Why are stupid people increasingly gaining influence over others?

[LAX54]

Even back in the 1980s, there were way too many stupid people working as teachers in UK schools - at the time it was possible to become a teacher if you had a gob and a pulse!

Not too sure my daughter would agree with that, having spent 4 years at University in Cambridge to train to be a Teacher !

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'm not convinced that stupid people are indeed gaining more influence over others than they have had in the past.

Maybe it's lockdown fatigue, but I feel as if the membership of this site have become more "glass half empty" of recent times. Several recent threads have been very pessimistic in their tone and outlook.

Worse things happen at sea...

I've just been on one of the vaccine threads, and as a result I take back my assertion made in the quoted post. People definitely are becoming more sceptical of experts at the very least, though they're quite selective over which experts.

 

[DerekC]

Are stupid people in charge? I don't think so - but it may be worse than that. Many of the people who are in charge seem to prioritise their own personal objectives above all else. They are quite willing to mislead if that's what will get them into in power. And that causes everyone to lose faith in them - so now we don't believe what any politician says. And that leaves those who lack knowledge and judgement open to conspiracy theories and fake news, which social media allows to spread more widely than was ever possible before. That fosters division, irrational behaviour and openness to exploitation by people who want to gain and keep power at any cost. It's a vicious circle. The question is, how to give everybody the tools and the knowledge to think for themselves and to use the enormous power of the internet in a positive way.

 

[Purple Orange]

What "soft subjects" are those? Things like media studies are often a subject of ire, but do teach skills like critical thinking and analysis.

If the past decade has taught us anything, Media Studies is needed more than ever. Look at how it has influenced and shaped movements and politics. It should be a stream within social psychology too, given the impact it has on our lives. When the subject first became popular, most of our media was through the traditional channels as it had been for decades.

Are stupid people in charge? I don't think so - but it may be worse than that. Many of the people who are in charge seem to prioritise their own personal objectives above all else. They are quite willing to mislead if that's what will get them into in power. And that causes everyone to lose faith in them - so now we don't believe what any politician says. And that leaves those who lack knowledge and judgement open to conspiracy theories and fake news, which social media allows to spread more widely than was ever possible before. That fosters division, irrational behaviour and openness to exploitation by people who want to gain and keep power at any cost. It's a vicious circle. The question is, how to give everybody the tools and the knowledge to think for themselves and to use the enormous power of the internet in a positive way.

Excellent comment.

 

[peters]

2. Some people who do not appear regularly on TV enter a state of near-panic when placed in front of cameras & microphones, temporarily they might even be unable to name close relatives. I have even seen this happen to "celebrities" when they sit in that black chair on Celebrity Mastermind.

In a recent episode of the Gadget Show Georgie Barrat was demonstrating some digital art thing and her mind must have gone blank when it showed the Mona Lisa as instead of saying its name she said "the erm erm" and then had to look at the information provided before saying "Mona Lisa." The producers could have edited that out but they obviously thought it was too entertaining to leave out.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Parts of social media, too, highlight people’s lack of knowledge, but in a different way. I often see people posting questions where the answer could easily be found on the internet. A lot of this seems to pinpoint towards a reliance on other people knowing the information, or possibly an unwillingness to explore the internet beyond social media. Generally, this tends to be things like “Anyone know what time ASDA opens?”, “Anyone know why the bins haven’t been collected?”, and so on. I think in this particular instance it relates to something someone further up the thread posted about people wanting to be part of a community. But at the same time it also shows that despite the massive amount of information available on the internet, people seem reluctant to explore, or be curious, beyond places like Facebook.

I think you're correct that people asking easily-Googleable questions may sometimes reflect the desire to be part of a community rather than laziness. After all, it arguably takes more effort to ask what time ASDA opens on a forum than it does to Google it. It may on occasions also reflect people's distrust of technology, and a sense (probably incorrect, but there you go) that asking someone who lives locally may produce a more accurate answer - especially around bank holidays etc.

But if we're linking this to general intelligence/effort amongst the population... what's the proportion of people who do that kind of thing? I occasionally see that kind of Googleable question on the main local group for my area - but that's only occasionally, and on a group with several thousand members and several hundred active posters. To my mind that suggests that the proportion of people displaying that kind of laziness (if it is laziness) is actually pretty small, and you only notice it because of the way the Internet lets you see what so many people are saying.

 

[peters]

I think you're correct that people asking easily-Googleable questions may sometimes reflect the desire to be part of a community rather than laziness. After all, it arguably takes more effort to ask what time ASDA opens on a forum than it does to Google it. It may on occasions also reflect people's distrust of technology, and a sense (probably incorrect, but there you go) that asking someone who lives locally may produce a more accurate answer - especially around bank holidays etc.

Yes. In a work environment I've experienced getting questions from customer facing colleagues, that could be answered quicker if they just typed it into Google or looked at the relevant page on the company's website. On some occasions perhaps they feel someone else can give them more information, even when they can't. Alternatively, perhaps in some cases they have already Googled it or looked at the company's website and then want someone else to answer it to verify the answer they already have, if they want to cover themselves in case someone says they gave incorrect information?

I actually needed to check store opening times on 28th December last year (the Bank Holiday lieu day for Boxing Day falling on a Saturday) and I found the big chains all had a page on their website where you could select a store and it would give you the opening times for the store, including revised opening times for the Bank Holidays over Christmas and New Year. That's always going to be more accurate than someone posting what they think a store normally does on a Bank Holiday.

 

[Purple Orange]

Yes. In a work environment I've experienced getting questions from customer facing colleagues, that could be answered quicker if they just typed it into Google or looked at the relevant page on the company's website. On some occasions perhaps they feel someone else can give them more information, even when they can't. Alternatively, perhaps in some cases they have already Googled it or looked at the company's website and then want someone else to answer it to verify the answer they already have, if they want to cover themselves in case someone says they gave incorrect information?

I recognise this scenario. I think it comes from fear and a lack of self confidence. It is easier to trust someone you work with than it is to trust your own instincts. If the information is correct, then it is correct, but if it is wrong, then everyone is wrong.