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Frank Loomer's avatar

Noted, James, good for you. You likely well know that this sort of thing has a very long history in the annals of humankind.

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James R. Carey's avatar

Yes. By my count, about 400 generations (aka 100 centuries), but our species is much older. To the best of our knowledge, our species emerged roughly 12,000 generations ago, and hunter-gatherer bands are invariably egalitarian in lieu of authoritarian. So, proportionately, our species is like a 13-year-old trying to adjust to a new reality less than half a year after childhood's end.

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Frank Loomer's avatar

More importantly? is human precociousness across the board. More likely an evolutionary quantum leap than just being a teenager.

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James R. Carey's avatar

Without getting into specifics, only a few people are smart enough to be brain surgeons and rocket scientists, but literally everyone is capable of being sufficiently wise, and that's all that is necessary.

It's better go slow in the right direction than to go fast in the wrong direction, and it is likewise better to be wise with a low IQ than to be Elon Musk.

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