The campaign for the free thinker continues

In my experience in life I have found that in terms of intellectual capacity and general awareness, people tend to fall very loosely into three broad strata. Of course, there are always exceptions, and obviously there will be fine gradations within each level.

The largest category consists of those of average to below average intelligence. These folks often do not aspire to intellectual or academic activities and tend to be more interested in other, more personal priorities in life, such as family or leisure. If things are going wrong, it is the government’s or the authorities’ fault, and why don’t “they” do something?

Next up are the so-called professional classes. This group are by far the most self-righteous and like to set the agenda for everyone else. They do not like their world view criticized, because “that’s just the way human societies operate”. In particular, they cannot conceive that there are some people who do not fit the mould of going to college, getting a degree and training for a profession. Actually, they remind me of the people science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote about in his novella “Profession“, where nobody can learn anything on their own without the information being programmed in. The idea that someone can learn on their own, or think on their own, is so anathema to them that any suggestion that an autodidact can be every bit as capable and professional as they are with all their gold-framed certificates, will either bounce straight off the periphery of their consciousness or, if pressed, will tend to sanctimoniously lecture you on what I have found is a particular defining attitude of this group – that it is “up to the individual to make out”. If things are wrong, YOU are the problem and why don’t YOU do something? It often escapes them that not everyone is privileged enough in life to be able to choose carte blanche where to work and what to achieve.

The last, and by far the smallest, stratum consists of the ones who are aware enough to be able to see both sides, and who appreciate that things are never as cut and dried as members of the previous category would like us all to believe. Members of this group are rarely short of ideas and suggestions in the direction of generating solutions, but appreciate that battles were never won without boots on the ground and plenty of supplies. They also understand that in order to procure those people and resources, first the public must be made aware that there is a situation to be rectified in the first place. This inevitably triggers knee-jerk reactions from members of the previous group, who will seize the opportunity to tell you to quit whining, even when you weren’t.

The thing for those of us who are actually trying to get something done for the free thinkers, autodidacts, polymaths and geniuses of this world is not to be intimidated by self-righteous lectures. Until the transition has been fully made into the Information Age and the new knowledge class will be more appreciated for their rarer qualities of mind, we will have to be patient with them. We must be tolerant about the fact that, for the moment, a certain amount resistance, criticism and disbelief will be par for the course.

In the meanwhile, I for one will simply keep putting the arguments out there.