avoid anyone
thinks every book should have been
six-paragraph post
Taking an easy way out to fill a few days of my blog, I am presenting some of Arwa Mahdawi’s five golden rules for spotting an idiot this week.
Building on the theme, If you want to be successful in this world, you have to develop your own idiot detection system,” raised by the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, recently in a commencement address to the Northwestern University Class of 2023, Guardian Columnist, Arwa Mahdawi put together her own list of five foolproof red flags to help identify idiots.
Ms. Mahdawi writes: So how do you spot an idiot? Well, says Pritzker, it’s not always easy. “I wish there was a foolproof way to spot idiots, but counterintuitively, some idiots are very smart. They can dazzle you with words and misdirection. They can get promoted above you at work,” Pritzker said. “They can even get elected president.”
“… it’s a shame, I think, that Pritzker didn’t elaborate further. I think we could all do with a bit more of a comprehensive guide, don’t you? So I’ve helpfully put together the beginnings of one.
Behold, five golden rules for spotting an idiot.”
Similarly, avoid anyone who thinks that every book should have been a six-paragraph blog post
Sadly, Ye is far from alone in having a proud disdain for books. Over the past decade, the world has worshipped at the altar of Stem. We’ve fetishized data and technology and devalued the humanities. The result is a generation of policymakers and tech bros who think that books are useless and everything can be understood through a purely technical lens.
Take Sam Bankman-Fried, for example. Last year, back when the disgraced FTX founder was still being feted as a genius, SBF told the journalist Adam Fisher that he thought books were a massive waste of time. “I would never read a book,” SBF proclaimed. “I’m very skeptical of books. I don’t want to say no book is ever worth reading, but I actually do believe something pretty close to that. I think, if you wrote a book, you f***** up, and it should have been a six-paragraph blog post.”
Bankman-Fried, who is being investigated for allegedly misappropriating billions of dollars in customer funds, certainly knows a lot about f****** up.
This Bankman feller really said ‘I don’t want to say no book is ever worth reading, but I actually do believe something pretty close to that?’
I am reminded of the old TV Show, Yes, Minister.
A massive report is prepared for submission and someone asks if an executive summary has been prepared.
“The Dick and Jane version? Of course!” is the reply.
And when the report is presented to the Minister, he takes one look and says, “Tell me there is an executive summary?“
I can understand that, but the rest?
I would never read a book.
I’m very skeptical of books.
Without question.
Without a doubt.
Anyone I that I might hear saying anything like that I would avoid and immediately label and idiot.
Thinking of the Governor of Illinois, and wanting to be successful in this world and understanding that I have to develop my own idiot detection system, I can endorse this 2nd rule even with a certain of incredulity that these people are out there.
But they are.
People who are very skeptical of books.
How can you argue with such folks?
I know they are out there and I know they think that, but I still find it hard to grasp.
I think of that other old TV show, Happy Days.
Howard Cunningham and Fonzie are arguing.
Howard makes a point referencing the movie High Noon.
Fonzie dismisses the point saying if he had been Gary Cooper, he would have punched Grace Kelly.
Howard throws up his hands and walks out saying, “How can you argue with a man who would punch Grace Kelly?”
No Haiku For You 