Now, if I were a psychic, I would have seen this argument coming…
A rather uncontroversial Ethics Alarms post from September is suddenly getting bombarded with links from Reddit, heaven knows why. This was the article where I took The Learning Channel to task for building a reality show around a psychic (a.k.a “fraud”) and advertising it as if her abilities were real (Irresponsible TLC, Promoting Ignorance and Fraud). I appreciate the traffic when Reddit focuses on a post, but the experience is usually annoying. Reddit readers never make comments here, but make snarky, often ill-informed snipes on their own site, where it’s too much trouble to set them straight.
One of the Reddit critics of the Ethics Alarms post had a complaint that surprised me. He wrote…
“For an article about yelling at someone who makes unverified claims, it sure starts off with a doozy.
‘Public ignorance and stupidity costs the nation billions of dollars, kills untold people in the hundreds of thousands, vastly increases crime and unemployment, and generally makes life far less productive, safe and enjoyable for the minority that are not ignorant and stupid, as well as for those who are.'”
It never occurred to me that anyone would find that statement “unsubstantiated,” or even debatable. To begin with, it is obviously an opinion, though there are few opinions I am more certain about than this one. It is also not remotely like the assertion of a psychic that she communicates with the dead, which isn’t just an unsubstantiated claim, but an outright lie.
My statement, on the other hand, seems irrefutable on its face. Since it was an introduction only, I did not feel that I was obliged to produce a full brief backing up the statement, or a list of links and cites. Anyone who can’t recite examples of ignorance and stupidity costing large amounts of money and wreaking human havoc is uniquely immune to reality. Citizens Against Government Waste, for example, calculates that in excess of 200 billion dollars are wasted each year by the government’s redundant expenditures and poor management. That’s stupidity, and the public’s ignorance helps it continue. The mortgage meltdown was caused in part by politicians stupidly pushing to make sub-prime loans available to people who couldn’t afford to own houses, ignorant home buyers committing themselves to such mortgages, and stupid Wall Street wheeler-dealers who used the shaky loans to build a dangerous chain of complex investment vehicles without understanding the catastrophic risks involved. There are your billions, and that’s just the tip of the stupidity iceberg. You want deaths? There are over 440,000 deaths in the U.S. every years due to cigarette smoking. If you don’t know that smoking cigarettes is dangerous, you are ignorant, and if you do know and smoke anyway, you are stupid. Another 75,000 die each year from causes related to alcohol abuse, about half of that from drunk driving, which is undeniably stupid. Meanwhile, it is estimated that the annual social costs of substance abuse, which is both ignorant and stupid, are over 500 billion dollars a year. Crime? It is estimated that crime costs the country over a trillion dollars each year. Criminals are, for the most part, stupid, ignorant, or both. Do I really have to substantiate the links between ignorance, stupidity, and unemployment? These aren’t necessarily the best examples of how ignorance and stupidity make life worse, just the ones I happened to pick. You should be able to make as strong a case without using any of them.
There was nothing excessive, unfair, or untrue in my statement. The suggestion that my observation that massive suffering is inflicted on society by human stupidity and ignorance is as dubious a proposition as The Learning Channel’s assertion that the “Long Island Medium” really speaks to the dead typifies the abysmal quality of thought on Reddit. In court, when there is a fact that both sides agree doesn’t need to be proven with evidence because the fact is obvious to all, that fact is “stipulated,” and the trial moves on. Anyone who is incapable of stipulating to the harm done to the nation by public ignorance and stupidity is either in denial, or part of the problem.
Ethics Alarms 
“Citizens Against Government Waste, for example, calculates that in excess on 200 billion dollars are wasted each tear by the government’s redundant expenditures and poor management.”
That tears it! You’re getting an ergonomic keyboard for Xmas.
Be nice, I’m jetlagged.
This is where I feel that the best method of population control, and assurance of our success as a species, rather than the spiral down we are succumbing to, would be to eradicate anyone who can not think for themselves, or is otherwise incapable of critical thought. “Stupid” people have been a thorn in my side, where a world full of brilliant people would provide for more stimulating conversation, and overall, more logical solutions to problems rather than this non-sense that is force-fed as fact. Just because someone in XYZ position of power says something, does not justify what is said as a fact. To assert something as fact, one must be critical rather than simply assume that everything they see or hear is true.
In today’s society(s), when a government, or celebrity, or someone held in high regard says something, the majority accept this as a factual statement and when confronted, their sole rebuttal is that it is true because so-and-so said so, and they would never “lie”. This type of brain-dead person does nothing more to contribute to society except to be a dumb drone — possibly a job in military where they just do as they are told (conditioned) with no critical thought as to is this battle really worth it, or is there another solution (meanwhile, the two countries at war are watching millions die while they sip on a cup of tea together).
Sadly, population control of this sort will not happen because no matter how dumb people are, they are still slaves, and what would any good government be without their slaves ?
You need to be careful on that one, Alan. Who decides who is smart or dumb… and based on what criteria? This is where you can easily drift over into the Fenian death panels of George Bernard Shaw. Even the smartest, most self-aware people are capable of the dumbest stunts imanginable. Consider the famous case of Albert Einstein, who was found walking to his classroom at Princeton in his stocking feet, having forgotten his shoes. And in snow! Given a level playing field based on ingenuity and industry, the leaders will rise to the top readily enough. It’s the job of free citizens to allow this free market to thrive.
The problem with your theory, is there is no such thing as a “free citizen”.
Just how do you mean that, Alan?
A few comments:
1) My eyes! My eyes! Aaaaaagh!
2) “Citizens Against Government Waste, for example, calculates that in excess on 200 billion dollars are wasted each tear by the government’s redundant expenditures and poor management.”
Can you please link to something explaining how this supposed 200 billion of waste was calculated?
For comparison’s sake, Tom Coburn’s enormous report on government waste – which includes many examples of genuine waste, but also many examples of exaggeration or distortion of the facts by Coburn – only found about $18 billion. (Admittedly, Coburn didn’t look at unneeded military hardware, which is probably the biggest source of waste.)
3) The CRA was not a significant cause of the financial meltdown ( see http://tinyurl.com/2wjmcm3 ); if you disagree, let’s see your evidence.
1. Sorry. It’s only for a few more weeks.
2. Luckily, this is one time we don’t have to debate. You don’t like those examples? There are dozens of others: just pick the ones you like. Presumably you don’t question the central assertion, that stupidity and ignorance costs billions, kills people and generally screws up things for everyone.