Markup View

Author: Fanra

Mar 16th 2011 at 11:48:02 AM

Strangely enough, the only examples I can think of are the exact opposite of this trope.

* "The Little Black Bag" is a short story by science fiction author Cyril M. Kornbluth, first published 1950.  It is a prequel of sorts to the story "The Marching Morons". It won the 2001 Retroactive Hugo Award for Best Novelette (of 1951) and was also recognized as the 13th best all-time short science fiction story in a 1971 Analog Science Fact & Fiction poll.  In the story, in the future, humanity has split into a small minority of supergeniuses and those of normal intelligence, and a much larger group of dimwits.  The vast majority are stupid.  Yet very stupid physicians manage to treat their patients using a high tech medical bag (the bag in the title).  The doctors just follow the instructions without really understanding medicine.
* "The Feeling of Power" is a science fiction short story by IsaacAsimov. The story first appeared in 1958.  In the distant future, humans live in a computer-aided society and have forgotten the fundamentals of mathematics, including even the rudimentary skill of counting.