The Cult of Competence: How We Were Gaslit Into Believing Humanity Is Smarter Than It Is

For those who still bother to think

There’s a polite little fiction we’ve all agreed to. One of those smooth, default settings built into the factory software of modern life: People are generally smart. People are generally good. And society, though flawed, is a competent arrangement of well-meaning adults trying their best.

It’s a beautiful idea.

It’s also a complete lie.

Because once you strip away the corporate PR, the soft-focus documentaries, and the TED Talk civilization we're spoon-fed, you’ll find something both obvious and disturbing: Most people are deeply, irreparably incompetent. Not in a cynical or cruel sense—but in a literal, cognitive, spiritual, and psychological one.

We’re not living in an enlightened global society. We’re living in a glorified daycare for post-adolescents—a padded playpen administered by petty bureaucrats and narcissistic “leaders” whose core qualification is their ability to form cliques, mimic authority, and bluff their way into influence.

I. Childhood Never Ended, It Just Got a Job

Look around you. Really look. How many people that you interact with on a daily basis are truly adult in mind and spirit? How many have depth, self-awareness, or the ability to think abstractly about the world? How many can handle cognitive dissonance without collapsing into tantrums, memes, or moral panic?

Not many.

Because the average person is not “bad,” exactly. They’re just... stuck. Emotionally. Intellectually. Existentially. And culturally, we've decided to reward that stasis. The adult world, as we know it, is an elaborate LARP built on shallow scripts and rigid rituals. Jobs aren’t about talent—they’re about compliance. Politics isn’t about wisdom—it’s about tribalism and optics. Education isn’t about awakening minds—it’s about sorting obedience into diplomas.

We’re not surrounded by 8 billion autonomous, rational agents. We’re surrounded by a sea of functionally arrested minds—people stuck somewhere around 9 to 13 years old—fueled by insecurity, playground-level ethics, and TikTok-level attention spans.

And the few who do think critically? Marginalized. Gaslit. Mocked. Or thrown on the burnout pile.

II. The Gaslight Machine: Who Benefits from Keeping You Deluded?

Let’s get to the meat of it. Why the lie? Who benefits from telling you that everyone is smart and worthy?

Simple: Power consolidates best in a system where everyone believes the system is worth preserving.

The illusion of widespread competence is one of the most successful propaganda projects in history. It keeps us tolerant of idiocy, loyal to mediocrity, and most importantly—it keeps us non-revolutionary.

Because once you wake up to the fact that your local officials, your corporate managers, your school board, your TV anchors, your favorite influencers, and half your family members are operating on the emotional maturity of a middle schooler with Wi-Fi... it’s hard to keep pretending that the machine is sacred.

That’s dangerous knowledge. The kind the Archon warns about. The kind the Greek philosopher sneers at from the grave. And that’s why we’re told from birth: Everyone is special. Everyone is important. Humanity is a shining jewel. You just need to get in line and do your part.

Ahem. No.

The truth is, competence is rare. Insight is rare. Integrity? Almost mythical. Most of what we call "society" is a cargo cult built by functionaries who copied the surface-level aesthetics of wisdom from people much greater than themselves.

The machine is no longer piloted by the architects. It’s being run by the janitors who inherited the keys.

III. The "Federal District" Problem: Cliques of the Clueless in High Places

Let’s tie this into the real-world structures—the capital cities that don't govern but administer. D.C. isn’t your government. It's a jurisdictional theme park, a corporate zone designed to simulate governance while executing contracts.

Same for the City of London. Same for Vatican City. Even Mexico City, which once stood as a federalized fortress disconnected from the rest of the republic. These aren’t sovereign expressions of the people. They’re administrative enclaves, operated by people who belong to cliques—fraternity-minded functionaries who rise not through merit but through allegiance.

In short: the world is governed by HR departments with militaries.

People like to believe that the top is where the best ideas go. In reality, it’s where the most adaptable conformists settle, forming power-nests that replicate the social dynamics of junior high.

They exclude, they favor, they ostracize, they promote. Not based on truth, but on feelings, control, and social positioning.

And that’s where we’ve gone fatally wrong: We mistook institutional presence for intelligence. And we’ve let these grown-up children build the world.

IV. The Sacred Cow of "Humanity"

Now here’s the part that’ll get me accused of cynicism, cruelty, or worse: Humanity is not inherently valuable.

Don’t get me wrong—humans can be magnificent. They can create Beethoven’s symphonies, Egyptian pyramids, the Voyager probes, and intricate philosophies that dance with the divine. But those are the exceptions.

The vast majority of humanity throughout history has been ruled, manipulated, distracted, and utilized. Most people don’t innovate. Most people don’t ask questions. Most people don’t seek truth—they seek comfort, status, and distraction.

You can say it’s not their fault—and that’s fine. But let’s stop pretending that the herd is sacred. It isn’t. The herd is a liability in times of crisis, and the last few years proved that with a vengeance.

Our systems aren't failing because of some alien conspiracy—they're failing because the average person is not equipped to hold power, demand truth, or recognize manipulation. And they don’t want to be. They want to be safe. They want someone else to decide.

So they elect the clown with the best smile, follow the influencer with the sharpest jawline, and retweet the half-truth that sounds the most like a Disney ending.

And the machine keeps humming.

V. What Do We Do With This Truth?

First, let’s detox from the cult of universal human competence. Let's accept that some people are not meant to shape the world. That’s not cruelty—that’s clarity.

Second, we rebuild trust in exceptional minds. Not celebrities. Not “relatable” avatars of diversity. But true, strange, visionary minds who walk the edge of madness and insight. Minds with skin in the game, a historical memory, and a dangerous love for the truth.

Third, we call out the infantilization. Every time a politician uses emojis to sell a policy. Every time a news outlet explains global affairs like we’re in third grade. Every time a public institution adopts "vibes" as a strategy—we call it what it is: manipulation for a dumbed-down audience.

And finally, we stop waiting for the world to be saved. That’s the final gaslight—the idea that someone else, some collective “we,” will rise and evolve and make everything okay.

No. It’s you. And whoever you can gather who still sees clearly. The rest? They're noise. They're in the sandbox, playing with plastic tools while the grown-ups stare into the abyss.

The Children of the Lie

Maybe this sounds elitist. Fine. It is. Because we’ve been stuck too long in the false democracy of intelligence, where everyone’s opinion is equal, even if it’s formed by memes, marketing, or wishful thinking.

The Archon and the Greek weren’t just pointing out legal fictions or capital city charades. They were whispering a darker truth: The world is run by dumb cliques masquerading as governments, and we were raised to believe they were wise simply because they were loud.

So here’s the deal: grow up, wise up, and learn to see the toddlers in suits for who they really are. Then find the other grown-ups. And rebuild something worth saving.

Not for the world. Not for humanity.

But for the future that should’ve been.