General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI have a theory about Ben Carson.
Clearly, he's quite accomplished in the medical field and undoubtedly knows far more about neuroscience than I could even begin to imagine.
But I also think his brain can only handle so much intelligence, so almost all functional aspects of it are used to store acquired medical knowledge about the brain itself.
And as such, on anything not neuroscience related, he comes out sounding like a drooling idiot.
treestar
(82,383 posts)He is smart as he got into medical school. And graduated.
He thinks he can take a field other than his own and master it in minutes.
Which is odd, as he should know how much it took to learn his own. But most people like this figure they could have graduated in the other discipline. Then they forget the years of study and figure I'm smart, so if I dabble in another field, I can surely lecture those with degrees in it.
I have an uncle who figures he is smart and he has no qualms about telling me things about what I have a degree in. He'll calmly inform me of things as if I don't know.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,219 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)I lol'd reading that book. So well done.
3catwoman3
(24,071 posts)...Dunning-Kreuger thrown in for good measure.
He is an embarrassment.
Johonny
(20,913 posts)Michael Shermer has a good chapter on why smart people believe weird things. It pretty much sums up every Ben Carson in a nut shell. Intelligence in and of itself is not enough to defend again irrational thinking and may under the right conditions enhance irrational thinking patterns.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)smart is no defense against irrational thinking and might well enhance the wackiness if the individual also has a big ego IMO, especially with a touch of delusional thoughts.
Johonny
(20,913 posts)and thus well skilled in convincing themselves the absurd is truth. I call it the David Brooks syndrome. He's very skilled writer, but he writes about absolute crap that convinces only those that want to be convinced.
treestar
(82,383 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,899 posts)Here's a guy who is evidently book-smart, which is necessary to survive medical school and become a successful doctor. But he had to work at that. Even though he's smart it took him years of intense study and work to become that successful doctor. Did it ever occur to him that knowing a lot about medicine does not mean he is qualified to be the President of the United States? Does he think that job requires no training or knowledge beyond watching Fox "News"? "Hi, everybody, I want to be your President even though I've never had any experience whatsoever in government at any level, but I know everything I need to know because I'm a doctor. Also, I read the Bible."
Smart people aren't always smart.
treestar
(82,383 posts)They've seen Law and Order and Perry Mason or whatever, so they must know how the law works and what it is. lol.
And the Bible bit, that will indeed work when it comes to that lot of people who think it will automatically be the fount of all wisdom.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)one's own grasp.
underpants
(182,949 posts)when something goes in, something has to go out. Like that time we went to a wine tasting and I forgot how to drive.
Marge: You were drunk!!!
Homer: And how!!!!
sendero
(28,552 posts)... trying to fit the real world into a religious belief system leads to an extreme level of cognitive dissonance.
Christians simply CANNOT ADMIT, despite all the evidence, that the world is NOT 6,000 years old and that gay people are born that way. It would call everything else about their belief system into question. Better to push fingers in their ears and shout la la la.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)I know of plenty of churches, including mine, where you won't hear that kind of nonsense. Not even close.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... but there are scads, certainly not a tiny majority, of Christians that are pretty much like this, I hear them spouting bullshit every day.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,219 posts)Painting all Christians in that manner is a broad brush, though.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... certainly not all. But not some tiny fringe element either.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)I am a Christian. There is no question that the earth is a tiny, teeny bit older than 6,000. (My beard might be older than 6,000 years for that matter)
I know plenty of Christians who also know this. I also support rights for everyone, not just people who believe as I do. And I do not believe in the Flintstone version of history where early hominids used dinosaurs to pull their carts.
You wrote:
... trying to fit the real world into a religious belief system leads to an extreme level of cognitive dissonance.
I might respond in similar fashion to your attempt to characterize all believers as agreeing with the views of some believers.
Archae
(46,358 posts)BUT...
He is kissing up to the worst of the Teabagger crowds.
And they hate science. And logic.
strawberries
(498 posts)he has a different opinion than you as do others. That doesn't make him dumb or a drooling idiot. Just a man with his own values and opinions
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,219 posts)He once claimed that the ACA was the worst thing to happen to the country since slavery. Meaning the ACA was worse than Jim Crow laws, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK, Vietnam, Watergate, 9-11, the Iraq War and any numerous other national tragedies and embarrassments we've suffered since 1865.
strawberries
(498 posts)Tommy_Carcetti
(43,219 posts)"You know Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery," Carson, who is African American, said Friday in remarks at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. "And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care. It was about control."
strawberries
(498 posts)how does he connect the dots between health care and slavery? Makes no sense
I apologize for any post I made standing up for him
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,219 posts)ProfessorGAC
(65,248 posts)You were out on the ledge there, and realized that it was a bad place to be. You stepped it back. Way to swallow your pride! It's hard to admit you were wrong in front of others. Hard for anybody.
Reter
(2,188 posts)Probably WWI was necessary too. I'd replace them with Waco.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,219 posts)And there were certain disturbing side issues, such as Japanese Internment.
Any war, justified or not, is ultimately a tragic event, even if it is also a necessary evil.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)how does using violence become necessary as a way of combating violence?
Violence is used when a person or nation decides that talking will not accomplish the objective.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Last edited Wed Mar 4, 2015, 06:04 PM - Edit history (1)
Is just another opinion?
And his so-called support is lame. No statistics, a limited population and probably bullshit
One thing I believe no liberal would do is defend a right winger as simply having a different opinion.
Erose999
(5,624 posts)playing it up for the Faux News crowd.
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)The same morons who level their coffee tables with copies of Herman Cain's books they bought 4 years ago to prove that they weren't racist.
Erose999
(5,624 posts)Sarah Failin' made millions in speakers fees before the GOP eventually figured out that her ship had sailed, been boarded by pirates, gotten lost in the Bermuda Triangle, and devoured by dread Cthulu.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Orsino
(37,428 posts)Because money is stupid and mean.
uponit7771
(90,367 posts)woodsprite
(11,931 posts)I work at a University with some really prominent professors in their fields, but some of them are the dumbest people when it comes to common sense things. I think Carson falls into that category.
One really bright Econ prof called me up to his classroom because he couldn't get his computer working. He applauded that I was able to walk in and get it running for him in a few seconds. He asked me to share with his class how I troubleshot the problem and fixed it. I felt horrible about it, but I told him it was the first thing I tried, I plugged it into the electrical outlet. Honestly, that was the only thing I did.
Gothmog
(145,666 posts)There is a term in the securities business called DDDs which means dumb doctor deals. If a promoter has a deal that is too stupid to sell to anyone else, they target doctors who are really bad business persons