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  • From: "Christian Stalberg" <cstalberg AT develop.net>
  • To: <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Fw: Charles Platt on "The Enduring Power of Stupidity"
  • Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 07:25:53 -0400


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worthwhile reading. fyi...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Declan McCullagh" <declan AT well.com>
To: <politech AT politechbot.com>
Cc: <cp AT panix.com>
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 10:59 AM
Subject: FC: Charles Platt on "The Enduring Power of Stupidity"


>
> **********
>
> Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 20:36:04 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Charles Platt <cp AT panix.com>
> To: <cp AT panix.com>
> Subject: The Enduring Power of Stupidity
>
> The Enduring Power of Stupidity
>
>
> During the past five days I have read many essays. To me, all
> of them have missed a fundamental underlying point.
>
> There are two basic forces in the world: Intelligence and
> stupidity. Human intelligence generally is creative, and has
> the potential to enhance our lives. Stupidity almost always
> is destructive.
>
> A month ago, the power of stupidity was demonstrated on a
> routine basis when our president made an "ethical decision"
> that scientists should destroy small clumps of human cells by
> throwing them away, instead of using them in research to
> eradicate terrible diseases. This stupidity was justified by
> misinterpreting an archaic book of primitive myths.
>
> During the half-century that I have been alive, I've seen
> many similar examples of stupidity depriving us of the fruits
> of intelligence. Random examples include the misapplication
> of Marxism, the Vietnam war, the cold war, dismantling the US
> manned space program, eco-alarmism, and the war on drugs.
>
> No doubt every person has some favorite examples to add to
> this list.
>
> At the dawn of the 21st century, when Y2K was averted by a
> lot of smart people doing intelligent things to prevent the
> paralysis of modern society, I started to hope that
> intelligence was finally gaining an edge over stupidity. Here
> I am now, using a digital computer that not only facilitates
> my creativity as a writer, but also revolutionizes my ability
> to create music, videos, or graphics. Its connectivity has
> changed my entire working and social life. Its power has been
> almost totally beneficial, and it promises still greater
> benefits in the future.
>
> Computational molecular biology has the potential to
> eradicate all hunger and disease. Ultimately computational
> power should enable us to manipulate matter itself, enabling
> a new era of unlimited wealth while eliminating side effects
> such as pollution and global warming. We may also defeat
> death: I may die, but I believe my daughter has a chance to
> achieve biological immortality.
>
> At least, I used to believe this, until last Tuesday. On
> Tuesday I saw that stupidity still trumps intelligence. Those
> hijacked airplanes were an amazing feat of intelligent
> engineering, making the miracle of flight not only safe but
> universally accessible. The World Trade Center was a
> brilliantly innovative piece of architecture. Yet a handful
> of thugs armed with box cutters destroyed those fruits of
> intelligence within a few hours. The thugs, of course, were
> acting in accordance with their stupid misinterpretation of
> yet another archaic book of primitive myths.
>
> Regulatory stupidity facilitated the terrorist acts.
> According to the Washington Post, FAA regulations have always
> permitted knives up to 4 inches long on domestic flights, and
> all cockpit doors on all airplanes can be opened with the
> same master key. In any case, the doors are flimsy enough to
> be kicked open. At least 14 times since 1998, drunk or
> disturbed passengers have tried to force their way into
> airplane cockpits. They succeeded on 6 occasions. In 1999, a
> passenger on All Nippon Airways fatally stabbed a pilot.
>
> Thus, this country has pursued an aggressive, punitive
> foreign policy that was guaranteed to create enemies, yet
> took only cosmetic steps to protect its own citizens in a
> situation of notorious vulnerability. Worse, in the future,
> passengers will remain vulnerable (instead of being allowed
> access to tools of nonlethal self-defense such as tasers),
> while the foreign policy will become more aggressive, thus
> creating still more enemies.
>
> I'm old enough to remember how the unfettered, turbulent
> creativity of the 1960s dissipated in the ugly stupidities of
> a war in southeast Asia. I fear now that the incredible
> technological creativity of the past decade may be derailed
> by some equally stupid, unwinnable war in another remote,
> hostile country, causing socioeconomic chaos at home.
>
> 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.
>
> The terrorists with box cutters, and the militants in the
> U.S. government, share two traits. They exercise power
> indiscriminately, and show no great love for technology. In
> fact, I believe they are hostile to it because they see how
> its intelligence threatens them.
>
> Their fear is justified. In the long term, I still believe
> that technology will eclipse dumb political power and render
> it obsolete.
>
> Alas, I no longer believe that I will see this happen within
> my lifetime.
>
> --Charles Platt
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
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>




  • Fw: Charles Platt on "The Enduring Power of Stupidity", Christian Stalberg, 09/18/2001

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