Jessica Cole

Tag: philosophy

  • The Lizard People

    The Lizard People

    (And Why We Are Creating Them)

    Lizard People.

    It is the label commonly tossed around Silicon Valley backrooms to describe a specific breed of colleague: those devoid of human consideration, understanding, or empathy. In lay terms, socio- and psychopaths. In our terms, the architects of the modern world.

    While the “Lizard Person” is a metaphor (lest we veer into David Icke conspiracy territory), the data suggests the archetype is real. According to research by Dr. Robert Hare and Dr. Paul Babiak, while only about 1% of the general population qualifies as psychopathic, that number jumps to an estimated 3% to 4% among senior business executives (Babiak & Hare, 2006). Other studies suggest the number in upper management could be as high as 12% (Croom, 2021).

    What draws them there? And more importantly, what happens when we strip-mine the education system of the Humanities, removing the very tools designed to stop their creation?

    To understand the Lizard Person, we first have to look at the human mind.

    The age-old debate of “nature vs. nurture” asks if we are born this way or if we are merely clay dolls molded by our environment. Consider Dr. James Fallon, a neuroscientist at UC Irvine. While studying the brain scans of serial killers, Fallon discovered a scan that looked exactly like a psychopath’s: low activity in the orbital cortex, the area involved in ethical behavior and impulse control.

    The scan was his own.

    Fallon possessed the genetic and neurological markers of a killer. Yet, he was a non-violent, successful academic. Why? As Fallon argues, it was his upbringing (a supportive, connected community) that prevented his biology from becoming his destiny (Fallon, 2013).

    If isolation breeds monsters, then community breeds humans. The most effective way to establish that sense of community is to understand where you came from. To feel like part of a whole. This is the function of the Humanities: studying our species’ art, our evolution, our history. It stops us from becoming mindless, formula-spouting robots.

    Philosopher Martha Nussbaum warns of this explicitly in her book Not for Profit. She argues that by slashing Humanities budgets in favor of technical training, we are producing “useful machines” rather than citizens capable of empathy or democratic thought (Nussbaum, 2010). We are removing the very curriculum that teaches us to see others as souls rather than data points.

    Capitalism and Lizard People are a match made in hell (pardon my French). The system is the perfect playground for someone without empathy. Corporations love a mindless accountant who crunches numbers all day without questioning shady tax reports. CEOs love optimizing operations to boost margins, even if it means exploiting labor or the environment.

    Consider the “efficiency” of lobbying. A study regarding the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 found that for every $1 corporations spent lobbying for this tax holiday, they received a return of $220 in tax savings—a staggering 22,000% return on investment (Alexander et al., 2009).

    This is what happens when you optimize for math without morals. You get high returns, questionable ethics, and a ruling class that views the population as a resource to be mined rather than a community to be served.

    Perhaps these decisions are intentional features of the system, not bugs. But the education system can at least attempt to lower the odds of this outcome by producing an ethically aware population. By removing the requirement of Humanities courses, we remove the requirement of understanding what makes us human.

    Resources

    Alexander, Raquel M., et al. “Measuring Rates of Return for Lobbying Expenditures: An Empirical Analysis Under the American Jobs Creation Act.” SSRN Electronic Journal, 2009.

    Babiak, Paul, and Robert D. Hare. Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work. HarperCollins, 2006.

    Croom, Simon. “The Prevalence of Psychopathy in Corporate Leadership.” Fortune, 2021.

    Fallon, James. The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist’s Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain. Current, 2013.

    Nussbaum, Martha. Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities. Princeton University Press, 2010.

  • The Socratic Paradox

    The Socratic Paradox

    Today I write from the ever bustling airport, the ultimate people watching spot.

    I found myself considering the thousands of separate realities that others exist in. As I am sure you have also noticed, the majority of the public tend to be absorbed by their devices, constantly- regardless if they’re walking, sitting, standing, running, etc. They are sucked in to screens. It’s almost their second reality, their never-ending dopamine fix. So, what is this constant use doing to us?

    Socrates once famously claimed that wisdom begins with acknowledging one’s own ignorance. In 2025, this principle takes on new significance. We’ve mastered the knack of recognizing what we don’t know; our questions are sharper and more frequent than ever. Yet, as recent neuroscientific research reveals, our capacity for deep understanding may be eroding.

    We’re armed with AI-powered tools that can respond to complex queries, yet studies show that 80% of workers suffer from ‘information overload’. Our brains, designed to handle 3-4 items of information at once, are bombarded with up to 74 GB of data daily. This cognitive overload is reshaping our neural pathways, potentially at the cost of our ability to engage in sustained, deep thinking.

    The prefrontal cortex, particularly the dorsolateral and ventrolateral regions (DLPFC and VLPFC), plays a crucial role in controlling learning processes. These areas are responsible for selecting and manipulating goal-relevant information. However, when faced with an overwhelming amount of data, these regions can become overtaxed, leading to decreased efficiency in information processing and decision-making.

    This cognitive strain extends to the workplace, where the cost of information overload is staggering. Research indicates that cognitive overload costs the US economy about $900 billion annually. The implications are clear: our ability to ask sophisticated questions has outpaced our capacity to absorb and integrate the answers.

    To address this imbalance, we must cultivate a practice of “mindful inquiry” that combines the Socratic method with modern cognitive science:

    1. Pause to consider the depth of your question and your readiness to engage with the answer, aligning with the Socratic tradition of self-examination.
    2. Implement spaced repetition and active recall to reinforce learning and enhance long-term memory formation.
    3. Design learning experiences that reduce extraneous cognitive load, allowing for deeper processing and comprehension.
    4. Incorporate periods of ‘digital fasting’ to allow for reflection and knowledge consolidation. Give yourself a mental spa treatment.

    Moving forward, the integration of AI in learning presents both challenges and opportunities. AI-powered tutors could engage learners in adaptive Socratic dialogues, potentially revolutionizing the way we balance inquiry and absorption. However, we must remain vigilant against the risk of intellectual complacency that easy access to information might foster.

    In navigating this new landscape, our goal should be to harness both technology and wisdom from the past. By combining Socratic inquiry with neuroscience-backed learning strategies, we can evolve into knowledge vacuums, capable of not just posing insightful questions, but of deeply understanding and applying the answers we receive.

    The future of learning lies not in the volume of information we can access or the complexity of questions we can ask, but in our ability to transform that information into wisdom through thoughtful inquiry and absorption. Our next steps will shape not just our individual minds, but the collective intelligence of our species for generations to come.

    Perhaps the greatest wisdom lies in knowing not just how to ask, but how to listen, absorb, and integrate. The Socratic paradox of our age challenges us to be both humble in our questioning and diligent in our understanding, fostering a new kind of intellectual virtue that balances curiosity with contemplation.

    Jessica Cole

    This is a follow up thought chain to Asking Better Questions

    Works Cited:

    Friedlander, M. J., et al. (2013). Neuroscience and Learning: Implications for Teaching Practice. PMC.

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. (2024). Information Overload Is a Personal and Societal Danger. RPI News.

    Structural Learning. (2024). How Neuroscience Informs Effective Learning Strategies.

    Ji, X. (2023). The Negative Psychological Effects of Information Overload. ERHSS, 9, 250-256.

    Moore, C. (2025). Is Cognitive Overload Ruining Your Employee Training? Cathy Moore’s Blog.