Where Ignorance is Bliss
The elections of November 2016 are beginning to shape up into a wild and scary finish. We know who the two major combatants are out there in the fray, center stage. One is a frumpy, effeminate blonde who bangs her head on hard objects in the hope of digesting something about the world from lessons at self-destruction. The other is Hillary Clinton.
The unknown crazy factor centers on the unpredictability of what comes out of the mouth of Donald Trump, and how many crazies are over there in the murky jungles of the right-wing lunatic fringe waiting to lap up whatever Trump shouts and spouts. “Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise.” Well, yes, but do his followers even have a clue? More importantly, do we have a clue about them, and how many of them are literate and sober enough to find their way to their designated voting places?
My thoughts now turn to one of America’s giants among intellectuals. His name is Sam Wang. He’s a professor, a brainy guy who deals in neuropsychology. He’s so smart he runs that center at Princeton where he excels in delicate research into what makes our brains tick. Perhaps he could tell us a thing or two about all of the Donald’s botchy little boneheads. I really don’t want to know what makes them tick. But he may not have to do anything so surgically inclined.
Sam runs another center there called the Princeton Consortium. In this capacity he applies statistics in a way that makes the rest of us look like candidates for his first research efforts. For example, in 2012 he called the presidential winner in 49 out of 49 states. He said the 50th state, Florida, was “too close to call.” Florida’s results were so close they were not known until Saturday, four days after the elections were over. Not bad for a guy who sports an IQ that the Donald probably cannot even find with his digital calculator (10 fingers, 10 toes, and something tiny according to Marco Rubio).
I will be keeping track of Sam’s tracking. If this year has come to us courtesy of the Twilight Zone (as it now appears), then I will be boarding a plane for New Zealand with a one-way ticket at least two days before the election results are in. That way while the rest of you are in for the Donald—up close and personal—for 4 years, I will be settling in down under, the last refuge of the unimaginative. I don’t want to find out what Ronald Regan meant when he warned us “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.”
I believe that it's caused by inbreeding and technological devices that prolong life and procreation like eyeglasses and Viagra. The intelligent gene pool has been gradually diluted by the convenience of civilization allowing dullards to procreate while geniuses (nerds) can't get a date unless they can generate mucho money. And, right to life continues the process.
Fortunately, from time to time, people like Stephen Hawking, Wang, and Edward Phillips come along. Unfortunately, they have a rat's chance in hell of influencing anything.
Ron
Yep. I have a clue . . . I'm a Trump man . . .