The five laws of stupidity
Laugh as much as you want…but think!
Last week, I saw an incorrectly parked car while crossing the road. My first reaction was, “What an idiot!” After all, this person has not only put their vehicle at risk of getting nicked, but they also put pedestrians at risk.
But then I started to think, “Should I be calling this person an idiot or stupid? And what is the difference between an idiot and a stupid?” So my internet search to find the difference led me to an interesting article on stupidity.
Carlo Cipolla wrote this article in 1976. And it is titled “The basic laws of stupidity.” So, at first, I thought, “Oooh, this looks funny.” I had a good laugh just by reading the title. The article talks about the five fundamental laws of stupidity.
The first law says that “Everyone underestimates the number of stupid people in circulation.” It sounds trivial and a highly generalized statement. But if you look around, you can easily see that it’s true.
Everyone underestimates the number of stupid people in circulation.
Then we have the second law, which says that “Being stupid is independent of other characteristics of that person.” According to this, it doesn’t matter whether you are an entry-level employee, senior manager, CEO, politician, entrepreneur, etc. They have no bearing whatsoever on someone being stupid.
Being stupid is independent of other characteristics of that person.
I thought it was outrageous. But we all have seen many such people in our lives who are really stupid, yet in those positions.
The third law makes it clear. It says that “There are people who, with their unlikely actions, not only cause harm to other people, but also to themselves.”
A classic 2x2 matrix shown below explains it further.
With their unlikely actions, some people cause harm to other people and to themselves.
And that is where the fourth law makes more sense, which is, “Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people.” Most of us would want to give them the benefit of the doubt. But we tend to forget that they also cause damage or losses to others. Many times, we confuse stupidity for helplessness.
Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people.
Now finally, there is the fifth law. It is that “A stupid person is the most dangerous person. More dangerous than bandits.” It makes sense because we can easily anticipate what they might do if someone is in the bandit category. So, the defensive strategy becomes clear.
A stupid person is the most dangerous person. More dangerous than bandits.
But with stupid people, it is different. Even they don’t know what they’re doing most of the time, they forget about you figuring out their next move. So, it makes them completely unpredictable. And that makes them more dangerous.
Now, as Cipolla mentions, there are two types of bandits. Some have an overtone of intelligence; others have an overtone of stupidity. The ones with an overtone of intelligence almost appear like intelligent people. But their actions are often win-lose. This is where the inequality starts to build. We think they are doing the right thing, but they are not.
Beware of bandits with overtones of intelligence.
At first, when I read these laws, I thought it was hilarious. It wasn’t a scientific study per se. But if you think it through, you will see that they’re nothing less. So first I laughed, but then I started to think: How do you protect yourself from human stupidity?
You see, intelligence is mostly much broader than a single general ability. But we confuse individual talent with intelligence. So, when a bandit with overtones of intelligence starts to overpower, it makes you feel inadequate. It makes you feel like an imposter, less than most other people, which can push you into the helpless zone. And that is not helpful.
If we do not develop the ability to think for ourselves and not introspect regularly, we can become victims of stupidity.
And beyond labeling people, it is vital to understand the risks. When we are not careful with our actions or words, we can all behave stupidly. If we do not develop the ability to think for ourselves and not introspect regularly, we can become victims of stupidity.
Ignorance, overconfidence, lack of control, distractions; all make us more stupid.
And if that happens, technology and AI will be the least of our problems.
Laws of stupidity…laugh as much as you want but think!
PS: A longer version of this article is available on my website: https://www.anandtamboli.com/blog?title=laws-of-stupidity-and-thinking.
