Overcoming Intellectual Servitude

One good philosophical value to foster is "intellectual humility," the assessment of one's intellectual views and capacities without overvaluing or undervaluing them. In the previous entry, I focused on those who overvalue their intelligence through the midwit meme, and how they can become more humble. Today, I'll focus on those who undervalue their intelligence, encouraging them to become more confident and independent with their views.

For this, I'll use a phrase from philosopher Dennis Whitcomb: "intellectually servile," one who outsources their opinions and reasoning to others. Whitcomb understands two pathways to servitude: "first by being over-attentive to or over-owning one's limitations and, second, by being under-attentive to or under-owning one's strengths."

Source: “Intellectual Humility: Owning Our Limitations”

Unconsciously and reflexively outsourcing one's sensemaking and choicemaking is unwise. Yet, I frequently see it, especially when stewarding The Stoa. I call this the "galaxy-brain fallacy"—the mistaken view that individuals with strong general and verbal intelligence, confidently asserting their theories, are more accurate in understanding reality and navigating it effectively. 

Now, I am not an IQ denialist, and I do think general intelligence is real, which gives individuals an unfair advantage in certain contexts. Nevertheless, intelligence and wisdom are distinct, and possessing high intelligence doesn't inherently guarantee access to the truth, especially if intellectual arrogance is present, which will only corrupt one’s sensemaking.

It's now a cliché to say within the "wisdom commons" scene, but the dominant culture biases the mind, along with propositional knowing. Expanding on this point, it also biases intelligence, regarding it as the supreme good. This regard is on display in Marc Andreessen's "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto":

We believe intelligence is the ultimate engine of progress. Intelligence makes everything better. Smart people and smart societies outperform less smart ones on virtually every metric we can measure. Intelligence is the birthright of humanity; we should expand it as fully and broadly as we possibly can.

I’ll highlight three premises that can be teased out from the above passage: 

1. More intelligence is better than less intelligence.

2. All else being equal, intelligent people perform better in everything measurable compared to less intelligent people.

3. We should become more intelligent.

These premises do not live only with the techno-optimists in Silicon Valley but are latently alive in everyone I know. If one is not among the intellectually arrogant, they are likely insecure about their intelligence, haunted by imposture syndrome, and do not feel like they know enough.

Ultimately, they fear they seem stupid when expressing their views in front of others. It's understandable why this is the case, considering that we were graded throughout childhood, with percentages on report cards serving as proxies for our intelligence and self-worth.

If one accepts these premises, it's reasonable to conclude that one should outsource their sensemaking and choicemaking to those more intelligent. Or at least to those who seem like they are. The source of intellectual servitude lies with these premises, unconsciously present in all who were traumatized by schooling, resulting in a child-like dependency on the minds of others.

These premises are not without their merit. Indeed, as physical strength can lead to power in certain contexts, high intelligence does as well. One cannot manipulate complex legal and financial documents quickly without high general intelligence, nor can one hypnotize a room¹ with their words without high verbal intelligence. If someone wishes to improve their power literacy², they should understand where intelligence and power intersect.

However, as intelligence differs from wisdom, power is distinct from what is good. I generally advocate the development of power literacy, but accurately discerning power dynamics differs from constantly pursuing the acquisition of more power, which may only sometimes be a wise course of action. Moreover, power devoid of goodness will reliably lead one towards evil.

The key to dispelling oneself of intellectual servitude is to step away from these premises, uprooting the feeling of their truth from one's body and replacing the worship of intelligence as the supreme good with the love of wisdom or, more humbly, with the preference to become less foolish. This substitution of values is essential for the emergence of a new world that many sense is possible.

While stewarding The Stoa, I sensed greater potential in the attendees than in the galaxy-brains we listened to. I see so much potential being bottled up due to the pervasiveness of this servitude. It's time to be free from being servile. There is a rich intellectual life many secretly have, which they are denying the world of because they fear being criticized, being redundant, and being wrong. Having fear does not mean one should be submissive. Courage is still needed; the good news is that it can always be expressed now.

Stop denying the world. Move boldly; start a Substack, write new posts, create new theories, and use new words that invite new worlds. There is no more waiting upon others to tell us what the world is or how it ought to be. Get in the game and guide life toward something deeply sensed as good, true, and most vitally, beautiful.

For other perspectives related to overcoming intellectual servitude, here are some posts from fellow Substackers:

• “‘Intellectual Humility’ Is a Copout” by Dr. Gena Gorlin from Building the Builders

• “The Enlightenment Trap” by Rachel Hartman from Moral Understanding

• “How to Be an Unsuccessful Thinker” by Kasra from Bits of Wonder

Additionally, individuals seeking to break free from intellectual servitude may find value in the following post, in which I encourage writers to craft "theory sketches," not solely in pursuit of truth, as advocated by many who emphasize intellectual humility and ambition, but also with an emphasis on beauty:

Lastly, philosophical inquiry and journalling is probably the best way to break free of intellectual servitude. If you’d like to inquire with me, you can schedule a call here and read more about my practice here. To join Collective Journalling and other experiences, become a Less Foolish member. You can also show support for my work by subscribing, sharing, or leaving a comment.

1. See my writing on “unconscious gaslighters” and this presentation at The Stoa on “reality distortion fields” by Zoe Curzi.

2. I have written a few entries on power literacy in this newsletter: “A Less Foolish Power Literacy,” “Wise as Serpents,” “Status or Power or Wisdom or ...,” and “Own Your Power.”