{"id":53496,"date":"2021-11-15T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=53496"},"modified":"2021-11-20T14:58:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-20T18:58:21","slug":"intellectual-yet-idiot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/intellectual-yet-idiot\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern Education Breeds “Intellectuals, Yet Idiots”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What does Taleb mean by “Intellectual, Yet Idiot”? What are the defining traits of someone whom Taleb would consider Intellectual, Yet Idiot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Intellectual, Yet Idiot” is a term coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb<\/a> to refer to a type of person who lacks “skin in the game”\u2014that, who is averse to risk. Taleb argues that Intellectual, Yet Idiots create flawed systems because the concept of skin in the game is totally foreign to them. They would never think to dissect a situation in terms of risk, and as a result, they fundamentally misunderstand many aspects of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll discuss Taleb’s concept of “Intellectual, Yet Idiot” and their key characteristics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Intellectuals, Yet Idiots Are Risk-Averse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The defining characteristic of Intellectuals, Yet Idiots is an aversion to skin in the game. They will never take risks if they can help it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To illustrate, Taleb writes that the Intellectual, Yet Idiot \u201cstudies grammar before speaking a language.\u201d This sums up the character nicely. Intellectuals, Yet Idiots want to avoid the uncomfortable experience of speaking a language poorly. They would much rather spend their time and energy studying rules of grammar in a safe environment free of consequences. This is a far less effective way to learn a language than to go out and risk embarrassment talking to native speakers. However, Intellectuals, Yet Idiots fail to acknowledge this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Risk Aversion as Habit Trigger<\/strong>

Risk aversion and fear are some of the greatest obstacles in our lives, but they also offer a hidden gift. In his book The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>Steven Kotler argues that many of the world\u2019s top performers have trained themselves to instinctively move toward discomfort instead of away from it\u2014what he calls the \u201chabit of ferocity.\u201dTo illustrate, Kotler recounts the story of a track coach who trained his runners to snap into perfect form whenever they began running uphill. At times when other competitors would react to discomfort by getting sloppy with their form, bodies instinctively trying to conserve energy, the track team would speed up\u2014<\/em>an antifragile mindset, one might say. According to Kotler, once this became a habit, the team would eventually lean into discomfort without even realizing it.Kotler argues that peak performers apply this habit to every aspect of life. Discomfort becomes a compass pointing to success.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Intellectuals, Yet Idiots Are Educated Yet Ignorant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Intellectuals, Yet Idiots earn degrees from prestigious universities without ever needing to verify their knowledge in real life, then get jobs that similarly fail to require skin in the game. These are jobs that involve theorizing and giving advice, with no penalty inflicted if their theories and advice are wrong\u2014Taleb lists journalists, consultants, and university faculty members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intellectuals, Yet Idiots assume that they know more than they actually do. Without direct consequences for their misunderstandings, Intellectuals, Yet Idiots never have any reason to question their actions and beliefs. For this reason, Taleb asserts that Intellectuals, Yet Idiots make worse decisions than the average laborer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As firm believers in the potential of human rationality, Intellectuals, Yet Idiots create systems in which educated decision-makers are able to exert influence and in which accountability is a lesser concern. <\/strong>Since they fail to factor in skin in the game, they see distant educated decision-makers as more effective than less educated decision-makers who are directly involved with the consequences of the decisions made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Curse of Learning<\/strong>

According to Taleb, Intellectuals, Yet Idiots suffer from what he calls the \u201ccurse of learning,\u201d as described in The Black Swan<\/em><\/a>. Because the world is so complex, even the most experienced experts are often unable to accurately learn from it\u2014yet because of their education, they vastly overestimate their own understanding, resulting in bigger mistakes than individuals with less education would make.

The book Superforecasting<\/em><\/a>documents this same phenomenon. <\/em>Researchers found that the vast majority of experts are no better at predicting significant world events than someone randomly guessing. Additionally, despite being wrong as often as anyone else, experts were far more likely to make extreme predictions within their field\u2014they frequently declared events either impossible or 100% certain to occur.Experts\u2019 blindness of their own inadequacies supports Taleb\u2019s argument against Intellectualism. When experts are so frequently and extremely mistaken, systems need to be built around skin in the game so that errors can be corrected.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Without Skin in the Game, False Appearances Cause Systemic Collapse<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Intellectuals, Yet Idiots and their followers aren\u2019t mistaken in believing that systems can be improved by intelligent and experienced decision-makers. However, in the absence of skin in the game, this reliance on human judgment is exactly what causes systems to collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re going to discuss two principles that explain why this is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n