The well-read idiot

in #philosophy7 years ago (edited)

Information rules the world at the moment and probably always and because of this, signalling knowledge has become a thing. I remember when my wife walked into my apartment for the first time. I kept it clean and tidy and had everything in its place.

She wandered through, poking her nose around with a curious expression on her face trying to subtly get an understanding of who she was dealing with. I watched her and knew exactly what she was looking for. She walked through the lounge, into the one bedroom and even poked her sticky beak into my walk-in wardrobe.

When she emerged I said, "Looking for books?"

A little startled that I had her snooping pegged, she got flustered and stammered, but before she could answer, I said, "you won't find a bookshelf here".

When I was 18, I bought a little house in the tropics of Cairns, Australia. One of the first things I did was get a bookcase and filled it with all of my favourites. Quite a range at the time. However, with a full-time job, a part-time job and full-time study to contend with, I had very little time to actually read for enjoyment.

Months or years passed by when finally I had a moment to read a little for myself. I went over to the shelf, scanned through the spines and picked one to get started on. I pulled it from the shelf and... ants. An ant colony had decided to make its home in the pages of my collection. Pretty much, every book sitting on the shelf was ruined.

I don't think I have bought a book since.

Of course, I do read from time to time but a lot less than I probably should and when I do, it is digital versions now. It wasn't long after the ant incident that I moved to Finland and I would borrow books from the library and friends instead. Finland is expensive. Mostly though, I like to watch the world and think for myself.

Many people display their book collections as a testament to their reading prowess, which they think signals their intelligence. I have a friend who does this and he hasn't even come close to reading all of the books on his shelves. Those are either aspirational reads for when he has the time (which he knows he never has) or books he has bought specifically to signal to his guests.

Some people put all of their university study books on the shelf too. As soon as I was done with mine, I sold them or donated them. They were either too expensive, too heavy or too useless to keep.

Not long ago I was in a law office for work and there was a large bookcase with all of the Finnish law books lining one of the walls. That must be a very expensive collection of books I remarked. They answered proudly it was. Do you use them? I inquired. The answer? Well actually, we have a searchable database that is a lot quicker and up to date than these.

This sounds like I am against books and reading. I am not at all. But books are there to inspire thought, not replace it. Too often these days I am faced by arguments through quotations where all manner of sources are referenced as points in the conversation.

This bores me no end, no matter how correct the quote may be. It is a Google search conversation. If I am talking to a human, I would like to know their thoughts on the matter, not what thoughts from others they have read on the subject. And if they have thought long and hard about what a source has said and come to the exact some conclusion, fine. I still don't need the source referenced. I am not their school teacher or @cheetah.

It is a type of name dropping. Instead of saying I know such and such, it is, I have read such and such. In many ways, these people tend to have a very broad range of knowledge but it is often second hand information and has likely never been practically applied.

I have a family member who gives me advice on diet and exercise. He is well read. He reads many headlines but doesn't seem to have found the article or book on how to lose weight himself. Perhaps if he reads just one more clever author on the matter he will have all the knowledge he needs to actually act.

The lack of practical experience for many of the readers is a bit of a problem because they can sound very convincing but without actually having applied it themselves, they do not know if it works. This means that they are selling a product without knowing if it is legitimate.

To me, that is either ultimately underhanded or they are idiots. Well-read idiots as the case may be.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

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Here's my unreferenced, unresearched, un-Googled take 😉

When I add this article to your dismissal of the "culture of others" idea, I see you rejecting the idea of a person as a social being. We must signal things to others. We do this with dress, with accent affectation, the words we choose, the art we like, and even the books we keep on the shelf, or lack thereof.

Here's an observation: having no bookshelf at all for a grown adult man in the Western world is as much a statement, a signal, as not having one at all. A different statement, but one none the less. You cannot escape the fact that you signal.

Authenticity is what is being questioned here. You suggest that if one has not read the books, or applied the knowledge of the books which are read, or internalize the knowledge of the read books too uncritically, this is not an authentic representation of the person.

