Do you agree.
- I do.
- I do not.
Part Two of "Threat To Intellectual Freedom, Human Evolution…etc.
A Brief Essay By Jean-Pierre Ady Fenyo, Philosopher
If one were to try to truly objectively assess the history of the world since the beginning of the Industrial Age then one would probably come to the conclusion that the world has seen an increase in extremes between periods of war and peace, and that the world’s fate has pretty much been in the hands of a majority of highly accredited university graduates, known as technocrats, often lacking in true creativity and sufficient wisdom, and a few unscrupulous, relatively uneducated, extremely dangerous, kitsch, dictators with severe delusions of grandiose and bad taste. Furthermore, it would become apparent that the world’s elite, sometimes intentionally and at times unintentionally, has allowed a dangerous social injustice and imbalance of influence to take place. That is to say, the world has become too dependent on people who are somehow fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to graduate from institutions of higher education, while almost entirely ignoring the opinions and ideas of relatively unaccredited yet creative thinkers. Which is not to say that there will always be a need to be weary of charismatic amateurs and truly uneducated novices and there will always be a need for university educated professionals and specialists. Too many creative people are being branded mentally ill and threats to society when the evidence, especially scientific testing, would probably prove that most of these creative and thus somewhat eccentric, odd people are mentally healthier than the very people who have the power to brand them and sometimes to have them committed. Just as the world cannot afford to allow new Hitlers and Pol Pots to arise, nor should it continue to overwhelmingly (notice my use of qualifiers) rely on people who can decorate their office walls with degrees from places like Harvard and M.I.T. Places like Harvard and M.I.T. have, no doubt about it, helped evolve some very positive and great intellects, but there are also examples of true geniuses lacking such impressive degrees that have been virtually ignored by society at large, government and private business institutions in specific, at the overall expense of human civilization as a whole. If I have been a bit repetitive and rhetorical it is because I want to insure that the object of this brief essay be as clear and logical as possible, for what I am commenting on is an issue of very great consequence and should be taken into serious consideration by those who claim to be serving the interests of the relatively civilized, democratic world.
Given that it is my sincere conviction that this lack of respect for and lack of inclusion of relatively wise, nonetheless unaccredited, creative thinkers on the part of government and private business institutions has already contributed to the severe erosion of democracy, social cohesion, human rights, community trust and trust in institutions of government and big business; what remains to answer is how to reverse this daunting situation. By no means would I dare suggest that people like myself, people who are highly self-educated, relatively wise and creative, should take the place of those who currently run the world’s governments, businesses and NGOs. Still, it is a fact that there was a time, especially in Europe during and immediately following The Renaissance when creative geniuses could seek audiences with royalty, nobility and some members of the merchant class in an effort to gain significant financial support for their projects, books and opportunities at further education. And even up to the Reagan Era, which damaged the liberal arts, private individuals lacking serious accreditation were able to get grants and find benevolent patrons and mentors. Somehow the new generations of wealthy, the so-called Nouveau Riche and some of the few remaining elder generations of wealthy have forgotten the immense indirect economic and overall social benefits of patronizing talented artists, intelligent writers, non-conformist thinkers, and other relatively creative and wise geniuses. Furthermore, history provides ample evidence that some of the most significant ideas and important solutions came from people who did not fit the various expectations of society at large and the elite in specific. What’s more, there is plenty of evidence that the few big businesses and governments that have acquired the services of non-standard, non-conformist creative intellectual geniuses have found such openness to new and provocative ideas quite profitable indeed (e.g. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream or SONY of Japan, when it comes to exploring technological ideas and not with regards to its bad taste investments in Hollywood movie production). A wise historian would most likely concur with me that it is to the overall immediate and long-term benefit of society, government and business to realize that there is a need not only for a working class, an educated middle class, a responsible upper-class, but there is also a need for a protected and supported creative minded, deep, introspective intellectual class. While most people really do fit the standard of average working class, some significant minority of people should be given the rights and means to live healthily if not comfortably off their above-average creativity, and unique ability to see and understand things that especially people with university degrees, professional specialization cannot easily see and understand. And no doubt it is detrimental to any democracy to have to rely on the opinions and ideas of technocrats, other specialists and opportunistic, superficial mavericks. For democracy should really be about societies and communities where all relevant views, all possible solutions, can be known by the public and voted or lobbied for by society in general. A world like ours is beginning to be one where truly creative and wise thinkers are further marginalized and disenfranchised, a world where deep, pro-social and responsible non-conformist thinkers are ignored or persecuted, where creativity, eccentricity, free thought, and non-standard genius is mocked and discouraged, is a very poor and brutal world not worth living in, not worth upholding and not worth fighting for. People who are the exceptions, who are truly creative and wise, should be invited to join advisory committees to provide invaluable alternative views and ideas to heads of government, to big businesses and to NGOs. Such exceptional intellectuals should be able to produce and sell their books, their writings, their art works and their advice for as high a price as the markets can afford and should be exempt from all income taxes, since theirs is a relatively unpredictable and often limited income potential and since taxes on intellectual work create unfair obstacles to creative freedom. The only exception would be specialist or professional practices such as law, medicine and technical engineering advice; in other words; with exception to fields which require a strong formal education and degree of specialization and which tend to be very well paid and relatively secure fields to work in. In such a world where the neighborhood eccentric can peddle his trinkets for a small living, where artists can sell their non-comestible works to passersby on the side of sidewalks, where free advice people can set up street-corner guruships, where philosophers, poets and other pundits of the written word can sell their books and publications, where freedom of expression and speech are truly protected and void of the anti-democratic constraints caused by taxation; such a world is a truly fair and relatively decent world where each and every individual is best able to make do, even prosper, based on their actual abilities and true intellectual worth and not only subject to the whims of the elite few, to the luck of the draw, to the limited chances of a good education and the unlikely event of being born to or inheriting a fortune. After all, not all of us were born to be cows, sheep, hyenas, vultures or sharks.
Jean-Pierre Ady Fenyo is listed in MARQUIS Who’s Who In The World (2000-2002) as a philosopher and as the founder and director of The Society for the Dissemination of The Concept of Infinity. During the late 80s he became known and somewhat famous for sitting out in public places in New York City and offering passersby Free Advice, as an individual and not as a member of any organization, cult, religion, sect or other group construct. He considers himself to be a philosopher poet who is a scientifically minded spiritualist, as opposed to either someone who is religiously dogmatic or pseudo-scientifically materialistic. That is, while he disagrees with the idea of a God that created the infinite physical universe out of virtually nothing, he thinks it is not the business of true science to attempt to prove or disprove the existence of spirit, soul or some form of common soul or spiritual entity that might be called God. Science, as he sees it, can never prove or disprove the existence of an indestructible spiritual entity or entities, but there is also the danger of a growing number of people in the world who do not know, understand or appreciate serious scientific research (theories) and results (proofs, facts). The purpose of his foundation and of much of his writing, such as his book titled “The Most Important Thought†(based on his earlier book “Infinitism: Secret Key To The Doors of Wisdomâ€, which is registered with and copyrighted by The Library of Congress), is to promote thinking about infinity in as many ways as reasonably possible in an effort to increase open-minded, long-term oriented, deep thinking, in effect wisdom in a world that suffers from a lack of wisdom and the tolerance and peace that such wisdom creates. Further information on Jean-Pierre Ady Fenyo can be gotten by typing-in his full name in the main Yahoo! Search engine and carefully following (surfing) all net leads. Mr. Fenyo has advised people from all walks of life, including famous celebrities, influential world-class politicians and business leaders. His advice has already had some impact on world events & history.
