STUPIDITY V.S. ETHICS.
Abstract
The arbitrarily based indifference if not hostility to those with good ideas underlines our pervasive stupidity in social relations. By contrast, the basis for our undeniable successes in matters technical becomes all the more obvious. If we could but apply scientific objectivity to the social domain we might undercut our proclivity for individual and collective maladaptive behavior. This is well worth considering, if indeed our faith in science is justified and if the application of scientific analysis to human behavior would lead to a reduction in stupidity.
References
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2. Rosenbaum, R. 1998. Explaining Hitler. HarperPerennial; New York. p. 270.
3. Watson. op. cit. 35. Nevertheless, German culture was presciently perceived and portrayed as degenerate by Thomas Mann in Buddenbrooks (1901) and Death in Venice (1913). Ibid . p. 135. However, Mann did not perceive the Ger-mans as destructive much less self-destructive.
4. Scruton, R. Fools, Frauds and Firebrands. Bloomsbury; New York. 2015. 115.
5. Anonymous. May 16, 1918. A British general staff memorandum. (Quoted on page 136 of Tooze, A. The Deluge. Penguin Books; New York. 2014.)
6. Genesis. 22. (NIV.)
7. Perkins, J. 2007. The Secret History of the American Empire. Dutton; NY.
8. Judt, T. Thinking the Twentieth Century. Penguin; New York. 2012. p. 340. According to Kurt Godel’s paradox, problems generated by a system are not solv-able within that system. (E.g., capitalism cannot solve problems of “Unemploy-ment”, which, along with “Poverty”, are terms not found in a capitalist’s vocabu-lary because capitalists do not care about losers. Those issues must be addressed and such people assisted by charities and/or a compassionate state.)
9. Wagner, R. 1971. Environment and Man. Norton; New York. Chaps. 7, 9-10.
10. Darlington, C. 1970. The Evolution of Man and Society. Science, 68, 1332.
Authors
[1]
“STUPIDITY V.S. ETHICS”., Soc. sci. humanities j., vol. 2, no. 01, pp. 480–483, Jan. 2018, Accessed: Apr. 25, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://sshjournal.com/index.php/sshj/article/view/67
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