Rewarding Dumbness: How Modern Society Filters Away Intelligence

Human society has always applied filters, to select who should be in a particular group. This is both evolutionary and required for good social dynamics. But we also apply filters institutionally, using systems of meritocracy to vet candidates both in academia and industry. I argue that these institutional filters are far too narrowly-defined to account for the complexity and high-dimensionality of human intelligence. I argue that today's complex world suffers from such narrow filtering, elevating a kind of "dumbness" in society. What we need now, more than ever, are problem-solving groups, composed of diverse individuals, filtered not by standardized tests and whiteboard exams, but by their ability to contribute to collective problem solving.Support the showBecome a Member at dekyon.io/seanmcclure/nontrivialPremium members get access to the full member app. This includes data visualizations of the core concepts in each episode, a Study Space for learning fundamentals, and premium articles on Techniques and Mindsets.Members can also save personal notes, explore episode summaries and transcripts, search across episodes, track watch history and progress, and participate in the community forum. Premium membership includes ongoing support.