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"Stupidity" is a mistranslation. "Folly" is the term that Boenhoeffer used in his letter from the concentration camp in which he would be martyred: don’t confuse intelligence and wisdom. https://bpa.st/5DJQ is the version of the excerpt of the letter i'm familiar with.
> The word of the Bible that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom declares that the internal liberation of human beings to live the responsible life before God is the only genuine way to overcome stupidity. Do you agree?
The author contradicts himself: > Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. > The word of the Bible that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom declares that the internal liberation of human beings to live the responsible life before God is the only genuine w…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The author contradicts himself: > Upon closer observation, it becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. > The word of the Bible that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom declares that the internal liberation of human beings to live the responsible life before God is the only genuine w…
There is no contradiction, except that maybe you don't like the word "God."
However, none of the comments so far have really grasped his point, which is that stupidity is a group phenomenon. Maybe a modern equivalent would be "tribe." Of course you can't convince someone of the other tribe to come over and join yours on any one particular issue; that would be betrayal of everything they think they stand for.
So logic is pointless. That representative of the other tribe cannot think and form his or her own opinion because that would mean expulsion from their tribe.
What do you do when you have close to 50/50 power dynamic and both sides think the other is stupid?
"The responsible life before God" -- I don't think any modern person is capable of understanding what that meant in the 1940s. We just don't think that way anymore. However, none of the comments so far have really grasped his point, which is that stupidity is a group phenomenon. Maybe a modern equivalent would be "tribe." Of course you can't convince someone of the other tribe to come over and join yours on any one p…
Kay : A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.
"The responsible life before God" -- I don't think any modern person is capable of understanding what that meant in the 1940s. We just don't think that way anymore. However, none of the comments so far have really grasped his point, which is that stupidity is a group phenomenon. Maybe a modern equivalent would be "tribe." Of course you can't convince someone of the other tribe to come over and join yours on any one p…
"Stupidity" is a mistranslation. "Folly" is the term that Boenhoeffer used in his letter from the concentration camp in which he would be martyred: don’t confuse intelligence and wisdom. https://bpa.st/5DJQ is the version of the excerpt of the letter i'm familiar with.
The term Bonhoeffer used is "Dummheit". As a German "stupidity" seems to be a more accurate translation to me.
Stupidity Silliness
…Dummheit leans slightly more towards silliness than pure stupidity does in English. I think Dummheit can be both an adjective and a noun, right? The latter, “eine Dummheit”, sounds more like a silly mistake to me (like “I did a stupid” in internet-speak).
A word like “nonsense” might be a good parallel? In English that word can cover serious, trivial, and silly cases.