"The true meaning of Idiot"

Keit

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Today I stumbled upon this blog post about the real meaning of the word "idiot".

I came across idiot being defined, in Samuel Butler’s 1872 satiric novel “Erewhon”, as someone who thinks for himself and it turns out that the Ancient Greeks agreed with Mr. Butler.

The word’s roots lie in idios which means private or one’s own. So Butler is right in saying that an idiot has thoughts of his own. It is, however, a little more complex than a mere translation from Greek.

Idios led to idiotes which meant a person lacking in a professional skill or a private citizen or individual. That’s a pretty common state and not something that means a lack of intelligence but the Greeks weren’t worried about intelligence, they were concerned with democracy.

In Athenian democracy (thanks to Wikipedia for this detail) an idiot was someone concerned only with private, as opposed to public, affairs. This was the opposite of a citizen. They believed idiots were born and citizens were made, through education. Refusing to be a citizen, avoiding politics and debate was seen as dishonourable and selfish. I am inclined to agree.

Over time the idiot’s bad judgement in refusing to engage in democracy changed the word’s meaning to refer to bad judgement in all things and by the time we reach Late Latin, Middle English and Old French an idiot is an uneducated ordinary person. Since then idiot has changed again to be a person who is not capable of education.

So the next you’re accused to idiocy, consider the possibility that you are merely thinking for yourself.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to read it as "thinking of yourself"? Because it seems that initially the meaning of "idiot" could have meant a person, who is preoccupied with his personal affairs, instead of concentrating on more important issues that are significant for others as well.

It also reminded me about Gurdjieff's use of this word, and how according to him everyone is a specific type of idiot. He named 21 types. Here's a blog post about it, for example.

And this is the list of Idiots according to Gurdjieff. Considering what we have learned recently about his cosmology, and also from recent book recommendations, like "Healing Developmental Trauma", it makes me wonder if this list may describe traits of various survival styles. This is probably something pretty obvious, considering the 4th Way concept of the "chief feature", but it seemed interesting to look at it from this different perspective.

The Idiots

1. ordinary
2. super
3. arch
4. hopeless
5. compassionate
6. squirming
7. square
8. round
9. zigzag
10. enlightened
11. doubting
12. swaggering
13. born
14. patented
15. psychopathic
16. polyhedral

In the 'Rue des Colonels Renard' collection science-of-idiotism.htm the order is: 12. Swaggering Idiot; 13. Remorseful Idiot; 14. Born Idiot; 15. Patented Idiot; 16. Idiot of Stinking Hierarchy; 17. [not named]
Higher classes

Idiots 17-21 constituted a spiritual hierarchy, reflecting progressive gradations of objective reason.
Having attained 17 [category is not named], to go on, the individual had to voluntarily descend to 1, that of the ordinary idiot. Some say it happens with 10.
18. the highest development of reason with which a human being could resonate.
19. and 20. the sons of God
21. the reason of God
 
Interesting topic that got me running on an errand about idiots. So I found a book from Bruno Martin called, "The Realized Idiot" and I read what I could read specifically about idiots in the Google Books preview.

I think of the idea of idiots now as a developmental framework; proper term would be "Developmental Psychology". As in, it roughly refers to an hierarchy of being. It can be used as a method to identify or tag people or as a guideline for further development.

So, the way I think of it, is that the higher you go, the more consciously dense the unit tends to become, but also, there will be particular strategies being employed unique to each idiot. Also, unique pitfalls. I've read before that, no matter how we humans develop, we will (at least practically) forever more have something more to learn, something new to discover, a quest to fulfill and even that there are opportunities of failure at each step.

So, the way I see it, you basically start with your Average Joe robotoid human, in their varying manifestations, but beyond a certain point, there will be recurring quantum leaps in density of consciousness (dare I say, in triads!?).

Best regards
 
For some reason, I can't edit the previous comment.

Anyhow, I can see several correspondences between several disciplines in developmental psychology. In due time, I will share them. I've also had some other ideas for contributing that I haven't acted upon.

For shits and giggles, I think I am idiot number 15, possibly newly fledged 16. Another name for idiot number 15 is the idiot of stinking hierarchy, (as previously mentioned; edit: another name is Genial idiot) hinting on these idiots commonly having a financially well-endowed background; please keep this in mind.
 
Lamp of Orion said:
For some reason, I can't edit the previous comment.

The window of opportunity for making edits expires beyond half an hour after its time-stamp.

Your first edit was within that limit and apparently your second attempt was not; hence it failed.

You also might want to read this topic: What sort of idiot are you?
 
Hi, it may be worth noting that the word "idiot" is mentioned on numerous occasions in the book Zelator by Mark Hedsel...

You see, Mark: it is the Fool who knows that he is being hoodwinked. It is the Fool who sets out on the Path to seek liberation from this state. In the end, it is the Fool who will have that blindfold removed from his inner eyes.
‘No doubt, Mark, it will interest you to learn that the Greek origins of the word Idiot are linked with this idea of removing blindfolds.

Perhaps it is foolish, yet one should recall that the roots of the word Idiot reach back, by way of Greek etymology, to the eidos, or Platonic forms which lie behind the phenomenal world, and even further back into the Moon-
light of Sanskrit, which surfaced in Roman times in the Etruscan Idus, now remembered only as a system of dating. In ancient times there was a deeper wisdom about such things, for it was recognized that ideas proceeded as a subtle light from the Spiritual realm, and could not find a seeding in the mind of every human being.

When I decided to ask you to help me write this book, I juggled with titles. I had in mind that we should call it The Autobiography of a Fool. But then, I reasoned, it would be unwise to expect anyone to read such a book, for in our hearts we all know that we are Fools. We keep this knowledge secret, of course, and we hide it with a variety of more or less sophisticated masks and uniforms. Few people dare approach closely this inner image of the Fool, for the danger is that they might actually be revealed as a Fool. If I had chosen a more honest title, and reverted to the word used so perspicaciously by my Teacher in Paris, then I would have called it The Book of the Idiot. While most people know, in their heart of hearts, that they are Fools, they do not suspect that they are also idiots. This is mainly because they do not really know what an idiot is, and how holy is that word.
 
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