Would you rather be governed by one wise person or millions of stupid people?

LOL, I’d have to say one wise person rather then the latter =P, only reason being nothing would ever get accomplished with million’s of “stupid” people’s incoherent thought’s and ideal’s O_o =^.^=

1 million would cost a lot, 1 would never get anything done.

Definitely the million stupid people (ignoring logistical issues!). I think I can agree with someone in a million than with one (potential) tyrant. That’s one of the ideas behind democracy, no?

Plus, painting the million as “stupid” is a bit narrow-minded – perhaps it’s me that’s stupid, and I just need to learn a bit.

I’d rather be governed by me, because I’m awesome.

Ahh, benevolent ruler or democracy?
A classic Greek dilemma!
I’d have to go with a wise ruler…

I think, exactly like there cannot be a million stupid people (people disagree with each other all the time, and “stupid” is just another word for “I don’t understand you”) there cannot be one wise person (again, someone will disagree with them – and be right.)

power to one.

Logic being, if the one tyrant messes up, he’s easier to kill… a million people takes far too long….

Considering I currently am being governed by one wise person (myself), I’ll opt for the current system over listening/caring about what millions of dumbies think.

@dynamicduo But that’s not true! You’re telling us you never take other people’s opinions into account?

It depends on what the wise person’s goals are, and how much I agree with him or her.

Honestly, most of the time I’d rather be left alone and not have to worry about government. So if the wise person did what I did in most cases, and didn’t do anything I was really opposed to in other cases, I would prefer the wise person.

@cwilbur But doesn’t a wise person, by definition, have everyone’s best interests at heart? (Playing DA here)

@bkudria: not by any definition I’m aware of.

I’d rather be governed by no one. No one has a claim on my life. No one is born with, nor have they earned, the right to govern me. I govern me.

Millions of stupid. And hope they get some wisdom.

@bkudria Of course it depends on the situation, but in general I rarely take other people’s opinions into consideration when making my life decisions. What’s the benefit in doing so?

@dynamicduo: Other people might well have more experience than you, and might see a different aspect of the life decision you’re about to make. Taking their opinions into consideration, even if it’s only to decide that it’s not relevant to your situation, would seem to be a wise thing to do, if it has the chance of saving you significant hassle.

@cwilbur There are a handful of people whose opinions I care about and value. Beyond that, I don’t really care about what anyone else’s opinion is. In my experience, I end up with more hassle when considering other people’s opinions than if I simply trust my own judgment (which includes doing research about the topic on hand).

If the purpose of life was to go through it with the maximum efficiency (try to get the high score), I would certainly tap the knowledge and experiences of those around me. But I don’t believe this is the purpose of life, and I often learn much more from “failing” than I do by completing the task successfully, thus I have no real incentive to consider Random Joe’s opinion on Issue X.

I’d prefer a small, rotating group of wise people.