decayza

"The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." This is the point Bertrand was making. Stupid people believe so deeply that it gives them power to act. The intelligent is so obsessed with the minutia of possible difference- like whether increased knowledge is good or bad - That we suffer from permanent analysis paralysis. We're impotent when action is required. So no I think you're confused about the point of the discussion ;/

Its called the 20th century. Study it a bit.

I think we may be talking past each other a bit. To me cultural relativism is the claim that we have NO grounds for saying one set of values is superior to another. Women's suffrage is the very opposite, It's a set of values people felt passionately about and fought for. And now it's embedded in western culture. And we have good reason to believe that cultures that embrace it produces more flourishing and 'happier' people.

Please explain, I can't even imagine what you could be referring to.

You beautifully illustrate Bertrand's point. Of course we can think geeks is better. We've got a ton of data to look at.

This is why liberal intelectuals are so paralyzed. Yes of course we're emotional too. And yes we can be swayed. But life is not black and white. The best of us has managed to develop a resistance to this kind of rhetoric by a life of study, debate, examining common rhetorical tricks etc. And it's not just different values that drives us. It's values that has carried us through a century of carnage into a much better life. We need to stop apologising and invoking bullshit relativistic cultural arguments and show some pride in basic values like equality for women, freedom of speech etc. I kind of think that's the central point that Bertrand Russell is making we paralyze each other by focusing on any potential error instead of realising that the things we value is mostly aligned and has been refined over a long time. We can trust most of our values.