STUPIDITY

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STUPIDITY
There are many different kinds of stupidity, but cleverness is the worst.
From the Magic Mountain, 1924, Thomas Mann
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a prominent theologian in Hitler's Germany who spoke out against the tyranny of Nazism. He stated, most profoundly, that the greatest threat comes not from evil people but stupid ones.
If there were enough people of good heart, evil could always be exposed and taken down. But against stupidity, we are defenceless because protests and even force will always be ineffective in changing people's deluded minds.
Persuasion and mere facts just fall on deaf ears because stupid people simply push aside arguments that conflict with their cherished notions and deem such arguments inconsequential.
In all this, the stupid person is self-satisfied and easily irritated because of their unassailable righteousness; the stupid person is likely to attack and lash out against those who believe differently.
Today, for example, the unvaccinated are often attacked even though almost all COVID cases are those vaxxed and boosted. For more information on this topic, go to WAKE UP, RISE UP… BE BRAVE https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/follow-the-truth
Bonhoeffer felt that people living alone were far less likely to become stupid compared to those living in groups. They were independent, whereas people in groups easily fall into the mob mentality.
In other words, stupidity is less a psychological problem than a sociological one. Stupidity, he wrote, is not an intellectual defect but a moral one. People are not congenitally stupid but are made stupid. It is a learned behaviour. He was saying, in effect, Nazism was an idiocracy.
Of course, Hitler and his Nazi leaders didn't like that, particularly when he was plotting to assassinate Hitler. The attempt didn't work, and so for his wisdom and attacks on tyranny, Bonhoeffer was hanged for treason in the Flossenberg, German concentration camp. Sadly, his execution was just days before the allies liberated the remaining inmates.
A statue of Bonhoeffer was erected above the western entrance to Westminster Abbey in London in 1998. It is one of ten commissioned depicting twentieth-century martyrs from around the world.
Consider now the current trends of illiteracy, non-logic, propaganda, MSM brainwashing and political correctness proliferating among the masses in what is supposed to be the free world. It makes you wonder what will the cultural landscape look like in twenty years -- chilling to imagine.
Bonhoeffer observed that propaganda targets groups, masses, and the collective. Today, anyone who doesn't join in with the narrative needs to be censured, decertified, excluded and even imprisoned, as is the case with a couple of Christian pastors who went off-narrative in Calgary, Alberta, my home city. When you consider the current trends of illiteracy, non-logic, propaganda, MSM brainwashing, including indoctrination of stupefying political correctness among the masses, particularly in universities, it’s no wonder the authorities can get away with almost any imposition.
What’s behind stupidity I believe is fear. That’s how the ego manifests since fear and the ego are mutually inclusive. It's a very low calibration of human consciousness, which is why stupidity, fear and cowardice are inextricably linked.
Unfortunately, it’s also why there seems to be an inverse relationship between high (clever) intelligence and consciousness. I say unfortunately because it's generally the highly educated intellects that rule over society that are in a position to contrive laws to accrue more money and power to themselves. They probably aren’t even aware of it since fear has a way of subverting self-awareness. Just ask yourself who commits the most atrocities in the world and spreads the most deceit You guessed it. Those who think they know better.
The truly stupid are often the most fearful because they are filled with hubris and self-conceit of always being right, believing they know more than those who don’t participate in their fears. That’s why they often get smug and resentful when their fears are exposed for what it is. Their reasoning turns into rationalizing their fear. But as we know; pride goes before the fall. It happens all the time and is almost inevitable. They never see it coming.
“The process at work here is not that particular human capacities suddenly fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence and, more or less consciously, give up an autonomous position.
The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us from the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him.
