Why listen to a world renounced idiot

2026-09-06 · Ho Chanh Nghia

Originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-listen-world-renounced-idiot-khanh-pham-nmicc/

Why listen to a world renounced idiot

Across 3,000 years of history, one of the patterns you can find in abundance, not like dog poops on the street of Venice Beach, but it is not rare. (reference to Professor Jiang Xue Qin first visit to America)

Majority of the population are (if the bell curve holds any truth), in the middle. What is normally referred to by the majority as the average. What I have always referred to as the idiots, and of course I am not invited back.

What is common among those who are considered idiots is that they would look at a person, and declare this person is an idiot, and the single criteria they have used is: “he doesn’t share my opinion.”

When Confucius was declared the biggest idiot, he wandered across nations. He and his 4 students were living the life of American homeless veterans. No one would think that he would be the Aristotle that produced 4 Alexander the Great.

When Genghis Khan was imprisoned in a dog cage and left to die. No one would think that he would be able to kill his persecutor and created the four dogs of war, each of whom is no less than another Alexander the Great.

I have a unique experience that 99.9% of the world population will not have. This has a lesson that 99.99% of the world should learn, but like all nuggets of wisdom–the mileage will vary from person to person.

I was selected for one of the most selective careers in the US military. All the smartest people across navy and air force understood this is where the smartest people go. Factually and statistically true. The minimum to even be considered is a 90% aptitude score, placing you above 90% of the population. But in reality, most of these people score 99%. What lay people would think is that out of 100 people, these people are number. But that’s not really how that metric works. On a ruler with 12 inches, anything that goes beyond 12 inches is 12+. On this percentile ruler, anything above 99% is simply 99%+, meaning we can no longer measure them.

If we have 250 of these people in the same room. Let’s assume they are all 99s (they are not all 99). What is the common traits that is identified?

In the common world, many of these 250 are simply individuals whose understanding is limited. When the average person—my version of such individuals—will label them as such. However, when they are around scientists and members of the top 1% of the country, they are often seen as geniuses. They are often sought out to solve problems that appear to be unsolvable. From the OSS, to the 99, to the 9S100, this pattern is likely to hold true. And you can go back 3,000 years or forward 3,000 years, and you will likely find the same pattern.

My experience tells me that even among the top 1% alone, the differences between them are quite significant and difficult to measure.

Between the top 1% of the top 1%, it is not like 2 apples to 1 apple, or 12 apples to 1 apple. It is far apart. Even with just 8 people, and it is easier to observe with a small group size. There were gaps. This was the first time I had been surrounded by genius, and I was motivated to be the top genius. Just like when I learned to play tennis, I did everything to be a top tennis player. I made it to the single number in tennis, and dominated opponents in my school and other schools. But against these 8 Americans from various regions of the USA, the story is very different. At the beginning, everyone scored 90–100%, and mostly 100% on any of the electronic tests. Then, after 6 months, you can start to see some scoring 80. By 9 months, you can hardly find 1 person with 100 on the test. It had little to do with the difficulty of the subject of study. It was endurance. Like a poker game, everyone can compete at the 1st and 2nd hours, but the winner remains even after 8 hours.

In terms of computer power, speed, accuracy, and complexity, there are also wide-ranging results. Outside and inside the Howard Gardner 9 intelligence, there are specific types of prowess in how these people operate. Usually with at least one form of exceptional intelligence. Take Jimmy for example, this short, sturdy white American from the rural areas of America. He can brave hail and blizzard from Alaska to California while I could see myself being dead a hundred times on that trail. I raced with him across the swamp of Alaska, I got stuck in the middle of nowhere, where radio cannot reach a living soul. He just laughed because he had been there, while I could see my life ending. We ran into a brown bear, and he just looked without moving. I scanned for weapons, and all I could find was a PVC pipe in our truck, so I picked it up and prepared for battle. Jimmy rolled over laughing when it left. My PVC was not going to help. Jimmy is really not that smart until you can translate an issue into mechanical language. If you can communicate it in mechanical concepts, he can solve almost all the unsolved issues. Even though the baseline for all our aptitude is 90–99%, the gap between our top attributes is really beyond measure. A normal everyday conversation would not allow one to see the limit of his genius. And a game of language would confuse his brain, but he can tell you instantly that he does not play games with semantics. Because he thinks in his own language, and he is able to identify and respond to all actions in his own ways. If you can only understand him in his own language, then you will find the genius. There are at least 1–2 people with language intelligence that surpass others, and we can find this in competitions where language use is tested. Then there is logic, in the sense of electronic logic. If I wanted to find a fault on a board, where ten geniuses fail, I would ask this guy to look at it. He would be there for hours, not giving up, and then one day, he will come back and tell us he found the fault. How do you measure these kinds of geniuses? I do not think you can.

The world will call them idiots because the world cannot understand them. But if all the smartest people think they are geniuses, and all the less intelligent people think they are idiots, can you use that as a metric for identifying them?

What do you do after you find a genius?

When a great man talks, do you listen? or do you tell the great man how great you are?

I have met many people who read very little, no formal, and no informal education, but they would sit at a table full of monastic master with 30 years, and lecture the masters on buddhist lessons. I would listen, because I know there is nothing I can do. The masters would smile and listen, because there is nothing else to do. Let them talk until their heart is content, and they can move on. Nothing anyone can do.

However, if someone is not educated formally or informally, but is able to put together how the world works. In a way you have not, I think it is worth listening. They have done what you cannot. They are willing to share and show you, that is a blessing. If they are wrong they are wrong. If you disagree, you disagree. But putting together a system of how the world works is not something 99% of the people can do. You can call them an idiot because you disagree, you can continue to live your life as it is. But if you are to improve your life, there has to be a change of something. An increase of something. And since we’re all just thirsty soul looking for a place of happiness, if we’re happy, there is no reason to seek god or buddha.

Many of the world’s famous idiots today, may prove to be genius after humanity have finished analyzing what is shit and what is shinola, across 200 years. The smartest among us will be early adoptor of genius. The slowest among us will have to wait 200-2000 years after the fact.

Thus, I posit that there is at least one reason to listen to a renounced idiot. Like Micah, for most of his life was seen as an annoyance. But for 2,000 years after death, he is revered as a saint. Why is that?

If Juda had to choose, should Juda listen to Micah or put him on a cross like Jesus?

In the modern days, you can find Micah everywhere you look. It is just 1 Micah.

In the modern days, you can find Juda everywhere you look. It is not just Israel.

We have Socrates, who Rome accuses of poisoning the mind of the youth. We have Jesus who is accused of challenging the power that be. We give hemlock to Socrates. We nail Jesus to the cross. We hang Copernicus. We still do. We can see if we look.

And if we look, we may want to listen. Not to change what must be, but to help us survive. To help us pass on our genes. To help us protect our children. For another two thousand years.