Dumb
Don’t assume people are dumb.
Once we get to a certain stage in life, it’s tempting to say, “I’m surrounded by idiots!”
While Thomas Erikson explores this topic in a different way, I’ll leave it to you to read his book. I myself want to talk about how much of a handicap we place on ourselves if we hold this worldview.
I am somewhat of an optimist when it comes to people. I subscribe to a Kantian view: I believe being kind to humans should be an end in itself. I try to avoid situations where “the ends justify the means,” especially when it comes to decisions like the trolley dilemma.
Once we adopt that kind of mindset, we simplify the world into something mathematical. While this can be helpful in certain situations, I believe it is more often detrimental. When we think this way, we jump to conclusions too quickly, fixate on measurable numbers, and stop thinking outside the box.
When presented with a problem like the trolley dilemma, I will challenge the questioner: Where is the train coming from? Why are these people tied to the tracks in the first place? Who showed me this lever? Where was I coming from, and where was I going?
These are natural questions that would come to my mind if I were actually in that situation. And if the questioner says, “It’s just a hypothetical scenario!” then I’ll ask: Why this question, then? Do you have a problem with this question? What are you trying to find out?
I used to deal with a lot of hypothetical scenarios in my corporate life, and I’ve had enough of them. Nowadays, I ask for real-life examples—preferably experienced firsthand, or at least secondhand—so we stay closer to the truth.
So why should we not assume people are dumb? Because once we do, we stop looking for reasons behind their actions. We stop using our investigative mind to find the root causes. We stop considering that this person may have acted with intention.
If we believe people generally do things with intention, we get into the habit of getting to know them. The more people around us we get to know well, the better we become as people. Getting to know others beats believing they are dumb and dismissing them.
Once we get to a certain stage in life, it’s tempting to say, “I’m surrounded by idiots!”
While Thomas Erikson explores this topic in a different way, I’ll leave it to you to read his book. I myself want to talk about how much of a handicap we place on ourselves if we hold this worldview.
I am somewhat of an optimist when it comes to people. I subscribe to a Kantian view: I believe being kind to humans should be an end in itself. I try to avoid situations where “the ends justify the means,” especially when it comes to decisions like the trolley dilemma.
Once we adopt that kind of mindset, we simplify the world into something mathematical. While this can be helpful in certain situations, I believe it is more often detrimental. When we think this way, we jump to conclusions too quickly, fixate on measurable numbers, and stop thinking outside the box.
When presented with a problem like the trolley dilemma, I will challenge the questioner: Where is the train coming from? Why are these people tied to the tracks in the first place? Who showed me this lever? Where was I coming from, and where was I going?
These are natural questions that would come to my mind if I were actually in that situation. And if the questioner says, “It’s just a hypothetical scenario!” then I’ll ask: Why this question, then? Do you have a problem with this question? What are you trying to find out?
I used to deal with a lot of hypothetical scenarios in my corporate life, and I’ve had enough of them. Nowadays, I ask for real-life examples—preferably experienced firsthand, or at least secondhand—so we stay closer to the truth.
So why should we not assume people are dumb? Because once we do, we stop looking for reasons behind their actions. We stop using our investigative mind to find the root causes. We stop considering that this person may have acted with intention.
If we believe people generally do things with intention, we get into the habit of getting to know them. The more people around us we get to know well, the better we become as people. Getting to know others beats believing they are dumb and dismissing them.
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