Philosophy:Cognitive elite

The cognitive elite of a society, according to Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, are those having higher intelligence levels and thus better prospects for success in life. The development of a cognitive elite during the 20th century is presented in their 1994 book The Bell Curve. In this book, Herrnstein and Murray propose that the cognitive elite has been produced by a more technological society which offers enough high skill jobs for those with a higher intelligence to fill. They also propose that by removing race, gender or class as criteria the main criteria of success in academic and professional life is becoming primarily based on cognitive ability. In addition, a study published in 2013 by Jonathan Wai supports the claim that higher intelligence levels lead to success in life. He concluded that the elite individuals in society, specifically in American society, like CEOs, billionaires, judges, Senate and House members, "are drawn largely from the intellectually talented, with many of them in the top 1% of education and ability". Educational psychologist Linda Gottfredson wrote:

“ Differences in intelligence matter. For members of the cognitive elite to maintain otherwise is like the rich arguing that money does not matter. Differences in g affect the lives of individuals and families. They help shape the social order and limit our ability to reshape it. ”

Criticism

The book has met with criticism, as has the cognitive elite concept. It has been claimed that the case has been "wildly exaggerated", and it is based on an intelligence measure that is also criticized.

Friedrich Nietzsche's Superman (Übermensch)

Superman, or the superior man, is the product of when a man achieves self-mastery by forgoing traditional Christian "herd mentality" and ushering in his own set of values. This process is not through any form of evolution.

Nietzsche considers the traits of a superman to be one who is able to break free from the moral code set in place by churches and live by their own moral code. This gives them the ability to have a deeper sense of morality and a sense of purpose and being. They are a person who will have a set of values not influenced by those around them, but solely focused on improving the society in which they live. Their sole purpose is to the betterment of humanity, and they would give all they have and their lives to see this happen. A superman intends to help others break free from the moral binds that are restricting them to gain enlightenment and power.

Background

Nietzsche believed in the idea that "God is dead", and that without a God, men had no values to live by, which would ultimately lead to the downfall of European humanity. According to Nietzsche, the rise of the "superman" was essential to rescuing European culture, and the death of God made this possible.

Nietzsche considered his idea of superman as a gift to humankind. It taught them to love something higher than themselves and hate themselves as humans. He taught that there were two paths that mankind could follow. The first path leads to the superman and the second path leads to the "last man" which is a person who is selfish and will only do or create something if it is beneficial for themselves. His ideas were not popular among the people in Europe at the time and were first rejected. The second path is more rewarding because it leads to becoming a superman, but is much more dangerous and difficult. This is because a superman can only be achieved from the destruction of European civilization.

Nietzsche considered man not to be a stagnate and concrete state, but a metamorphosis and ever-changing process from beast to superman. It consisted of, the last man, to a transition from, the camel-spirited, to the lion-spirited, to the child-spirited and finally into superman. The following is a representation of Nietzsche's idea.

                                        MAN

Beast:      Last     Man     Camel    Lion    Child     :Superman

Your position on the scale is determined by your liveliness and you can increase in power as you move to the right and decrease in power as you move to the left. As one moves to the left, they are becoming more selfish and only concerned about what will help themselves. As one moves to the right, they become more aware of society and their desire to help and improve it will increase and become their purpose of existing.

The Will To Power

Nietzsche's intention for the book was much different than what was published. His intention for his work was to express the purpose of life. He stated, "once there is life, there is will to power because life is only alive if it is intensified." He wanted to express that it does not matter what you do with your life, it is all experience and that nothing is impossible and that the purpose of life is to increase from where you are and have an increased sense of power. Those who wish to destroy life are those who rely on God's will.

After Nietzsche's death, his sister, Elisabeth, published a book on his behalf together with Gast, a German editor. Elizabeth and Gast went through old and unfinished notes by Nietzsche and put them together into a final masterpiece. However, their book attracted criticism for its purported misrepresentation of Nietzsche's ideas.

Nazi Interpretation

Based on Elizabeth's book, The Will to Power, it was suggested that Nietzsche was in favor of eugenics, i.e. practices aiming to artificially improve the genetic quality of human populations.

During World War II, the Nazis took the book as inspiration for their conquest to take control of other countries. Nietzsche's concept of a superman was a form of self-mastery and improving onerself as an individual, but Nazis used the idea of Übermensch as support for their notion of Aryan supremacy. Despite Nietzsche's works being associated with the National Socialism movement in Germany that began in the 1930s, Nietzsche himself was greatly opposed to German racism.

External links

• http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/bellcurve.shtml#part1
• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3626/is_199507/ai_n8729354