The New Laws of Stupidity
A stupid person causes losses without gains. For example, tolerating destructive behavior from a high performer is stupid.
Cipolla’s Five Laws
- We always underestimate how many stupid people there are.
- Stupidity has nothing to do with a person’s other characteristics.
- A stupid person harms others without benefiting himself. (It is not right to harm others for personal gain.)
- Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid people.
- A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
Carlo M. Cipolla wrote, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity in 1976. It was published by Doubleday in 2021.
Carlos missed three laws.
The New Laws of Stupidity
#1. Everyone is stupid. The only thing in doubt is the degree.
Cipolla is wrong when he writes that stupid is genetic. If he’s right, there’s no hope.
Momma was right, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Forrest Gump
Stupid is behavioral, not genetic.
Everyone does stupid things. Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking, Fast and Slow lists dozens of predictable errors in human judgment. If you think you’re exempt, you’re stupid.
You can become less stupid.
#2. Certainty makes you stupid.
The smarter you think you are, the dumber you become. Education is dangerous when the inexperienced think they know.
Non-stupid people know they don’t know.
#3. Trying to help stupid people is dangerous.
Cipolla is right when he says that we underestimate the destructive power of stupid people.
One thing must be true before people become less stupid. They must believe they are stupid.
Ego protects stupidity. Only the humble become less stupid.
Fundamental Propositions
- Power amplifies stupidity.
- Trying to look smart makes you stupid.
- An abundance of talk without action multiplies stupidity.
- If information was wisdom, we’d all be geniuses.
Stupidity is behavioral, universal, and reducible.
Where do you see smart people doing stupid things?
Show Up Stupid – Leadership Freak
People do stupid things. Yes. Do you realize the word ‘stupid’ and calling someone that is very offensive in some parts of the world. It was hard for me to get past the icky feeling while reading. It’s like calling someone a retard. Just a thought. Please don’t apologize. I’ll deal with it.
The word stupid is, and should be offensive – no one wants to be stupid but back to the quote “Stupid is as stupid does”. I think the overall takeaway is to think before we act of do something to avoid being/coming across as stupid. This is very different from ignorance, which is naively not knowing something which causes us to look stupid. 😉
The safest way to read the article is to replace the word stupid with human. Suddenly it becomes much less offensive and much more difficult to argue with.
Definition of Stupid – lacking normal intelligence, reason, or good judgment. The definition isn’t a categorical accusation of someone, but as humans we fall into this definition from time to time in some decision or thought we have/made.
I took a moment to reflect on some of the stupid I have executed on this last quarter lol. Was a timely article for me.
Hmmm. Interesting, Dale. You made me think this morning. I’m solidly in the camp of “People aren’t bad. People do ‘bad’ things.”
I see the word stupid as synonymous with unintelligent. Unlike the judgemental and subjective word “bad,” defining a person’s intelligence can be objective. Telling someone to their face that they are unintelligent is certainly socially offensive. While I don’t use the word “stupid” in professional contexts, I appreciate the tone of today’s blog post as it echoes Taleb’s forward to Cipolla’s book, which described the content a serious economic analysis and called the writing playful and fun to read (p. vii). Hmmm. Sort of like why I read Leadership Freak!
Peggy Lynn
Thanks for your feedback, Dale. Much appreciated.
The Old Testament Wisdom Literature uses the term fool:
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult” (Proverbs 12:15-16 ESV).
“One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless” (Pro 14:16 ESV).
“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (Pro 18:2 ESV).
“Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard” (Pro 26:10 ESV).
Examples can be multiplied. So get wisdom. Choose the path of wisdom.
I suppose “fool” isn’t much better than “stupid.” Powerful insights though.
the use of the term is provocative. It seems to drive home the point to be clear that we “don’t know what we don’t know. It’s a vote for humble inquiry. Thanks Dan- great way to start the morning!
Thanks Karen. The thing that came to me while working on this is we’re all “less smart” than we could be. Cheers
I enjoyed reading this blog this morning. As I was reading, I considered ‘stupid’ to be referring to behaviors/actions – not a person’s mental capacity. Perhaps I am not in the norm with that frame of mind.
Thank you for the interesting read.
Thanks Laura. Defining stupid as a behavior not an IQ changes things for me. Now I have to include myself, regardless of how smart I think I am.