Literacy analogies: why intelligence may go from ladder to floor
paraschopra · x · 2026-10-18
Paras Chopra highlights a distinction between intelligence (choosing well among presented options) and power (the whole space of options available), arguing the world is dominated by power-seekers rather than the smartest.
The quoted passage uses literacy history as an analogy: Egyptian scribes and the English "neck verse" once made literacy a source of power, but universal literacy erased that advantage. Intelligence may follow the same path — from a ladder marking rank to a floor, becoming basic infrastructure.
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