He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and is abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil – incapable of seeing that it is evil.” (Quote from Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity by Jonas Koblin. Read more on Bonhoeffer’s theory of stupidity) https://sproutsschools.com/bonhoeffers-theory-of-stupidity/
I’ve noticed that those who wish to manipulate the masses with fear also like the word ‘safe’ and use it as often as possible to instil fear and control on others. Not surprisingly, it was also a favourite word of the German Nazis, who used it to get everyone to remain compliant with their nefarious designs. By this, stupidity becomes complicit with those who perpetrate the fear, generally for power and money. It seems pharmaceutical companies figured this one out a long time ago.
On the brave side are those who go about their business without being taken in by fear, intuitively sensing what’s actually going on. These are the Bonhoeffers who will stand up on principle.
I can think of no better example of this than the Canadian convoy truckers who drove into Ottawa at their own expense to protest the corrupt Canadian government. (There are many reasons I say corrupt, but won’t go into here… it's really quite shocking.)
To me, the truckers are true heroes since they had the courage to stand up to the authorities that continue to exploit the stupidity of the masses with their fear porn. There’s no question who I’d rather spend time with when it comes to a trucker or politician.
See TRUCKING FREEDOM https://digitalbloggers.com/self-improvement/Trucks-and-Freedom
A courageous person is inspired by love for truth and humanity. A coward is stupid, driven by the fears imposed on them. This was graphically illustrated by the immense love festival going on in Ottawa this February. Of course, the clever politicians, mainstream media and enforcement authorities chose to see it as an insurrection of terror.
I don’t know; maybe they feared the pancake breakfasts, dancing, hugging, raves, not to mention the kid’s snow forts and bouncy castles. Anyway, the political rhetoric of fear shows just how cowardly the perpetrators are as they spin their lies, presuming everyone is as stupid as them.
I also wish to acknowledge there were politicians with integrity who stood with the truckers. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough of them. So, in their smugness, the cowardly ‘authorities’ enacted brute force and arrests to quell the peaceful protests… because that’s what cowards do.
Pope Francis told his church they must do what the authorities say; they alone are the leaders on Earth, and we must trust them? He actually said: "When we acknowledge international organizations and we recognize their capacity to give judgment, on a global scale – for example, the international tribunal in The Hague, or the United Nations. If we consider ourselves humanity, when they make statements, our duty is to obey."
The Pope of the day in WW2 (Pope Pius XII) spoke not a word against the Nazis; not a good word for the Jews or against the Holocaust; not a word petitioning for the lives of brave men and women like Bonhoeffer. Like so many Popes before, both defaulted to secular power and safety. Indeed, it seems cowardice and stupidity go together.
As Bonhoeffer stated so profoundly: Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
He acted, and so must we to face what lurks before us, not the least of which is stupidity within that permits the evil we see and allow.
So, are we going to be complacent, compliant and thereby complicit towards those who don’t have our best interest in mind, or are we going to remain brave?
It's our choice. Choose well. Choose wisely.
See the blog post THE EGO-FEAR PHANTOM https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/ego-fear-phantom
Also HOW CONSCIOUS ARE YOU? https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/how-conscious-are-you
See the video on Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity https://drive.google.com/file/d/16gLBPtBoTYFFAqj7wu-RQhKnA-b-C6e4/view
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I have included a couple of excerpts relevant to the topic from Surreal Adventures, Book Four of the Elysium’s Passage novel series.
Chapter 7
‘I really don’t hold out a lot of hope for this planet,' I said. 'Too much corruption and stupidity.’
‘Yet, in its own way, your planet is a perfect place for humans to experience the consequences of their illusory life. That’s always part of the process of waking up. There is no better place for this to begin than in the Flatlands, where opportunities abound for intellectual delusions. More than anywhere else, they are taught to believe they are ego selves instead of divine Selves. However, things could turn around quickly when they become aware of who and what they are.
'For now, though, they assume they are separate from the essence of who they are. Since negation is a necessary phase of conscious evolution, the Flatlands could accelerate human progression. In fact, at one time, aeons ago, we were a version of the Flatlands. Lest we ever forget this folly, we always have your planet to remind us how far we have come. Nowhere is your Flatlands more observed than by my galaxy.
