effort and intelligence

A man can make up for his intelligence with his effort, but a man cannot make up for his effort with his intelligence. The intelligent members of the human race are obligated to use their rare abilities to aid humanity.

By the same token, people who are not of the same ability, must still fulfill their obligation to humanity, but because of the scarcity of intelligence, those who are smart are condemned to sacrifice more.

Be warned however, that one of my friends (and possibly you) think that this is a socialist idea; I however, disagree. I believe it is a philosophical one. My political beliefs include the idea that philosophy and government should not be intertwined, but even then, the idea should be identified as philosophical before it is put under a government context.

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Addendum:

elwoodblues: Perhaps you should reread the node. Nowhere do I even begin to insinuate that people are born with intelligence. If a man can make up for his intelligence with his effort, there's no reason he can't also use it to increase said intelligence. Moreover, that's part of the purpose of this philosophy.

As for having some obligation to society, I mean only that this is a moral, tenet, watchamacallit, etc. that I admire in other people. It does not mean that I think it should become law, even if it were possible. There is a difference. You may find such thinking futile ("Why bother if you don't belive it absolutely?" logic) but that can be refuted by more general philosophies pertaining to diversity of morality and their likeness.

Now please pick up those words and place them back in your gob.

First, just because an idea is 'philosophical' doesn't somehow elevate it above the realm of mortal man. Socialism is indeed a philosophy of thought, however misguided and pathetic.

You're saying that:
1)A person't intelligence is inborn; some people are intelligent, and others aren't, and that there is very little we can do to alter this.
Wow. I completely disagree. I believe that effort is what produces intelligence. Consistent, rational thought. In other words, someone who practices thinking, will think better. There's plenty of medical and biological facts to back me up on this.

2)Someone who is intelligent is somehow automatically indebted to the world for his/her superhuman powers of intellect.
I'm going to cry. You're trying to enslave me. News: It doesn't work like that. You can enslave labor. You cannot enslave a mind.

You don't think it's slavery? Look at your own words:
because of the scarcity of intelligence, those who are smart are condemned to sacrifice more.
The word 'condemned' is no slip of the tongue. It is slavery, to demand that a man has an obligation to society because of something he is, according to you, born with.

Men and women of intelligence are notoriously free-spirited and rebellious. Don't try telling us we're indebted to you. Hell, you're going to reap the benefits of our intelligence just by living in the same world. The things we invent, the ideas we have, they will benefit the world. Try your hand at planning it, though...

I'm not saying you might not have good intentions. Realize, though, that the path to hell is paved with good intentions. Human beings defy 'handling'. We are ornery, stubborn, rugged individualists. It is not something that can be safely ignored.

Myself, I believe there is a biological element to intelligence, but the larger factor by far is self-determined. Someone who makes the decision to read instead of watch TV, to think instead of react, that person will develop a greater intellect.

I call a horse a horse. Your ideas are blatantly socialist. Speaking as a human being, they frighten me, and turn my stomach.

Recently, I've found myself contemplating the fact that if I was just a hair less intelligent, a smidge less observant, one yard short of a first down or one egg short of a dozen that I would be a lot happier. Don't get me wrong, I know more than a few people who could run circles around me using that lump of goo behind their eyes. Yet, these very same people, with the exception of maybe one, seem to find no joy in their intelligence, myself included.

As the days flow into weeks, and the weeks melt into months, I find that the only way to satisfy my thirst for knowledge is to tackle as many problems and dilemas as possible, whether they be personal or whether they concern the entire planet does not seem to make a difference.

For example, I might not be able to adopt a poverty-stricken Cambodian child or two, yet I am compelled to learn more and more about their plight. How is Cambodia any different than, say, Vietnam, South Korea, many parts of Africa? How come only celebrities with enough cash to last until Maddox's grandson dies find it necessary to make a difference, no matter how small? And, did I just answer my own question?

Need more proof? Just take a look at my blog posts. Not a positive or joyous one in the bunch. Sure the one about Rock, Paper, Scissors got a few laughs, but if you read carefully, my rage and violent tendencies at such an inane topic hits you like, well, a punch in the face. Take that, paper! I'm looking at you, Wide Ruled!

Sometimes I find myself having to intentionally numb my mind after, literally, spending hours mechanically pouring over newspaper articles, books, even encyclopedias, for Zeus' sake. And, believe me, nothing zombifys a good mind like television. As much as I enjoy watching Family Guy, Aqua Teen, the entire Adult Swim lineup for that matter, hardly anything on TV stimulates much more than our brain's inherent vunerablility to epilepsy.

Yet, I keep watching because I find that, more and more, I derive enjoyment almost exclusively from crude, low-brow, uncensored material, regardless of medium. Although, I will officially state that the puzzle-solving and incresingly complex tasks found in many video games today are more than mental exercise at any age or intelligence level, yet the fun factor is not reduced one iota. By the way, did you know that the iota is actually the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet? I did, but do you see me smiling? In fact, you don't see me at all.

My theory is that since I enjoy learning and absorbing knowledge, I tend to overanalyze the information I encounter. Sometimes, I do so to the point that the knowledge is no longer enjoyable because I come up with more questions than answers but, regardless, am unable to stop myself from procuring more information on the subject. This inevitably leads to mental burn out. At which point I seek out activities which require the least amount of brainpower (i.e. television).

After all is said and done, and despite my complaints, I would not trade down my intelligence, such as it is, for anything. For without it, I would not have found this gargantuan source of inspiration y'all call Everything2. And while I may not be the sharpest blade on the razor (see?), just the thought of being blissfully ignorant is, ironically, depressing.