Stupidity
onepercentrule.substack.com
Stupidity
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Re: Stupidity
#2in the real world, this word is mostly used to attack others who disagree with you. "He is so stupid" can usually be interpreted as "he disagrees with me/he can't see things my way". It is true especially in politics 99% of the time. Eg, just google how many times Elon musk is called stupid by people who disagree with him. Trust me, Elon is not stupid.
Re: Stupidity
#3Theory of Bounded Rationality tells use we are all stupid given the right problem. It reminds us that problems exist which will cause us to hit limits not just in intelligence but in time, resources, skill, communication, attention, energy, info etc etc etc
It also recommends what to do in such cases. You either pick a simpler prob where the limits matter less or Accept your solution for complex problems will have issues.
Re: Stupidity
#4The problem is not "stupidity" per se. As in, behaviour that leads to unfavourable outcomes due to faulty intelligence detection senses of the individual. We can work with that and work around that at constant costs via companies and states - meta-organisms.
The real flaws shine, when the stupidity is load bearing. As in, if you try to repair it, society falls apart. You cant repair it, you must life with it, it produces constant failed attempts and it severely limits societal ability to act/steer and move to survive problematic events.
You could make a Big(O) table of stupidity and there is of course the whole variants of levels.
Detectable: by Individual / Organization / Undetectable / Unknowables
Patchable: by Individual / Organization / Unpatchable Big(O)
Dependencies: Stupidity is Standalone / Affects Organizations / isDependentForFixOnOthers/ Loadbearing for Society / Not fixable without patching biology
Re: Stupidity
#5I spent 7 years in the public sector in Denmark and one of the things I experienced there was that people who question the stupidity of MBA type systems are very valuable. We have a lot of good intentions which get ground into these spreadsheet analytics and checklists which can inhibit smart solutions in our social policies and systems. I think this article touches on this sort of "systemic stupidity" that is rarely performed by stupid and was typically created with the best intentions.
I know the article has a much broader scope, but I really do think that when we set up too rigid systems with too much auditing and too many "best practices" we also create systems where a lot of people within them won't think. Especially when we manage to extinguish the will of people who might question parts of our systems which are so obviously terrible that they simply stop trying to create change. I never thought of it as collective stupidity before, but I think that it's the perfect description.
Re: Stupidity
#6I like how Cipolla's 4th Law, coupled with laws 1–3, mean even the non-stupid are stupid.
Re: Stupidity
#7People can pretend to be stupid if it suits them.
People can seem to be stupid if their reasons for action are not known.
People can't help but be stupid if deprived of factual information or if presented with false or confusing information.
Finally, all people are not trained to avail of the mental tools that civilization has honed over millennia to fight stupidity.
In the end "stupidity" is a social phenomenon, deeply connected to the nature of information exchange between individuals in society.
Transparency about the state of the world and the internal mental states of people and education (information processing capacity) can reduce what we commonly call stupidity.
But its a relative game. Full transparency and infinite processing capacity is not possible for human brains.
Re: Stupidity
#8Theory of Bounded Rationality tells use we are all stupid given the right problem. It reminds us that problems exist which will cause us to hit limits not just in intelligence but in time, resources, skill, communication, attention, energy, info etc etc etc It also recommends what to do in such cases. You either pick a simpler prob where the limits matter less or Accept your solution for complex problems will have is…
> Theory of Bounded Rationality tells use we are all stupid given the right problem.
I’d say one of OP’s main messages is that this is a misunderstanding or misuse of the word. We’re not stupid when we are aware of our limitations. Stupidity is more of a character flaw than a lack of intelligence. Perhaps you could say it’s a failure to even try to be rational.
Re: Stupidity
#9No example given about what stupidity is.
Then how can you tell the diff stupidity vs intelligence since there is not a point refence my friend?
Should i take your word for it?
"According to Cipolla’s "Basic Laws of Human Stupidity," a stupid person is one whose actions result in negative consequences for both themselves and those around them, irrespective of intent"
Whould strongly argue against this.
Re: Stupidity
#10in the real world, this word is mostly used to attack others who disagree with you. "He is so stupid" can usually be interpreted as "he disagrees with me/he can't see things my way". It is true especially in politics 99% of the time. Eg, just google how many times Elon musk is called stupid by people who disagree with him. Trust me, Elon is not stupid.
You are right, especially because politics is the most visible example of people being called "stupid" where they should be instead called "arrogant" or "assholes" or anything like that.