Chapter 9
'So, Sebastian, should you return to your lectureships, what do you think will have changed for you.’
‘For one thing, I’m not sure if I’ll have the patience to endure all the intellectual tripe I previously took for truth. I remember Mo used to recite George Orwell to me when he felt I was getting too intellectual for my own good. His favourite line was: Some ideas are so stupid only intellectuals believe them. That used to offend me. Now I can see he was right. I admit I was stupid, even after receiving the wise counsel of my mentors in Canada.
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Some choice quotes on stupidity:
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. Martin Luther King, Jr.
To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity. Friedrich Nietzsche
You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public. Scott Adams
Stupidity is infinitely more fascinating than intelligence. Intelligence has its limits while stupidity has none. Claude Chabrol
In view of the fact that God limited the intelligence of man, it seems unfair that He did not also limit his stupidity. Konrad Adenauer
You can't argue with stupidity. Jermaine Jackson
Stupidity is something unshakable; nothing attacks it without breaking itself against it; it is of the nature of granite, hard and resistant. Gustave Flaubert
Stupidity cannot be controlled, only contained. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
With stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain. Friedrich Schiller
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SUMMARY OF ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE SERIES
The Elysium Passage series of seven novels regarding a young British philosopher named James Phillips who finds himself living in an altered state of reality while still remaining on earth.
After experiencing a near-fatal fall while climbing to the summit of a remote mountain in the Andes, James awakens in a new dimension. He soon encounters two mysterious beings who provide him with a very different perspective on the nature of his existence. Over the next year, before his body recovers from the coma, he is challenged to re-examine his understanding of life’s meaning and purpose far beyond anything he previously believed or could believe.
An engaging and sometimes surreal adventure with intimations of impending romance, the narrative explores the most important questions about life, death, reality, and our ultimate destiny.
The Plains of Elysium (Champs-Élysées) was described by Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and many other poets as the paradisiac afterlife realm reserved for heroes. As the title suggests, this is about a journey through a passage that leads towards Elysium’s exciting realm of existence.
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The following comments are excerpts from among the first readers including a number of Amazon five star reviews. To read the full reviews, go to READER REVIEWS on www.elysiumspassage.com or directly at https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/reader-reviews
"A delightful mix of fantasy, reality, conjecture, and humour; Mr Meyers draws the reader into the story with a gentle narrative that captures the imagination, leaving one anxious to get to the next page drawing you into his exceptional world.”
"Quietly, gently, and without imposition, the Author unfolds the pages, creating an intricate, interlocking bridge spanning the chasm between mind and heart. Renewing, refreshing, restoring. In my bereavement, it was vigil and light…"
“Excellently written with an exceedingly deep understanding of this world and the next. The characters are very well written and engaging. I can't wait to complete this book!"
“Takes the reader on both a philosophical and spiritual journey, a journey that at times is both disquieting and tranquil. James, a British Philosopher can be irreverent and caustic, traits that should have left me cringing, but instead made me laugh out loud. Elysium’s Passage is a fun, enlightening and remarkable book.”
“This is a masterful fantasy, becoming a real possibility, as the reader is drawn into the story. The Summit leaves you anxious for the next book in the series, yet also leaves you totally satisfied with the world you have just visited. Genius! An exciting, yet calming, experience that is not to be missed."
"There was hardly a page on which I did not find at least one sentence worthy of hi-lighting for future reference. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, James, whose personality and passionate verbal exchanges with the other characters, kept me coming back for more. I am reading the book for a second time while I wait for the next one in this series to be made available."
“N.G. Meyers has clearly put a great deal of research and thought into what the afterlife may look like and I like his perspective. It’s an altogether welcoming and exciting vision. The book gives one a great deal to think about and a reassuring confidence that the end of our lives is truly the beginning of life in the next. I highly recommend it."
"I am really enjoying your book, it’s fantastic! It is so incredible and diversified that I can’t really explain it to other people, so what I say is just read this book. Thank you so much for the blessings that you’ve given the world!"
