Monday, June 10, 2019

Fundamental Sophomoricism: Suspended Cognitive Development

We begin with Merriam Webster's Dictionary definition of the word "Sophomoric."
sophomoric adjective
soph·​o·​mor·​ic | \ ˌsäf-ˈmȯr-ik  , -ˈmär- also ˌsȯf- or ˌsä-fə- or ˌsȯ-fə-\
Definition of sophomoric
1 : conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature
a sophomoric argument
2 : lacking in maturity, taste, or judgment
sophomoric humor
Here are the factors:

  • At or above the age of cognitive development equal to the Formal Operational stage, but continues to exhibit Concrete Operational thinking.
  • Lack of abstract reasoning skills
    • Can't or won't consider long-term consequences or degrees of effects beyond one's own social circles.
    • Makes no effort to imagine one's self in the position of other people not directly related or within one's own social circles.
  • Lack of empathy.
    • Criticizes people for traits over which they cannot control or change.
  • Lack of formal social etiquette
  • Lack of situational awareness
    • Persistent mild agoraphobia
      • Persistent mistrust despite obvious evidence to the contrary
      • Persistent feeling of victimization, marginalization, despite being a member of the dominant group in society.
    • Xenophobia
  • Dunning-Kruger Effect 
  • Unable to distinguish the difference in consequences between telling facts and lying.
  • Unable to understand that evidence cannot be taken out of context, redacted or edited partially or wholly, to support one's claims.
Some of the aforementioned states may be remedied for some people through training, but the extreme difficulty of changing these characteristics in order to achieve "Formal Operation Cognitive Development" while already an adult makes me conclude the possibility that this is a trait or congenital defect shared by nearly one third of the human population.

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