Maira La
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Just wanted to share this piece of comment in response to "Technocrats and democracy - Have PhD, will govern" by a gentleman (handle: Connect The Dots). Though I might not agree with everything he says, a lot of his observations are amazingly true:
Information is Not Knowledge.
Knowledge is Not Wisdom.
And Wisdom is Not Actionable Intelligence.
Our best course in life is to make the right decisions at the right time.
Action is just as important as being right yet passive.
You don't need a Phd to have common sense.
Common sense is rarely common.
We should not seek knowledge as much as seek to develop our judgement. Our education system is too fixated at the former, and cannot comprehend the latter.
Education is a form of insurance, but tragedies also happen to the heavily insured.
Hopefully we have the rational basis to make good decisions, but even ignorant people can act correctly--simple chance probability.
Ignorance is bliss. But no one should aspire to ignorance.
Errors will be made over a lifetime--hopefully they are small and recoverable.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. It is the basis of rotten decision making processes.
The Truth has few friends.
There is no miracle cure or get-rich-quick scheme...unless you find an oil well in your back yard.
Nobody every died from hard work but many do not want to risk it.
How to lose weight: Eat Less and Exercise More.
How to become wealthy: Spend less than you make. Save. Invest.
For much in life, we all know what to do, but very few have the discipline to do it.
People want the easy lazy solution...and that is how they vote.
Give people only a limited choice. More than four confuses them. Make two of the choices obviously bad. Let them make the last rationalization on their own. Now they own it and have a commitment.
Clever phrasing of a question can steer an answer as certain as a guided missile.
Our enemies are sometimes external but probably more commonly internal.
Up to 38% of Europeans have a diagnosable mental illness that cause some impairment in their lives.
Mental illness probably causes more destruction of civilization today than war.
Mental Illness probably causes more anxiety, stress and relationship destruction than the devil ever could.
Mental illness affects judgement more profoundly than education.
Know Dysfunction when you see it: government, societal, economic and most importantly personal and psychological.
Our worst enemies can be ourselves. That is why Democracies are failing today: personal failings.
Russia is failing today due to personal demons: Alcoholism.
Mexico and Central America is failing due to addictive drugs.
Afghanistan is failing due to heroin.
The Middle East is failing today due to hyper-religiosity resulting in a nihilism of the real world. This is a schizoid trait.
Mental illness is probably the most underrated cause of world misery and suffering.
Society is only as healthy as the Mental State of its Citizens. And we are sick. The first step is to acknowledge the problem. The next step is to seek treatment.
Utopias fail because of personal weakness of its individuals.
There is no pure democracy, particularly in America and the West.
Pure Democracy is the Occupy Wall Street Movement: Paralyzed by Inaction. And derailed by the Crazies.
Assume 40% of a population has Mental Illness. Democracies Fail because they allow the vote of a mentally ill, judgement-impaired individual to be the equal to a sane rational individual. And therefore crazy policies get approved and enacted.
Government should be conducted by the sane.
Aristotle thought Democracy is second best to a Benign, Enlightened Philosopher King. Yes an autocracy but with progressive and human bent. See Governance of Singapore for the last 50 years and China for the past 20 years.
The winners in the world are nations that are less encumbered by mental illness.
-------------
Technocrats and democracy: Have PhD, will govern | The Economist
Information is Not Knowledge.
Knowledge is Not Wisdom.
And Wisdom is Not Actionable Intelligence.
Our best course in life is to make the right decisions at the right time.
Action is just as important as being right yet passive.
You don't need a Phd to have common sense.
Common sense is rarely common.
We should not seek knowledge as much as seek to develop our judgement. Our education system is too fixated at the former, and cannot comprehend the latter.
Education is a form of insurance, but tragedies also happen to the heavily insured.
Hopefully we have the rational basis to make good decisions, but even ignorant people can act correctly--simple chance probability.
Ignorance is bliss. But no one should aspire to ignorance.
Errors will be made over a lifetime--hopefully they are small and recoverable.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. It is the basis of rotten decision making processes.
The Truth has few friends.
There is no miracle cure or get-rich-quick scheme...unless you find an oil well in your back yard.
Nobody every died from hard work but many do not want to risk it.
How to lose weight: Eat Less and Exercise More.
How to become wealthy: Spend less than you make. Save. Invest.
For much in life, we all know what to do, but very few have the discipline to do it.
People want the easy lazy solution...and that is how they vote.
Give people only a limited choice. More than four confuses them. Make two of the choices obviously bad. Let them make the last rationalization on their own. Now they own it and have a commitment.
Clever phrasing of a question can steer an answer as certain as a guided missile.
Our enemies are sometimes external but probably more commonly internal.
Up to 38% of Europeans have a diagnosable mental illness that cause some impairment in their lives.
Mental illness probably causes more destruction of civilization today than war.
Mental Illness probably causes more anxiety, stress and relationship destruction than the devil ever could.
Mental illness affects judgement more profoundly than education.
Know Dysfunction when you see it: government, societal, economic and most importantly personal and psychological.
Our worst enemies can be ourselves. That is why Democracies are failing today: personal failings.
Russia is failing today due to personal demons: Alcoholism.
Mexico and Central America is failing due to addictive drugs.
Afghanistan is failing due to heroin.
The Middle East is failing today due to hyper-religiosity resulting in a nihilism of the real world. This is a schizoid trait.
Mental illness is probably the most underrated cause of world misery and suffering.
Society is only as healthy as the Mental State of its Citizens. And we are sick. The first step is to acknowledge the problem. The next step is to seek treatment.
Utopias fail because of personal weakness of its individuals.
There is no pure democracy, particularly in America and the West.
Pure Democracy is the Occupy Wall Street Movement: Paralyzed by Inaction. And derailed by the Crazies.
Assume 40% of a population has Mental Illness. Democracies Fail because they allow the vote of a mentally ill, judgement-impaired individual to be the equal to a sane rational individual. And therefore crazy policies get approved and enacted.
Government should be conducted by the sane.
Aristotle thought Democracy is second best to a Benign, Enlightened Philosopher King. Yes an autocracy but with progressive and human bent. See Governance of Singapore for the last 50 years and China for the past 20 years.
The winners in the world are nations that are less encumbered by mental illness.
-------------
Technocrats and democracy: Have PhD, will govern | The Economist