“The humour interjected into a serious discussion makes me laugh out loud. Totally unexpected....l may be in the presence of at least a master, if not a genius. A fair ride into reality... seeking that which is unseen, yet absolutely real.”
“An engaging story of adventure embracing man's deepest desire to search for meaning and purpose, N.G. Meyers takes the reader on an adventurous thought-provoking journey. This book has substance. It is a perfect blend of adventure and fantasy combined with spiritual philosophy. It ignited my imagination. The author magically weaves a good story laced with wit and humour together with deep philosophical wisdom. This book has it all!”
“An evolution in thought is triggered by many fresh philosophical themes which could inspire readers to re-think their reality and former ideologies that have dictated their lives… the author fires readers’ imaginations to view what could be possible when spirit vacates the body.”
“This is the book spiritual seekers have been waiting for. For me, it granted a great read as well as increased inspiration to live every day with a heightened sense of purpose. I highly recommend it.
“The Summit is capable of hooking readers and luring them to search for Book 2 to discover more about Dr. Philip’s surreal trek into the mysterious unknown universe. This thick book is well worth the read and to share…”
“Mind-blowing statements and speculation (‘…everyone is a non-physical thought form conceived in the Mind of God, preserved for all eternity because God’s thoughts never die…’). Many will find Meyers’ journey up the Mountain intriguing—and possibly even life-changing.” (BLUEINK REVIEW)
“In its effort to grapple with fundamental questions about the meaning of life, it raises questions that have echoed throughout the ages, including about where we come from, where we are going, who we are.” (CLARION REVIEW)
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PENDING PUBLICATIONS IN THE SERIES
The following titles in the Elysium's Passage series are projected to be released as follows:
The Ascent: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
The Summit: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
Quantum Leaps: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
Surreal Adventures: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
Mystical Romance: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
The Elixir: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
The Return: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage
1. The Ascent is the first novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage that’s foundational to everything that happens in the following narratives that embark on an adventure that will surprise and delight the reader like no other book.
It all begins with an extreme adventure of climbing a remote and challenging mountain somewhere in the Andean Mountains. Just as James, the protagonist, is about to reach the mountain summit, he falls into an abyss that leaves him in a coma for almost a year.
After being airlifted by a forestry helicopter and flown back to London, where his body remains for almost a year. Eventually, he learns it was not him but his body that was rescued. Several days later, without understanding what happened, he continues to climb to the summit in an alternate dimension of higher consciousness.
Fortuitously, he meets two adventurers on the summit ridge who are no longer of this world. After that, his surreal life leads him to several new adventures in the subsequent chronicles that include a rich mix of adventure, romance, and fantasy, along with profound discussions of philosophy, spirituality and the afterlife.
2. The Summit, the second novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, carries on where James, the narrator and protagonist, is taught more about a multidimensional reality that he finds difficult to comprehend.
Not only does he find he’s not as clever as he imagined, but his off-world companions on the summit demonstrate that much of what he believed about life was not just parochial but wrong. At first, he finds this difficult to comprehend since their teachings are contrary to his limited understanding of non-material reality.
After being tricked into teleporting off a ledge where he was trapped, James becomes aware of the new reality that makes him capable of far more adventures than could have ever been experienced previously in his physical body back home.
Now, if only he would win over the only woman in this life who matters, the nurse on the other side of the veil, who continually demonstrates her unconditional love toward his healing.
Warning: This book may also open the reader’s eyes to a much vaster reality than most might be aware. As with the other Chronicles, there are discussions of philosophy, the spiritual afterlife and what might seem like fantasy.
3. Quantum Leaps is the third novel in Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, where James, the philosopher-protagonist, teleports back to London to visit his body and make contact with the special nurse taking care of it in his absence. Immediately, he feels an inexplicable spiritual bond with her for reasons he remains unaware of.
