Posted on 10/07/2015 6:51:43 PM PDT by huckfillary
The following has been re-posted due to a critical error noted by an observant Freeper.
We’ve all heard the term “evil genius,” maybe even used it a few times. This moniker is generally used to refer to infamous political figures in history who were able to amass great personal power, acquire or expand empires, or fundamentally alter the course of history while callously and cynically disregarding the incalculable pain, suffering, dislocation, economic destruction, and myriad forms of devastation left in the wake of their pursuit of glory or some utopian dream. Adolph Hitler is the person most often characterized as an evil genius, with Josef Stalin a distant second. There are still German and Russian old-timers who wax nostalgic over them; there are tenured professors and widely respected western academics who still regard them “visionaries of a New World Order.” Today, it’s Obama and Bill Clinton. Both are moral reprobates, but are routinely hailed as the “smartest guys in the room.”
Evil genius is also used to describe criminal masterminds like Al Capone or John Gotti who managed far-flung organized crime syndicates while ruthlessly eliminating those who stood in their way or threatened to expose their “genius.” Sadly, they, too, were worshipped as folk heroes on their home turf.
There is no such thing as an evil genius. It is, in fact, a contradiction in terms, a metaphysical impossibility. The “evil” part is accurate, but geniuses they’re not. But, as the result of intellectual laziness, the failure to think clearly, it has become a thoughtlessly used colloquialism and part of the American lexicon. The term confuses intelligence and wisdom with cunning, craftiness, and treachery. Its underlying philosophical justification is “the ends justify the means.” It dovetails perfectly with the Age of the Antihero we now live in. If a half-wit socialist politician outfoxes his cowardly political opposition to the detriment of the country, he is considered a person of monumental intellect.
Nonsense. Genius pre-supposes virtue. You can’t be a genius if you don’t know the difference between right and wrong.
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Evil Genius? NO. Obama’s an evil PENIS.
“Genius pre-supposes virtue.”
I have to disagree with that. Genius just denotes a level of intellect far outside the normal range. It also is used informally to categorize people who exhibit talents far outside the normal range, even if they don’t necessarily show a “genius level” intellect. Neither of those usages implies anything at all about virtue.
In fact I would say that geniuses have a tendency to be less virtuous than people of ordinary intellect, because they may believe that their extraordinary nature exempts them from the rules that apply to “ordinary people”. They can also tend towards narcissism and other antisocial tendencies or emotional issues that can be big hurdles to living a virtuous life.
Genius is a neutral thing. It can be put to good or bad use. I don’t get the picky point here.
The leader seems to have a psychic ability to affect peoples' wills, but the effect is really due to one of his underlings whom, in a fit of rage, he kills. He then loses his power, in such a striking change that it is doubted that it is the same man.
The force of will seems to have been a stumbling block. The true Will of the Divinity is self-sacrificing. It is only the will of a rebellious underling that proclaims itself supreme, but it destroys itself.
The leader seems to have a psychic ability to affect peoples' wills, but the effect is really due to one of his underlings whom, in a fit of rage, he kills. He then loses his power, in such a striking change that it is doubted that it is the same man.
The force of will seems to have been a stumbling block. The true Will of the Divinity is self-sacrificing. It is only the will of a rebellious underling that proclaims itself supreme, but it destroys itself.
Aye aye sir. It is a temptation! The results of succumbing can be heartbreaking indeed.
Fatuous. Of course geniuses can be evil. I’d even go so far as to say that given enough success, most-to-all geniuses become evil. Look at Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs... Buffett’s purchased 2-3 million abortions and calls it Charity.
Trying to understand the world with all brain and no heart, does that.
Oh...I thought this was a comment about Bill Belichick.
If you don’t realize that selling your soul to Satan is a losing bargain, you certainly should not be described as a genius.
Can you be competent at fulling ignorant rubes and be evil? Yes.
Can you successfully implement your plans and be evil? Yes.
Can you actually understand the LORD and be evil? No.
Fooling, not fulling
“What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?” Jesus asked.
No matter how intellectually or materially gifted someone might be, if it is misdirected away from what God intended, it will always in the end amount to foolishness.
Ultimately, we all reap what we sow.
My point isn’t picky at all and is quite simple: if you don’t know the difference between right and wrong, you’re stupid. Intelligence includes practicing virtue as a matter of course, a lifestyle if you will. Not practicing virtue is not smart because it is ultimately self-defeating. There is no such thing as an intelligent criminal. If they were so smart, they wouldn’t be criminals.
Yes your point is not just picky but ULTRA picky. The attempt to conflate intelligence with wisdom has been human folly ever since the fall of the Garden. Way, way, way ahead of you there.
I agree, genius, or any kind of talent, in no ways presupposes virtue.
I also think it is preposterous to compare Clinton and Obama, destructive and un-virtuous though they may be, to Stalin and Hitler.
Unhappily, I must also disagree. Great intellect and greatness of character do not always go hand in hand. However, really great intellect seldom lends itself to world domination or malice. They have different types of visions. No, Stalin and Hitler were not geniuses, nor is Obama or Clinton. They are rather people of great charisma or tremendous force of will, different characteristics.
Some of the “evil genius” mythology comes from a rather simple origin. It is also said that genius and insanity are closely linked. They are not, though they may be present in the same person. But, a crazy person and a brilliant person are both incomprehensible to an average person. . .so they look the same.
The answer is in the Bible, you know a man by his works. The insane person cannot produce a viable product or result, the genius can and usually does.
refers to Karl Rove, doesn’t it?
Maybe those evil geniuses do know the difference - but deliberately choose "wrong."
Maybe that's why they're called eee-vil geniuses!
Regards,
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