An Opportunity to Consider Stupidity

For those of you who have not yet seen Albert Nerenberg’s light-hearted  documentary, Stupidity, I recommend it as food for thought. Although parts of the movie are comic, the impact of human stupidity is far from humorous. From people’s inability to define stupidity to our global leaders inability to effectively employ antidotes to global warming and war, we constantly reap the painful and often cataclysmic effects of human stupidity.

Nerenberg is interested in the study of stupidity and its causes so that we may choose another route and pursue wisdom instead. For all the studies on intelligence and wisdom, according to Nerenberg the study of stupidity is quite paltry in comparison. Is stupidity so stupefying that even the best minds find it beyond their capability to study? Or are we so arrogant as to consider human stupidity unworthy of our serious study? Either way, we have proven over the millennia that human stupidity is recurrent and seemingly boundless. It is neither a laughing matter nor is “Stupid!” merely an epithet to hurl at someone with whom we disagree. I’m sure that each one of us can admirably demonstrate stupidity in our own lives. Read the rest of this entry »

VN:F [1.9.13_1145]
Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.13_1145]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

The Opportunity of Too Many Opportunities

Yesterday, a friend sent me a link to a blog post entitled “Don’t Keep Up With Social Technology” by Alexandra Samuel who blogs for the Harvard Business Review. Her comment accompanying the link was “has ‘opportunity’ written all over it.” You might be wondering how NOT keeping up with social technology can provide a powerful opportunity but both my friend and Alexandra Samuel are absolutely right.

Samuel’s point is that given that there are so many new social technology applications online right now and that so many new ones will continue to proliferate in the future, the only successful strategy for successfully using this technology is to stop trying to keep up with each new application that is produced. If Alexandra Samuel whose field is social technology can’t keep up, what hope do regular people not involved in the field have?  So give your self a break and surrender. Keeping up is no longer a plausible response. Read the rest of this entry »

VN:F [1.9.13_1145]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)
VN:F [1.9.13_1145]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)