Are we all equally intelligent?

A revolutionary idea that goes against the grain

When people put Donald Trump in office or succumbed to conspiracy theories, the knee-jerk reaction was to say they were fools and manipulated by false information. On the other side of the spectrum, conspiracy enthusiasts feel galvanized by the idea of being smarter than the masses. In short, on both sides is felt that the cognitive capacity of the other is diminished.

Yet philosophers such as Jacques Rancière believe that this is unfounded. In fact, we would all have similar intelligence to begin with. This does not mean then that school or pedagogy is useless. Yet, as the pedagogue Joseph Jacotot asserted in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the work of teaching is an emancipating one.

How to lead this mass of brains toward a better mastery of the world? An idea, moreover, that many elites dislike. Indeed, if all have the same intelligence, therefore can no longer be used the excuse of incomprehension when a movement opposes a reform or a law. This "hatred" of real democracy can still be seen today among politicians and commentators and only repeats fears expressed by Plato in Ancient Greece, among others.

Length: 21min42