Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
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Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
In the US, this experiment is also currently being tried. The current president knows virtually nothing about the way that the country of which he is president works. He doesn't know how legislation is passed. He didn't know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. He thought that if you use hairspray in a room with the door closed, the CFCs can't get out and damage the ozone layer. etc.
Is this a good thing? Is that the kind of leader we should all have? One that is unencumbered with knowledge and is free to just react naturally and instinctively without getting confused? Less is more?
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
If I ever need surgery I would not want the "fresh perspective" of a medical equipment salesman.
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Reap what you sow, and all that malarkey!
Frankly I am surprised it took the US so long to elect such a president. Is it good? Short term, no. Long term, YES! It will hopefully shake the apathetic people of the US into a state of wakefulness, into a mode of listening to what common people and stepping away from the idea of treating a nation like some business venture. Or maybe not?
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Anyway, to the question. The obvious answer is that such a leader would do a terrible job. But in fairness not the worst possible job, a Hitler style dictator would still be worse than a random bloke living in a shed talking garbage which had little to nothing to do with reality.
Then of course there is the silver lining argument. He will mess things up so badly people will be forced to change things for the better and after a couple hundred years or so it's actually better off for it.
I am of the opinion that the silver lining argument is irrelevant. I look at it slightly differently. If you take an individual that individual can (for a huge variety of reasons) make better or worse choices. Now it may never be known if those choices were better or worse. It might be that they make little to no difference. Certainly there is no objective standard of better or worse to judge against and even if there was an objective standard there is no way to hold an individual to that standard. Now of course if the choices get too bad then disastrous things happen which evolution selects for. This applies to groups of humans as well as it does to individuals. So I see a kind of see saw effect going on. Choices get too bad then evolution (via natural selection) starts to force choices to get better. Choices get too good and natural selection becomes a non issue and we swing back into bad choices again. Of course the pendulum stops either when we all die out or if we can find a way to stop it.
- Mike-the-philosopher
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
But perhaps it is still interesting to consider that guy in the wooden shack.
Eduk:
The guy in the wooden shack in the story seems to be very solipsistic and he seems to be a continuation from Douglas Adams' idea of the "Total Perspective Vortex", the "Fundamental interconnectedness of all things" and the extrapolation of the entire universe from a small piece of fairy cake. He is a piece of human fairy cake! The people who put him in power clearly think that it's possible to take his logical reasoning and musings based in his immediate sensations and extrapolate the broad principles he comes up with there in the confines of a small shack which he never leaves to the entire galaxy.Douglas Adam's was awesome. As normal he is not talking about an alternate reality he is talking about the reality we are in. Trump is just even more obviously analogous to this character than the other leaders were. I particularly like Adam's electric monks which would believe things for you, this seems more and more real the older I get
A nice idea. Whether president Trump is really analogous to it? I guess probably not really. That was just a little conceit of mine. An obvious difference is that Trump clearly has brought with him various pre-conceived ideas. But one parallel to the solipsism of the character is perhaps Trump's apparent belief that truth and falsehood are irrelevant and that all that matters about one's words is the effect that they have. And therefore Fact Checking news services miss the point.
-- Updated Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:11 am to add the following --
(I like the electric monks too. I think they were in Dirk Gently weren't they?)
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Trump is completely opposite to the ruler of the universe. The latter claims ignorance about things of which he really does know while Trump claims great knowledge of things about which he knows precious little.Steve3007 wrote:IWhether president Trump is really analogous to it? I guess probably not really. That was just a little conceit of mine. An obvious difference is that Trump clearly has brought with him various pre-conceived ideas. But one parallel to the solipsism of the character is perhaps Trump's apparent belief that truth and falsehood are irrelevant and that all that matters about one's words is the effect that they have. And therefore Fact Checking news services miss the point.
-- Updated Wed Oct 11, 2017 8:11 am to add the following --
(I like the electric monks too. I think they were in Dirk Gently weren't they?)
The electric monk was a Dirk Gently character. I especially liked his horse:
[...] it was none the less a perfectly ordinary horse, such as convergent evolution has produced in many of the places that life is to be found. They have always understood a great deal more than they let on. It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion about them.
On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day, every day, on top of another creature and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever.
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Fair point. So I suppose there isn't so much of a parallel between the two; more of a perpendicular.Trump is completely opposite to the ruler of the universe. The latter claims ignorance about things of which he really does know while Trump claims great knowledge of things about which he knows precious little.
(Dirk Gently book)
I guess that's why the White House staff give so many anonymous accounts of life inside.They have always understood a great deal more than they let on. It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion about them.
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Zaphod and Trillian seem quite pleased with the ruler of the universe. I mean I get the theme that anyone who both wants to be the ruler and can convince others to allow it should not be the ruler. In real life I see this often, people who know how complicated and difficult a problem is may not believe they have the aptitude to run a country (or run a business). Anyone who does think they have the aptitude to run a country is probably mistaken about how complicated and difficult it is and how little they know (dunning-kruger). So naturally the number one attribute of a leader is the desire to be the leader. Secondly to convince others to allow it. And distantly last any actual ability.
So from that perspective the hermit is a better choice than someone who wants to do it. Plus he does not believe that he can do it, on the surface he has minimal bias. Sadly it doesn't address, for me, the fact of whether he can or can not. Of course it's meant as a joke but most of Adam's jokes mean something, so I'm not sure what he means on this one.
Now I am less sure of the analogy to Trump Although I see what you are getting at. In a way he is as solipsistic as the hermit. And in his own way just as cut off from the world as the hermit. But as Greta pointed out he seems to be the opposite to Trump in manner.
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Barack seems further away from the hermit than Trump to my mind.
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
Yes, I think the general message is that power corrupts, so an arrangement has to be made whereby the person making the big decisions doesn't realise, or believe, or accept, that they're in a position of power.Zaphod and Trillian seem quite pleased with the ruler of the universe. I mean I get the theme that anyone who both wants to be the ruler and can convince others to allow it should not be the ruler.
Yes, I agree. The kinds of people who say things like "Shoot me down in flames if I'm wrong..." or "I'm probably talking out of my ar*e, but how about this..." don't generally tend to get political power.In real life I see this often, people who know how complicated and difficult a problem is may not believe they have the aptitude to run a country (or run a business).
Yes, but on the other hand, maybe people who appreciate the complexities of life get so wound up thinking about it that they never actually make any decisions? That, I think, is the difficult balance that has to be struck. The interesting thing about the recent US election was that the current and previous presidents seem to neatly encapsulate the perils of both extremes.Anyone who does think they have the aptitude to run a country is probably mistaken about how complicated and difficult it is and how little they know (dunning-kruger).
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Re: Is the best political leader one who knows nothing?
2023/2024 Philosophy Books of the Month
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