I love to think–it makes me feel like I might even be smart. Recently, I came across this:
On this past International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I reread a bit of Bertrand Russell. In 1933, dismayed at the Nazification of Germany, the philosopher wrote “The Triumph of Stupidity,” attributing the rise of Adolf Hitler to the organized fervor of stupid and brutal people—two qualities, he noted, that “usually go together.” He went on to make one of his most famous observations, that the “fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”[Link]
That got me thinking, “Why are the intelligent full of doubt?”
The intelligent understand that additional data is likely to become available which will either reinforce their beliefs or challenge them. Further, they challenge apparent facts that are outrageous, such as the growth of the Nazi party and the persecution of Jews, the Roma, homosexuals, and anyone else who hadn’t been exemplary sycophants.
In the 1930’s, the intelligent continued to grow mentally. The stupid were unable to deal with changes in reality.
sfnowak 