Title: UPDATE: Not Being Stupid Is ‘Cognitive Privilege’ Now, Which Is Just Like White Privilege Source:
The Daily Caller URL Source:http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/29/u ... -is-just-like-white-privilege/ Published:Jul 30, 2017 Author:Eric Owens Post Date:2017-07-30 13:57:10 by Hondo68 Keywords:stupid a virtue, University of Iowa, special cognitive elite Views:1563 Comments:6
The University of Iowas student newspaper has announced the discovery of a special privilege which intelligent people acquire as an accident of birth. This new privilege called cognitive privilege functions in essentially the same way as white privilege.
Privilege in general is the receipt of certain benefits wholly through accident of birth and it is undeniable that privilege itself is a reality, the student newspaper explains.
As with skin color and much else, Daily Iowan author Dan Williams argues, people have no control over how smart they are. Life is a huge cosmic lottery full of winners and losers.
Cognitive privilege is one of many kinds of privilege besides white privilege.
Also, Williams declares, robots will wipe out manual labor jobs but will somehow not affect jobs available to members of a special cognitive elite.
Thus, the accident of having been born smart enough to be able to be successful is a great benefit that you did absolutely nothing to earn. Consequently, you have nothing to be proud of for being smart.
Williams believes that America will be better able to discuss white privilege and the temperature-rising topic of racial privilege if it is able to admit the existence of cognitive privilege.
Dont worry, though. The purpose here is not to instill a sort of Catholic guilt in someones psyche.
The purpose of pointing out someones privilege is to remind them of the infinite number of experiences that are possible and the very large number of experiences that are actual that they know very little about. (Williams does not say how he has obtained his special knowledge in this regard.)
Feelings of guilt are natural when coming to consciousness of ones place in the scheme of things and noticing that one has been conferred benefits through sheer accident but guilt is an impediment to social-justice action, not a motivator (guilt slides easily into resentment), the author writes.
We can debate whether whiteness is a sort of master privilege that overrules all others.
Then what about Athletic Privilege? Diversity/Quota Privilege? Wealth Privilege? Height Privilege? Beauty Privilege? I'm going to take that privilege and use it to make my life better.