Credentialed surface intelligence

Mass expansion of credentialed education can create a large population whose authority is based on the signifier (degrees) rather than demonstrated capability, producing widespread overconfidence and an appetite for ideological scapegoating. That scrambled signal — credential without deep competence — fuels social grievance and makes groups manipulable by political entrepreneurs. — If true, credentialed surface intelligence helps explain distrust in experts, the spread of performative politics, and why policy debates collapse into status signaling rather than technical disagreement.