Deputies shoot man in his front yard He was getting cigarette out of his mother's car

[Savannahmann]

70. Plenty of educated people have done stupid things too.

Wisdom does not come from intelligence. How often has the dumbest person been the one with the most education. George W. Bush had a degree from Harvard, which is normally associated with higher learning of the N'th degree. Yet who can say he was truly wise, or smart?

Application of education, of knowledge, is often the most difficult thing. I remember a story, from the 1970's. A big truck tried to go through the Lincoln Tunnel, it was too tall, and got stuck at the entrance. The Engineers were all there arguing about how to remove the truck. Cutting torches to disassemble the truck enough to winch it out without further damage to the tunnel was winning the argument. A car was going past, slowly there was but one lane available. Inside was a little girl, who asked her Mother why they didn't let the air out of the tires. Someone overheard the little girl, the window on the car was down.

It was one of those moments when everyone blinks and asks themselves the same question. Why didn't I think of that? With the air out of the tires, the truck would be at least four inches shorter, and would be able to be winched out without any damage, and far more quickly. Later this technique was used to life heavy things, large bags of compressed air that were able to shift and move incredibly heavy objects.

All those engineers were very smart, very educated, and very knowledgeable. But they didn't see the obvious answer, because their training, their education was all on one dimension if you will. They were not looking at the whole picture, and seeing it.

I could give you examples of other history. Generals and Admirals who acted stupidly, ignoring the obvious to get to the unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Admiral Kurita in the Battle of Samar. He was convinced he was facing a superior fleet, and victory other than what he had was impossible. Despite the fact he had a much more powerful battle fleet, and nothing for hundreds of miles could hope to stop him. He saw his fears, and took action to prevent them from coming true.

Same battle, Admiral Halsey charged off after the Japanese Carriers, leaving the door which Admiral Kurita entered open. Admiral Halsey stupidly charged after his goal, his dream of tackling the Japanese Carriers and finally sinking them was at hand. He would not be dissuaded and no comments from his Staff could make him see the error. The error that many others saw.

My point is this. Continuing with my military examples. What is the difference between a General, and a Private? The Private is never in a position to lose the war. He might lose a skirmish, or even cause a minor slice of a battle to be lost. But only the General can lose the war. Because we don't trust the Private to give him the kind of authority he needs to make catastrophic mistakes.

The General on the other hand, has the power.

Back to our Police officers. All the education in the world can not help them apply that knowledge to situations. If they make a mistake, then it is likely fatal to any victim of the mistake. The obvious first answer is honesty. You must be able to honestly admit your mistakes, and learn from them the way Doctors do. Young inexperienced Doctors often make mistakes and patients die. It is sad, but the young doctor learns and never makes that mistake again. It isn't negligence, it is merely inexperience. But that young doctor learns, and grows wiser, and later makes far fewer mistakes. He becomes the more godlike being we associate with the word Doctor.

The Doctors talk amongst themselves, bringing the young doctor along, teaching him. Letting him learn the mistakes, and the way things really work in the world, the world outside of the books. In time, you get a good doctor if there is one to be had within the young one.

Police could be the same way, working together to make each one better. But instead they work together to cover up mistakes, to deny them, to lie about them. So the young officer learns that he must lie to protect his brother officers, and they will lie to protect him. It's us versus them, and whenever you view the world that way, the only answer you will ever get from any sentient species is the same. If it's us or them, I choose us. So the Police spend the rest of their lives with the flawed premise, it's us versus them. That shadows their thinking, and their reactions are all begun from that singularly wrong point of view. to Serve and protect is propaganda, designed to help maintain the support of some of them, for us. We can tell you anything, and you'll believe it because you are under the delusion you are part of us trying to stop them.

Principle matters more than education. An educated man will lie, cheat, and steal as easily as the uneducated man. It is principle, what things will you not do no matter what. That is what matters most. If you will lie, cheat, or plant evidence, and a vast majority of police will do one or even all three, then cop is the one job you should never be allowed to have. Principle is not derived from higher education, but from early upbringing, and the lessons of life that you experience.