A man can make up for his
intelligence with his effort, but a man
cannot make up for his
effort with his intelligence. The intelligent members of the
human race are
obligated to use their
rare abilities to aid
humanity.
By the same
token, people who are not of the same ability, must still
fulfill their
obligation to humanity, but because of the
scarcity of intelligence, those who are
smart are
condemned to
sacrifice more.
Be warned however, that one of my
friends (and possibly
you) think that this is a
socialist idea; I however,
disagree. I believe it is a
philosophical one. My
political beliefs include the idea that
philosophy and
government should not be
intertwined, but even then, the idea should be identified as philosophical before it is put under a government context.
Addendum:
elwoodblues: Perhaps you should reread the node. Nowhere do I even begin to insinuate that people are born with intelligence. If a man can make up for his intelligence with his effort, there's no reason he can't also use it to increase said intelligence. Moreover, that's part of the purpose of this philosophy.
As for having some obligation to society, I mean only that this is a moral, tenet, watchamacallit, etc. that I admire in other people. It does not mean that I think it should become law, even if it were possible. There is a difference. You may find such thinking futile ("Why bother if you don't belive it absolutely?" logic) but that can be refuted by more general philosophies pertaining to diversity of morality and their likeness.
Now please pick up those words and place them back in your gob.