And even if we could measure intelligence, is there a difference between it and wisdom?
If you haven't read it. "Shockwave Rider" by John Brunner. One of my favorite books though it is an odd read. This is a rather profound theme within the entire book. Read it if you get a chance. It is not long compared to something like "Atlas Shrugged" though it has some really interesting things in it. This is indeed at it's core though it has some other things that to me were definitely prescient. Since it in itself was inspired by Toffler's "Future Shock" that might be why it hit some good points.
I am not name dropping for any kind of authority. I don't do that. I don't truly hold anyone as an authority. If I share it is purely for interest. I actually am not a fan of name dropping without value. Shockwave Rider is science fiction and it is kind of Cyberpunk though actually much more accurate than the Gibsonian approach of "Neuromancer".
I've not read Shockwave Rider, and I can barely remember anything by Rand despite having read Atlas & BNW, but I loved the whole Neuromancer series, so I'll add it to my reading list. Thank you, I appreciate the recommendation.
I also appreciate the clarification regarding name-dropping, though I already sussed out as much from the demeanor I picked up in your other comments.
Consider William Gibson was a guy that knew nothing about computers who came up with this brilliant concept of Cyberpunk setting which he wrote on a manual type writer I believe.
Pretty amazing.
Shockwave Rider on the other hand is a bit more the direction we've gone but has some things we haven't gotten to. It does have some problems that I think are impacting the world and are negative in this novel (I was written quite some time ago). It also has a lot regarding the search for Wisdom as opposed to simply intelligence. It definitely has a cyberpunkish feel to it. Most people would likely prefer Gibson's book, but the concepts and such in Shockwave Rider are powerful.
I know it was inspired by "Future Shock" which is not Sci-Fi but more of futurists trying to make a prediction of which way the world is headed. I've tried reading it a few times and haven't gotten too far. I suspect it'd be easier if I'd read it before many of those things had already come to pass.
Yes, an impressive feat from Gibson, imho.
Shockwave Rider sounds quite interesting and has been added to my list.
The 'shock' from future-predictions is lessened by reading them after things have occurred, I'd imagine. 😄
Brave New World is not by Rand, but definitely is an eye opener. Considering who the brother of the author of BNW was that makes it even a bit more of an eye opener. It's kind of a "What might this guy know that the rest of us don't?" type of situation.
Aldous Huxley (I had to look it up. Couldn't recall it off the top of my head)
His brother being Julian Huxley a big proponent of eugenics.
I don't know what came from that, but it is said he walked in some powerful circles. People have stated this influenced BNW quite a bit.
Ugh, I've made this mistake more than once, I'm not entirely sure why. Thank you for the correction. 🙏
Just to be clear, regardless of my mis-speaking, I have read both books, Rand's and Huxley's, back when I was in high-school, lol.
I wrote a lot about influence in my censorship & free speech post, and it wouldn't surprise me if Julian influenced BNW significantly. 🙂