When being dumb is smart

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

Like others of my generation, I offered unsolicited advice to my young niece to be smart enough to shun modern gadgets, as obsession for mobile handset makes one dumber. Far from taking it kindly, she chided me for my naivety and suggested that I better read the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Even before I could make sense of it, she quipped nonchalantly: ‘why acquire new knowledge when less of it can do the trick?’ Then she moved on with her unfinished task on the mobile.

I don’t have the academic credentials to challenge the researcher duo of David Dunning and Justin Kruger at the Cornell University, but I’m intrigued by their conclusion that ‘the dumber you are, the more confident you are that you’re not actually dumb’. They have identified a human trait that prevents one from acquiring new knowledge.

Although it will take time for the DK effect to sink in, I find living evidence in gadget-zombies roaming all around, that being ‘smart’ may not be the in-thing it used to be in not too distant past! I may not be the only one who seems to have sensed it. Wear your thinking cap, and you will feel it — ‘smart’ has ceased to be what most of us have grown working towards! It’s no longer a virtue. Being ‘dumb’ adds value to your profile.

Whether you doubt it or accept it, this change is right upon us. While most parents remain somewhat circumspect, youngsters are undoubtedly in awe of themselves. Loaded with self-belief, and lots of selfies, they go beyond the natural brashness of being young. They are no longer windbags that many had thought of them in the past, they are smart, err.. dumb enough not to carry any baggage of knowledge, as much of it is only a click away.

No wonder, my telling the young lady to be smart was not taken kindly by her. Youngsters seem to believe that smartness as a lifegoal is a passé. They would appreciate parents if they’re less persuasive. “If with an average IQ George Bush Jr. could rule the USA and the world for almost a decade, what the fuss about being smart is all about,” she told me.

On the other hand, letting people think a little less of you helps get away with some silly stuff without it being held against you. Smart people are known to make stupid mistakes while the stupid escape getting caught for it.

Having used our intelligence to create artificial intelligence, I suspect there isn’t much left for humans to get any further. It is better to be dumb when things around are becoming ‘smart’ — from smartphones to smart kitchens, smart cars, smart cities. Let everything else be ‘smart’ but us. Amen!