In the Light of Theosophy
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- Published: Sunday, 25 September 2016 13:27
[This article appeared in the July 2016 issue of The Theosophical Movement. For more articles published in this excellent magazine follow this ink: http://www.ultindia.org/previous_issues.html ]
It seems the whole world is waging war on unintelligent people. In earlier days intelligence or unintelligence of the person was not as important as it is today. Instead, emphasis was laid on factors like integrity, good work ethic, and the ability to get along with others. A college degree – especially in the Western world – was not necessary even as late as the 1960s. Today, both in India and in the West, we find that a college degree is a prerequisite for most jobs. According to jobs web site, Monster.com, “smartness” takes precedence over factors like “hard working” or “ambitious,” mentioned in job descriptions.
David Freeman at The Atlantic writes, “Those who consider themselves bright, openly mock others for being less so. Even in this age of rampant concern over micro-aggressions and victimization, we maintain open season on the non-smart. People who would swerve off a cliff rather than use a pejorative for race, religion, physical appearance, or disability are all too happy to drop the s-bomb: Indeed, degrading others for being ‘stupid’ has become nearly automatic in all forms of disagreement.” The Harvard Business School professor argued that smart people can make the worst employees because they are not used to dealing with failure and criticism.
