The democratic lie we are not created equal 1

I'm Dr. Orion Taraban, and this is Psych-Hacks! Better Living Through Psychology, and the topic of today's short talk is the democratic lie. So this is going to be a spicy one, as today I will be slaughtering one of our society's most sacred cows. There is a profound and ubiquitous lie that pervades our society. It is a cherished lie, and one protected by much fear and righteousness, but it is a lie nonetheless, and as a lie, it is exerting a deleterious effect on society at large. You are already familiar with this lie, and as soon as I tell you what it is, you will imagine that you've been aware of it the entire time. In my opinion, this lie is not so much an active, intentional deceit, but more the unintended consequence of a profound failure to adequately understand the human condition. And in order to prime you for its recognition, allow me to briefly talk about one of my all-time favorite books, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley. Brave New World is set in a dystopian future in which society is governed by a global totalitarian state that, among other things, genetically engineers its citizens for their intended roles in society. People are conceived in state-owned reproductive facilities, gestated in bottles, artificial wombs, and decanted at nine months. People don't have parents or families or monogamous relationships. What they do have are castes, and the individuals in each caste are genetically and socially engineered to fit perfectly within their positions in society. Unlike most dystopian novels, which are very grim and bleak, Brave New World presents a very different sort of society. In this world, there is no want. Every desire individuals are capable of experiencing is immediately satisfied. There is no crime or poverty or unemployment or even the conscious sensation of being controlled. There are community orgies and safe euphoric drugs and a near-complete absence of any kind of negative emotion. The global society it depicts is safe, comfortable, pleasurable, and stable. What a world! Now, many of us experience a kind of shiver when we read this book because we recognize how spiritually bankrupt this society is. We sympathize with John, the young protagonist who is exposed to this civilization for the first time and who experiences confusion, revulsion, and outrage at its customs. However, we have to remember that the vast majority of people in that society are happy, at least as far as they are capable of conceiving happiness. The problem of spiritual bankruptcy, of having every desire satisfied without effort or sacrifice, is only felt, let alone recognized, by the few alpha-double-pluses of the world, that is, the few highly intelligent and sophisticated individuals who were genetically and socially engineered to occupy executive roles in that society. The folks in the other casts, the betas, the gammas, the deltas, and the lowly epsilons, literally could not conceive that such a problem might exist, let alone feel its consequences. Just like an alpha would suffer if he were made to perform a social function meant for a delta, a delta—and this is the important part—would suffer if he was made to perform a social role meant for an alpha. An alpha role would literally be beyond the delta's capacity to discharge, which would only inspire in him a sense of frustration, confusion, and hopelessness. It's a phenomenal book, and I would highly recommend you give it a read if you haven't done so already. And this is where we come to the democratic lie. It should go without saying, but I have to say it for the sake of the argument here. The democratic lie is no less than the template for modern democracy the world over. The lie is that there are no essential differences between people. And this belief, while potentially beautiful in its idealism, is simply not true. Introducing my innovative first novel, Starry Night. Step into the world of painter Vincent Van Gogh—genius, sinner, prophet, madman. Relive the final ten weeks of his life in this breathtaking tale of art, love, loss, and meaning, and challenge what you think you know about life and relationships. Once you see through Vincent's eyes, the world will never look the same again. Starry Night, now available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback formats. The links are in the description. And this is where we get into some really tricky ground. Again, the democratic lie is that all men are created equal, which we have collectively taken to understand that no one is fundamentally better or worse than anyone else in any regard. The moral corollary of this belief is that everyone should be capable of doing everything equally. And if that is ever evidently not the case, then it must be due to undemocratic and unearned privileges, and or socioeconomic inequities and injustices, and or simply a lack of information or opportunity. That is, all human inequalities ultimately stem from social causes. And I'm here to tell you that this is just not true. Many human inequalities stem from biological causes. As a species, we may not have been genetically engineered to occupy distinct social castes as in Huxley's Brave New World, but we might as well have been. Like, look around. People can and do exist along a wide continuum of traits that are well known to be heavily influenced by genetics, including, very notably, intelligence, athleticism, and attractiveness. And we would all very much prefer that this wasn't the case. Genetic differences make us very uncomfortable because, well, there isn't much we can do about them. A dumber person could spend his whole life studying and fail to exceed a smarter person's effortless genius. That's not fair. An uglier person could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cosmetics and surgeries and still pale in comparison to a more attractive person's natural beauty. That's not fair. It's infuriating. Even among top performers, like watch the movie Amadeus for a vivid example of this kind of envy in action. However, if unearned privilege exists in the world, it lies precisely here, in our genetics. And to make matters worse, these genetic differences have long been associated with moral judgments, which have rationalized many of history's most horrific cruelties. And this, of course, is why we are so loathe to concede that maybe genetics might have something to do with individual outcomes. Possibly. When we conflate specific genetic advantages with moral judgments, it's very easy to go from person or group A is smarter than person or group B to person or group A is morally superior to person or group B. And this sense of moral superiority pervades most of humanity's most terrible decisions. So rather than try to separate the two with nuance and discernment, we've kind of collectively decided to just throw the baby out with the bathwater by refusing to acknowledge the influence of genetics at all. But refusing to recognize this influence will not cause that influence to disappear. Now, genetics are not the whole story, but they certainly play a significant part in that story, and they may play a greater role in the accomplishments of certain individuals than we collectively would like to admit. However, this might mean that the problems and solutions of the extraordinary may not be problems and solutions of the ordinary. Keep this in mind when listening to podcasts in particular, which typically showcase the extraordinary. These two groups cannot take the same steps toward the same goals. To use Huxley's framework, this would be tantamount to an alpha advising a group of deltas on how best to accomplish an alpha goal. It's not that the advice is incorrect per se, it's just that it will likely fail to resonate with the intended audience. Now, this doesn't mean that people don't possess the capacity to improve their situation, they obviously do. But it certainly doesn't imply that people possess the same capacity to improve their situation to the same extent. And while this capacity is certainly influenced by cultural programming and socioeconomic circumstances, this is not the whole story. People are simply not created equal. And it could be that this inequality or diversity is actually a big part of what ultimately makes life interesting and sustainable. Food for thought. What do you think? Does this fit with your own experience? Let me know in the comments below. Please send this episode to someone who you think might benefit from its message or who would disagree with me. Who knows? Let's have a dialogue here. I know you know somebody who might like to hear this, because it's word-of-mouth referrals like this that really help to make the channel grow. Other value propositions? Anyone looking to join my free weekly newsletter, for which I write original content, no AI, or book a paid one-on-one consultation with yours truly can find out more on my website. There's also my books, The Value of Others, in which I explore my economic model of relationships and Starry Night, my first novel where I explore the final weeks of painter Vincent van Gogh, and my private member community where, among other things, I host bi-monthly group consultation calls with a wonderful group of folks. It's called The Captain's Quarters. Check it out if you are so inclined. The links to everything are in the description below. As always, I appreciate your support, and thank you for listening.