My dear daughter,
How come there are so many stupid people in positions of power?
It’s a complex matter.
If you take a normal Gaussian distribution, the majority of people are going to be stupid, and just a handful are going to be very very stupid or intelligent. So it’s statistically likely to find more stupid people anywhere.
Evolution has primed us to get along easier with people similar to us, so stupid people are more likely to trust stupid people.
Since humans are a gregarious animal, the morals of the band, tribe or society have a lot of pressure on the individual. In a just society, everybody will strive to be just and punish the freeloader. In a mess of a society the freeloader can actually earn status. Those who succeed in detriment to everybody else are seen as smart.
It doesn’t take much to lead in a primate group. Most people don’t want to lead, they just want to feel safe enough to go about their business. So they will most times tolerate a lousy leader if they can ignore the side effects long enough, or if they are not so badly affected by a lousy leader’s decisions.
An ineffective group or organization won’t bother having stupid people in charge if they can keep things as they are, just enough to get the group going. That’s the status quo. Stupid people have a niche in such places if they know how to please and suck to their also stupid superiors. That kind of organization doesn’t usually accomplish much and mostly they just exist to support the status of their stupid leaders, who don’t really care if nothing useful is being generated for the greater good.
An effective organization will go through great pains to make sure clever people are in charge. But most times clever people also prefer to lay low and just go about their clever businesses. Taking charge takes a lot of time and effort and there’s a risk it will not pay off.
Positions of power usually require lots of social interaction and intersubjective skills. Sadly such abilities are not commonly found among those very, very smart.
There are also places which are optimal for stupid people who want to go unnoticed. Some societies make it a point of setting the lowest standards possible.
I can’t forget to mention positions of power both in the public and private sector attract people with antisocial personality disorders. It’s a fact proven through numerous studies. I have seen it by myself in the public sector as well. Most organizations have no controls or barriers to prevent that kind of person from achieving power. Some organizations might even enable and incentivize such people, as long as they bring money. The emotional detachment makes it easier for them to assume greater risks without caring for the responsibility.
We (or some of us) are constantly in conflict between reason and our animal instincts. Stupidity generally abounds where animal instincts thrive. Stupid ideas are easier to swallow and follow. The illusion of ignorance is comforting. At least until shit hits the fan.
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 