Smart People, bad ideas

POSTED BY: SergeantX
UPDATED: Thursday, June 2, 2005 05:57
VIEWED: 1861
PAGE 1 of 1

SERGEANTX

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 2:08 AM

http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/essay40.htm

Have any of you seen this? Funny and insightful.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

SHINY

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 3:20 AM

Sound like a lot of people I know (er...um...but of course NOT ME!!!) ;)

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

CHRISISALL

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 8:54 PM

Wow, thanks SergeantX, that opened my eyes to how I think and argue things, sometimes.
Like Bruce Lee said, we need to find the cause or our own ignorance, which is, sometimes, the strength of our intelligence! If we rely on only our strengths, they can sometimes become our weaknesses. That essay goes right along with what Lee said, and expands on it regarding our thinking.
I think most here (and, like everyone at the Real World board) could benefit from that read.

That was enlightening Chrisisall

RUE

Thursday, June 2, 2005 12:55 AM

I used to argue with a person who was, and will probably remain, the smartest person I've ever met. His personality was built on being so brilliant and talented that anyone, everyone, was lucky just to have him around. He ended up with what would prove to be a fatal case of "I am right".
And while he could win every argument, somehow, that failed to work as he grew older. Eventually he burned all his friends and (former) employers. The people he'd known since childhood moved on in their lives without him.
He woke up at 32, realised he had no job, was living in his mother's home, and all his friends had abandoned him; and killed himself.
It came down, in my estimation, to either giving up his identity as the one who was always right, or living on in the same futile way. Or killing himself.
He just couldn't say he was wrong.

SIGNYM

Thursday, June 2, 2005 12:59 AM

Of course, I am not a smart person who defends bad ideas, that would require that I be smart in the first place. (I can always be a stupid person who defends bad ideas tho!)

EDITED TO ADD: Wow, Rue, I just read your post. How tragic. I never thought one could take "Having to be right" to a fatal extreme. Guess I was wrong.

RUE

Thursday, June 2, 2005 1:14 AM

SignyM,

On to something related, I was reading the article thinking you often examine assumptions, uncover unwarranted leaps of logic etc. You 'slow things down' and provide me with insights. Thanks.

PS Oh dang. That didn't come out right. I didn't mean you're stupid, but that you see more deeply.

SIGNYM

Thursday, June 2, 2005 1:25 AM

Glad to oblige. That comes naturally as a result of being stoopid.

CANTTAKESKY

Thursday, June 2, 2005 4:17 AM

Great essay. Thanks, Sergeant. It reminds me of why I love browncoats, even those who believe in global warming (winks to Rue and Sig). I have rarely been in a group of folks this smart, articulate, and yet diverse as all get out. It really is the best of all worlds.

Can't Take My Gorram Sky

SERGEANTX

Thursday, June 2, 2005 5:07 AM

I'd like to think that I'm not quite smart enough to ever defend a bad idea.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

SIGMANUNKI

Thursday, June 2, 2005 5:57 AM

As I started to read this article, I chuckled to myself thinking it to must be sort of joke/satire/... Then I read further, and I realized that it wasn't.

i.e.
"""
The wise and skeptical know that even an infinite number of data points in the past may only have limited bearing on the future.
"""
and then:
"""
...short term bits of data are neither reliable nor a wise way to go about making important long term decisions.
"""

I'm really thinking that he is generalizing his experiences from the IT industry to people in general. You can't do this.

I worked in that industry for a while and it definitly produces and attracts some of the most arogant people around. ie Just look at any Perl vs Python thread and you'll see what I mean.

Basically, this articl has way to many drawing of parellels (EDIT: Where none exist - I should stop posting when I'm tired ) and hyperbole to be taken seriously.

EDIT: CantTakeSky, may I assume that Sig is me? (EDIT: Never mind you prob. mean SignyM - see tired remark above)

And yes, I as well find the people here some of the smartest that I've met to date.

----
"Canada being mad at you is like Mr. Rogers throwing a brick through your window." -Jon Stewart, The Daily Show