I also wonder why you dismiss information which one has not "practically applied"?

Here's where I would search for an article with a search term like "bookshelf important for home unread", hoping to find something which would support something I feel to be true, that bookshelves are not only to show of books one has read, not only to store ones yet to read, that it has some importance in the home. I remember as a child pulling books from bookshelves and reading with great interest about my family's interests.

I may arrive find it from a source I think is reputable. I may find a counter argument and actually change my mind, prompting me to think, what within me led me to think that to be true?

One thing I think is probably in line with your view - that you can find anything online to support your argument, or even just make you feel like what you believe is true. Quoting a contemporary article, a classic book or even a famous thinker is not a substitute for thinking, or critically it is does not mean it's true.

But I think it would be foolish to rely completely on one's own intellect and way of describing things. A reference to a source can be a good way to summarize ones position, or give more food for thought to a discussion. I defend its usage.

Last point

I have a family member who gives me advice on diet and exercise. He is well read. He reads many headlines but doesn't seem to have found the article or book on how to lose weight himself. Perhaps if he reads just one more clever author on the matter he will have all the knowledge he needs to actually act.

This person may have read a lot but that does not make them well read. Read well also means reading well I should think, and without being able to check if there's a consensus on this online (no searching for this comment...) I'll go out on a limb and say it is. Reading headlines? Come on. Diet books? Diet books are not likely to be information of high nutritional content, to mix metaphors.

I am glad you quoted that last bit and picked up on it. I know this well and as you said, reading well is important, not well read. You get a point. It is something he has not learned and his sources of information are questionable at best.

The no bookshelf is less a statement and more about affordability at the time. It actually worried my future wife quite a lot that I didn't own books. (I actually did, they were in a drawer next to my bed but like I said, the library came into play). I just knew exactly what she was looking for as it is a common indicator here.

And I didn't say I don't read, I do when I have the time which is rarely. Most of the time though, I listen to podcasts and conversations across a massive variety of sources.

This post is more about the quoting from the books, not the reading of them. Like I said in the post, books are there too inspire thought, not replace it. There is a reliance on the information consumed rather than a catalyst for personal growth.

And of course I signal, it is the only way to communicate. The problem is perhaps when people are signalling the ideas of others hoping they can inherit their intelligence. Knowing is not doing.

Much of what I say is probably wrong, nonsense and should not be taking as gospel (not that anyone would). Much might require some thought to find the value too. You yourself are here spending some time thinking about how you see what I have said. You have explored your views, bolstered your position or perhaps thought some through differently. You haven't agreed or disagreed blindly. Reading-well, not well-read.

This is my nonsense from my experiences (including what I have read) and I have little fear for my thoughts being wrong as they so often are. Many fear being wrong so rather than rely on and develop their own thoughts, they outsource their thinking to those they deem smarter. Perhaps they are right much more often than me but, given a fast moving situation that requires action, I tend to back myself more often than not.

You are one of the people here that takes the time to read and consider what you read but that might make you biased. You may work under the assumption that your common sense is more common than it is, I work under the assumption it is not common at all. I cannot know my audience at that level.

Someone like you can read my work and discount it as trash (but probably still get some thought value), someone else can read it and start the first steps towards developing their critical thinking or daily actions.

Thanks as always for taking the time. This is a rushed response as I have to have a shower before my daughter wakes from her nap :)

I would not call what you write nonsense or trash, far from it. My challenge is meant in good faith, as a test to the ideas, as well as my own. I think it's the best way to see if they stand up.

The problem is perhaps when people are signalling the ideas of others hoping they can inherit their intelligence. Knowing is not doing.

I like this and I think it's the point I might have overlooked in my first response. On this specific thing, I agree, and it's a trap any of us can fall into when quoting.

