This famous quotation by Hemingway illustrates two types of common fallacies that lead most of us to the wrong conclusion.
1. Fallacy of Generalization
The fallacy of generalization is a logical fallacy that occurs when a claim is made based on insufficient evidence.
- It is well-known that Ernest Hemingway was a very intelligent man, as evidenced by winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.
- It is also well known that towards the end of his life, he was so unhappy, and finally, he committed suicide.
The fallacy he committed through his quote is that he generalised his personal experience as universal truth.
2. Fallacy of Causation
It is quite common for people to connect an outcome with the wrong cause. It is well known in science that correlation is not causation.
Most people are unhappy as they fail to achieve what they think they should in life. However, the unhappiness of a person may be due to different reasons like poverty, physical disability, broken relationships or emotional intelligence. You can also feel miserable if you lack empathy and fail to develop deep relationships with your family and friends.
Some intelligent people mistreat others like a speck of dirt and feel entitled to everything good in the world. No one wishes to be mistreated by a friend or family. As a result, people avoid them, and they are left alone and suffer pain. However, instead of blaming themselves, they blame their superior intelligence for their suffering.
How arrogant of them?
What is the Truth?
The truth can only be found by critical thinking, which means relying on the empirical evidence and scientific study rather than on anecdotal evidence.
However intelligent or accomplished a person may be, his knowledge outside his domain is just ordinary.
Ernest Hemingway was a fiction writer, and he had no expertise on the issue of happiness and living.
Hence, we must disregard his personal opinion and look for the scientific evidence on this topic to know the truth.
In a study conducted by Ati et, all (Reference provided), it was found that
- Happiness is significantly associated with IQ.
- Those in the lowest IQ range (70-99) reported the lowest levels of happiness compared with the highest IQ group (120-129).
The study concluded that those with lower IQ are less happy than those with higher IQ.
So, the good news is that dumb people are not happier, and you don’t have to be unhappy if you are intelligent.
If you are feeling unhappy in life, instead of blaming your intelligence for unhappiness, use you intelligence to find the real reasons for your suffering and work on them to achieve happiness.
That is the true sign of an intelligent person. Isn’t it?
Reference: Ali A, Ambler G, Strydom A, Rai D, Cooper C, McManus S, Weich S, Meltzer H, Dein S, Hassiotis A. The relationship between happiness and intelligent quotient: the contribution of socio-economic and clinical factors. Psychol Med. 2013 Jun;43(6):1303-12. doi: 10.1017/S0033291712002139. Epub 2012 Sep 24. PMID: 22998852.
Source of picture: Google Images
-Awdhesh Singh, IRS-IIT
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