Russell Brand and Candace Owens – The Perils of High Intelligence
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When a person has high intelligence they are often especially prone to denial and rationalisation. Highly-intelligent people tend to be able to convince themselves of anything, even untruths.
Because they have such powerful brains highly intelligent people are good at coming up with arguments for positions that they want to be true.
Russell Brand and Candace Owens – The Perils of High Intelligence
Russell Brand recently interviewed Candace Owens on his podcast. Both Brand and Owens are highly-intelligent in certain ways. Both are especially eloquent speakers. Both can argue their points powerfully.
But Russell Brand and Candace Owens are good examples of people whose high-intelligence often blinds them to their own biases.
When Eloquence Trumps Content
In the case of Brand, his eloquence is often used to ram home points that on close inspection make little sense and are quite illogical. Brand’s ideas about economics and politics are often naive and half-baked. But his ability to powerfully and eloquently argue those points prevents him from having to actually examine their true merit.
Brand’s high level of verbal intelligence covers his ass when his theories are illogical and his ideas have very little meat on their bones.
It is reasonable to predict that this prevents him from learning and developing better ideas.
When Intelligence Leads to a Closed Mind
Candace Owens is well read. But she does not seem to be widely read. She has read the work of Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell deeply and she can argue their ideas wonderfully and forcefully. But at the tender age of 29, she distinctly appears to believe she has figured everything out fully.
She is so deeply convinced that her opinions are correct that she puts all of her energy and intelligence towards forcing her opinions on others. She spends little time trying to find the ways in which she is (inevitably, as a human being) currently wrong.
A great example of this was her appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast. She argued the hackneyed and predictable right-wing position that man-made climate change is not real. But when pressed it became clear that she really didn’t know anything about the topic and was simply (and almost convincingly, due to her high intelligence) towing the party line.
High Intelligence Makes Us All Too Good At Denial and Rationalization
Any of us that are fairly intelligent need to look out for this. Denial and rationalizations are utilized by human animals to defend their egos. But, as a general rule, being out of touch with the truth and reality makes us less effective in the world.
When you have a powerful brain it can make excellent arguments for why falsities that you want to believe are true.
But living in fantasy keeps us stuck. And the truth sets us free.
There is huge power in knowing the truth. There is huge power (and relief) in accepting our own truths – about our lives, relationships, opinions, desires etc.
Living a life with a mind full of intelligently argued rationalizations is ultimately counterproductive and can do us, and the people we come into contact with, great harm in the long run.
So be fiercely open-minded and always remember that as an intelligent human being you are probably rather good at pulling the wool over your own eyes in numerous areas of life.
