A number of European writers have tackled this subject in recent months. In Homo Cretinus, Olivier Postel-Vinay describes stupidity as a “mental polyp” that subtly encloses specific brain regions, impairing cognitive flexibility. This form of stupidity, he said in an interview, is not an occasional lapse or lack of knowledge but an “attack on intellectual integrity” that renders us incapable of exercising common sense.
Such beliefs lead people to ignore contradictory information and select the evidence that supports their ideas. Postel-Vinay defines this confirmation bias as the polyp’s “tool of choice” because it perpetuates a self-reinforcing cycle of false beliefs that impedes intellectual development. Thus, he says, opinions become dogma in even the most intelligent individuals. Social media echo chambers only make the situation worse.
In his recent book Elogio dell’ignoranza e dell’errore (In Praise of Ignorance and Error), the Italian writer and former prosecutor Gianrico Carofiglio distinguishes between two types of ignorance: unconscious ignorance and conscious ignorance. The former, he said in an interview, is particularly dangerous to democracy because it combines a lack of knowledge with the arrogant belief that one already knows enough. [ed. Dunning–Kruger effect]
“Unconscious ignorance undermines the foundations of democratic debate, trust in science, and respect for knowledge,” Carofiglio said, describing it as an attitude that poisons public discourse and fuels misinformation. On the other hand, he argues that we should embrace conscious ignorance—an intellectual humility that helps us recognize our own limitations while remaining receptive to the knowledge of others. This form of ignorance, like the Socratic “I know that I know nothing,” is the foundation of true competence.
By recognizing that others may hold truths beyond our understanding, we reduce the tendency for categorical statements that exacerbate division. “The truth each of us holds is, for the most part, a legitimate opinion,” Carofiglio explains. “And opinion pushes us to engage in dialogue with others, which is precisely the opposite of polarization.” (...)
Postel-Vinay notes that, from Europe at least, American society seems to be in the grip of a similar moment. Isaac Asimov once said that “there is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been.” Asimov argued that this ignorance is “nourished by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is as good as your knowledge.”
by Sacha Biazzo, Columbia Journalism Review | Read more:
Image: Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images[ed. We've sure come a long way in my lifetime from Kennedy's "best and the brightest" to today's dumb and proudly obnoxious. Probably for a lot of reasons, some more relevant than others: 'smartphones; social media; a fractured media/news ecosystem; lack of reading and comprehension skills (and I would add, civics class instruction) and lately, just attention itself, which has been effectively weaponized for personal and political gain. Doesn't bode well for this country or for humanity's future (especially with AGI just around the corner, ready to outsource all our critical thinking skills). See also: Trump, Musk, and the Limits of Attention (CJR); and, Evangelicals Made a Bad Trade (Atlantic):]
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"What is psychologically intriguing is how bracing and electrifying a figure Trump is to many evangelicals. It is as if his disinhibitions have become theirs. Parents who disapproved of their children saying “damn” are now enthralled by a man who says “motherfucker.” Those who championed modesty and purity culture celebrate a thrice-married serial adulterer who made hush-money payments to a porn star. Churchgoers who can recite parts of the Sermon on the Mount are inspired by a man who, on the day he announced his candidacy for reelection, promised vengeance against his perceived enemies. Christians who for decades warned about moral relativism are now moral relativists; those who said a decent society has to stand for truth have embraced countless lies and conspiracy theories. People who rage at “woke cancel culture” delight in threats to shut down those with whom they disagree. Men and women who once stood for law and order have given their allegiance to a felon who issues pardons to rioters who have assaulted police officers. (...)But things get stranger still. A lot of evangelicals justify their embrace of Trump on biblical grounds. They insist that they are on God’s side, or perhaps that God is on their side. The more they are pulled into the MAGA movement, the more they tell themselves, and others, that they are being faithful disciples of Jesus, now more than ever, and the more furiously they attack those who don’t partake in the charade.
The cognitive dissonance caused by acting in ways that are fundamentally at odds with what they claimed to believe, and probably did believe, for most of their lives would simply be too painful to acknowledge. The mind has ways of minimizing such discomfort: We rationalize our conduct, justify ourselves, and trivialize the inconsistencies. The story that many evangelicals today tell one another is that they are devoted followers of Christ, fighting satanic forces that are determined to destroy everything they know and love, and willing to stand in the breach for the man called by God to make America great again."