I certainly am biased, I'm grinding a certain axe here, I have my take on things. I'm not sure if it is actually common sense, more my own sense of things. There are some ideas which I think are very strong and I thrash them out making sure that they are indeed strong. One of them is my understanding of culture and how it underpins a lot of things, sometimes in hard to see ways.

Thanks also for taking the time to read and consider my response. At the end of the day that's half of it, agree or disagree.

No, I know you didn't call it trash, the point is, it doesn't really matter if you did. I don't take offence to the criticism but remember they are just words too. This is part of my point also, the books, scripture or whatever people quote seem, they seem to believe that those who penned it, lived it. Do as I say, not as I do may play a large role in those selling their ideas.

My move away from culture in some of my writing is because there is a move into blind culture where people are becoming so attached to some parts of it that it is weakening other parts. This conflict within themselves will end up causing much larger problems for them and externally.

I write across quite a range of topics and have 'expertise' in a only a small fraction. The problem with the experts often is that they approach it as experts.

About 10 years ago I spent a week in Tokyo with a girlfriend. After the first day she asked 'why do the Japanese understand you and not me, Is my English not good enough?' She is Finnish.

The problem was that her English was too good. That good that she hadn't noticed that when I was speaking I was adjusting my language down heavily. She was hearing what I said and filling in the gaps herself. But not actually listening to what I said, or how I said it.

It was a big challenge for her to reduce her skill downwards, after all, she had put so much effort and investment into gaining it.

This is a communication problem many have and can be a cultural issue also. What is common for one can be very unfamiliar for another and approaching the topic under the assumption that all of the background information is present, falls into poor communication skill. For many though, to see this, they have to step away from themselves far enough to witness it happen.

I sometimes deal in extremes of view but I do not necessarily live there myself and the way I write is in the hope that there is some information for everyone if they care to look. It is not to target everyone, it is to target individuals.

Keep commenting as you are as it helps me greatly :)

That's called indoctrination and not actual knowledge. There are people that have no critical thinking skills and just memorize the things their teachers say it's the truth or the best way. Even if you don't apply it yourself you must have sound logic and some common sense. I sadly agree that universities produce people that have little to no experience in the real world and that is troubling

It is a strange in some cases as the papers are needed to qualify for a job but the teaching limits the ability to do the job.

yep, legacy education, we must do better and break the monopoly on accreditation.
I have a post on education if you want to read. Good posts like yours are hard to find on Steem, a lot of people just spam meaningless click bait in order to get some upvotes. I wonder how can Steem can help me filter through the bs.
https://steemit.com/education/@iuliuspro/education-for-humans-not-cattle-education-2-0

I think filters will come in time and the community functions will help when they arrive too.

I actually think that blockchains will help in the future for accreditation too. I write about education also occasionally from different perspectives. I will read yours now and I noticed that it is still open so I will vote too.

Welcome back any time.

Interesting idea that blockchain can be used for accreditation. You can build online universities on that. You could have different knowledge trees, and any student could learn what they want. All their choices can be recorded in the blockchain. In the end, you could have your map of skills and information learned. Accurate, unfalsifiable information that can replace the current system.

People think a lot of new tech for blockchain, I try and look where it can replace the old. I am not a tech expert though so I have the ideas and hope someone will investigate their viability.

Man you are the epitome of two wolves fighting in the mind of one man. read off and write on!

Boom. Nicely put. I don't read much either anymore, but like you I do a lot of thinking, and I know that's valuable. But in the world outside our heads it's all about paper, and what's on paper, and who's written the paper. The worst of all is how people think they know what's going on because they read NEWSpapers. Especially the posh ones, just because they're reading a middle class, intellectual newspaper they think they are more informed than the rest, but it's just another form of bullshit for another form of person. It makes me laugh really. xD

Yes. It is a highclass meme war.

warm and sincere welcome , up voted and soon followed
thanks a lot for this awesome post very useful specally when you are in need and trying to change your life style
i will read it every day , trying to fit and get back in shape
see you around
best regard looking forward to see post may the steemforce be with you

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