Intellectual Arrogance

The Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines arrogance as "an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions".

I enjoy tweaking intellectual arrogance. That is because we have such tiny brains and such low intelligence, and yet man presumes to know so much. As I said in the previous post, if there is a God, He must be laughing at us.

The ideologues of every stripe are the most foolish. (You know who you are. You are the "true believers".) This is a very large set of people. Of course, it includes the stated enemy of the United States: al Qaeda (AQ). It includes all religious extremists from every major religion, and all cultists. It also includes people who worship guns. It includes all the eco-terrorists (the people who transitioned from tree-hugging to demolition). It includes the anti-abortionists who think it is ok to murder doctors who perform abortions. It includes the creationists. It includes the global warming hypesters. Of course, this is a partial list.

But the affliction of intellectual arrogance also includes non-ideologues. For example, atheists who know there is no God. And we should not leave out the many flavors of conspiracy theorists. At the top of that list would be those who ardently believe that the Bush family blew up the World Trade Center (and not AQ), and claim to have "proof". And let us not forget all the billionaires who think they earned their wealth, and that luck had nothing to do with it. In a similar vein, we add the CEOs of successful businesses who think they deserve most of the credit, as opposed to their employees and "lady luck".

Finally, I add myself to this compendium, for having the temerity to compile it.

If I left out any deserving groups, I was not playing favorites, and I promise to add your favorite group to my list at a future date.