Now aroused by a renewed interest in matters of love, the beginnings of a relationship begin to emerge as he attempts to reach across the chasm of their worlds. But it’s not until the fifth novel, Mystical Romance, that he encounters her in a way that he finds difficult to believe.
However, before that can happen, there is much about his failed relationships that must be resolved before he is ready to move forward in his new life in Elysium’s Passage. It is during this time he christens his comatose body as the fall guy since it took the fall for him down the abyss so he could learn the lessons he’s now learning.
That will be the next focus of his life, where in his next Surreal Adventures, he is given virtual lessons to release many of his past beliefs about life.
4. Surreal Adventures is the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, which finds James, the protagonist and narrator, escorted by his companions to a remote South Pacific Island, where he is left to reflect on what he’s learned.
During the next forty days, he battles the demons of his past as he works through some rather painful issues from his early youth. Here, in a tropical storm, he encounters an eery suspended spectre of the one he loved yet still resents for abandoning him as a child.
After this, he achieves peace of mind and is ready to return to his lodge to join his off-world companions on the Andes summit. However, just when it seemed things couldn’t get any stranger, a sixteenth-century sea captain sails his ancient ‘ghost’ ship onto the beach. Together, they sail off on a mystical ocean voyage to a couple of virtual islands supposedly in the South Pacific, where he witnesses and, at times, participates in several important life lessons.
Near the end, these encounters help prepare him for a new challenge within the interior of a mountain, where he falls deep into a dark tomb of fear. After being rescued by a mysterious stranger wielding his Excaliber, he continues on to where his life is about to be transformed in the following chronicle, Mystical Romance.
5. Mystical Romance is the fifth chronicle in Elysium’s Passage, which will surprise the reader with a romantic twist of how love is expressed in higher realms. From this lofty perspective, everything about intimacy is understood as within, so without.
After escaping his tomb, James, the narrator and protagonist, makes his way through a maze of tunnels until he arrives at a large oak door, which he opens with the golden key he had been given. There, he steps into Elysium’s Passage’s Great Hall, where his life and recent achievements are celebrated now that his eyes have been opened to perceive a fascinating interior world of wonderment… and romance.
To say more might risk diminishing the multitude of delightful surprises as circumstances begin to open to The Elixir, where James is about to re-enter his earthly body’s existence.
6. The Elixir is the sixth chronicle of the Elysium’s Passage series that prepares James, the narrator-protagonist, to awaken and return to his body in London. Before that can happen, however, his off-worlder friend presents a mysterious equation enshrouded with a light code frequency that will stimulate multidimensional DNA strands within him.
Much of this narration is centred in London, where his nurse unknowingly becomes involved in how the Elixir’s equation finds its way from a taxi cab driver to higher echelons of science. There are many twists in how she unwittingly brings the Elixir to the attention of mathematicians and physicists, after which they eventually discover how to code the equation into a laser ray to stimulate his fall-guy body into full consciousness.
Ostensibly a new Adam, he is destined to return humanity to a higher multidimensional existence. How this happens is filled with intrigue, as is his shocking return to his earthly body.
7. The Return is the seventh and last chronicle in the series where James, the narrator and protagonist, has re-emerged from Elysium’s Passage as he readjusts to life in the third dimension. Many of the events experienced in the previous novels are tied together in an exciting, fast-moving, action-packed narrative over several countries.
At first, it seems all memories have been lost, with his fall guy’s brain not being aware of what happened to him while in his coma. As a consequence, it takes a while for him to be convinced he had been out of his earthly body for almost a year.
Through some rather unexpected events and evidence, along with his girlfriend’s urging, he is brought to an awareness of much of what occurred. It takes a while for his mind to catch up with the changes made in his heart during his stay in the alternate realm. But after experiencing several harsh realities, he discovers what he became within while out of his body. Gradually, he comes to understand the many challenges that lie ahead for him in fulfilling his future mission on Earth.
This book is filled with adventure, romance and personal intrigue that ties together all six previous narratives of the Elysium’s Passage series.
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