The greatest right in the U.S. is the Right to Be Stupid. This is great. I'm stupid about 99.99% of stuff and am glad to not have this held against me. There's immense freedom in this as well as immense responsibility.
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It's wise because it doesn't commit the arrogant act of thinking you can Drink the Ocean if you had enough time. It creates an anxious life trying to slurp up as much as possible.
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The Right to Be Stupid says "My street smarts are JUST as valid as your book smarts" and is often right.
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A powerful aspect of this life philosophy is that it unlocks a human's purest expression of courage, will, and energy when one takes stewardship of their own lives. It discovers nuclear energy for human spirit. Independence and Freedom.
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But it can also become toxic in many ways. The Head of the Household can become a common Wife Beater. "My Home" comes across as selfish when we suddenly realize we're all on the same giant ball breathing the same air and it's "Our Home."
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What happens when a community has a critical mass of independent thinkers is that it has a great amount of diversity due to the independent thinking but ALSO can more easily assimilate other diversity.
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If I'm a juggling cat trainer I would be killed by the Barbarian Cannibals and ignored by the Wandering Alchemists, but a motley crew of random but independent thinkers can say "I'm sure we can find a use for you."
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The group has multiple points of view with which to creatively assimilate the new skills.
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Here's something that I think is missed though. To "assimilate" is an act of violence. It rips from one home in order to plant in another. I as a juggling cat trainer may be valuable in some form but I as a schizophrenic pyromaniac won't be accepted.
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That is, a group of independent thinkers has a limitation on how independent it can think because it can't assimilate group-destructive thoughts. It's actively allergic to them.
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This may be why genius is often considered a lonely thing. Groups just can't think the right thoughts. Groups can ONLY group think. Duh.
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(Similarly, having mass study groups to face and meditate on "Existential Loneliness" doesn't make sense either. The existence of the group only holds you back, it doesn't support you.)
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The Right to Be Stupid allows me to value my individual take on things to the same degree as someone else. My thoughts should MATTER because there's no way the committee knows about how My House with My Rules works.
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This can encourage an Iron Man response. Mastering nature to extreme degrees in order to continue having freedom and independence.
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So the Right to be Stupid creates 2 'virtues'. One is the desire for Mastery over Nature which has sacred/profane variants of Knowledge and Domination of.
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The other is the ability to recognize value in a greater variation of value in people rather than along a single axis determined by majority favor on whatever is currently fashionable to be outraged or turned on by.
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This latter is being tested right now. Diversity of thinking is under attack. There are a great many who believe that what is 'right' is black and white and that it's now just a marketing problem. The naïve innocence of inquisitors.
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This is an attack on the core Right To Be Stupid which is necessary to keep alive the idea that There Are Different Kinds of Smart.
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