist indoctrination) is because they are not only living solely out of the ego rather than the essential self, but they are even fluttering around the surface of that. Intentionally stupid people are at least aware of their own opinions, motivations and interests, to a certain extent, however ego-driven. Inadvertently stupid people know or think only about what is fleetingly fun and easy. There is little if any thought of where their motivations originate and where their actions will take them.