Yet I don't think it explains everything. For one thing, the supposedly intelligent Ks almost never see the collapse coming. For all their vaunted intelligence, why is this?
Something else I keep in mind is the old military classification of Smart, Stupid, Active, Lazy.
The top posts were to go to Smart & Lazy, because they figured out the most efficient ways to do things. Never to be allowed in the military were Stupid & Active, because they got everyone killed.
The bulk of soldiers were Stupid & Lazy, because they did the bare minimum to get by but didn't cause any trouble. Smart & Active made good officers, but again, the top promotions went to Smart & Lazy.
I found that simple classification to be very accurate on judging people.
However, what I found to be more accurate is to refine Smart/Lazy/Stupid/Active to Smart/Stupid/Lazy/Introverted/Extroverted.
The dumbest people in the world are the Stupid & Extroverted & Active - the stupid, extroverted r-selected. They are the ones who fill the prisons and commit almost all crime. They are impulsive, i.e,. they act before they think. That's one of the big reasons they get into such trouble. They're too stupid to see cause and effect in their own lives. They're the kind of people who can't even learn from their own mistakes.
Next up are the Smart & Extroverted & Active. Remember I mentioned they were never to be given the top positions? There is a good reason for that. They can't handle them.
I believe it is the Smart, Extroverted, Active K-selected who can't see what is coming. The only ones who can see what is coming are the Smart, Lazy, Introverted K-selected ones.
Many politicians are Smart & Extroverted & Active, and they are the ones who can't see what is coming. They start wars and screw up the economy. They're why democracy doesn't work and always fails.
There will always be incurable problems between the Extroverted and Introverted. The worst problems are going to be between the Stupid/Active/Extroverted r-selected and the Smart/Lazy/Introverted K-selected. They might as well be different species - and some think they are.
The smarter Introverts understand the Extroverts a lot better than Extroverts understand the Introverts. No Extrovert is ever going to understand an intelligent, imaginative Introvert wandering in the evening figuring things out (and getting so absorbed they fall into ditches, as the famous Scottish economist Adam Smith did).
You can also see the difference between Smart Introverts and Stupid Extroverts in the movie, Idiocracy.
There are several ways you can define Introversion/Extroversion. One is the MBTI -the Meyers-Briggs Tests. There are, however, 16 classification. I tend toward the Enneagram, because there are only five classifications, which I have memorized (I suspect most politicians are Type 5, the Achiever - the unhealthy form of which is a narcissist/psychopath).
The Smart/Lazy/Introverted K-selected are the prophets - because they can see what is coming. And, of course, they are generally ignored.
"A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family." - Mark 6:4
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2 comments:
Heinlein once wrote about not confusing laziness with efficiency. Within his novel Time Enough for Love is a short story called The Man Who Was Too Lazy to Fail which illustrates this concept.
Unfortunately I am too lazy to be too lazy to fail. Profound lethargy is a curse not to be confused with depression.
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