Normalization of Mediocrity
Society has all sorts of ways to hide from a person’s view the mediocrity of his mind. It starts in school. A student may succeed through an entire education—achieve very highly indeed—without proving true intellectual character. Assured by his success, the student is fooled by it and prevented from realizing what is actually entailed in being a genuine thinker. Mediocrity also lurks in authority. No one in high authority thinks his mind mediocre. All the messages from society, as well as the trappings of authority, tell him otherwise.
In the more common case of your regular individual in life, the situation is not exactly the same but the result may be just the same. Here is someone, perhaps, who is articulate, who has a good memory, who has his degree, and who is safely correct in sharing the views of his friends—who, in sum, looks about him and sees nobody better than himself. Nobody bats him down, imposing a higher standard on his intelligence. So does any person become a carrier of what may be called the normalization of mediocrity.
thomas@discoveringyourintelligence.com