11–20 of 91 posts
Does anybody have a year for it? I went with 2009 via https://web.archive.org/web/20090601000000*/http://www.zoon.... but it feels like it might be older, especially as the author had been dead for 9 years. Edit: a comment (now deleted) helpfully pointed out the Whole Earth Review, Spring 1987 reference at the bottom. Thanks! Previously: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Basic%20Laws%20of%20Human%20St... . Interesting an…
On a human level, loss and gain are subjective. The definition of a "stupid" person therefore requires complete context and access to their subjective state.
Therefore this doesn't provide any gain to the "intelligent" person to help resolve the situation.
However, from the perspective of a potential stupid person who is by definition self-destructive, when they read this thesis, their reaction at best will be neutral, and at worst cause them to become destructive.
So, to recap, this essay provides no gain, but does create potential loss.
In which category would that place this essay?
Q.E.D.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As defined by "The third (and golden) basic law": "A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses." These are absolute laws, no need to see the studies =P
Not sure if I should take these laws seriously, but the difficulty is in defining a loss versus a gain. For example, the old "I'm taking you down with me" is often driven out of spite or vindictiveness. Maybe it's stupid, but maybe not? If you get pleasure out of it, is it a loss?
The stupid man would take down the other without meaning to; he gets nothing out of the event, and he brought significant loss upon his neighbors. The key being that this was without intention; that is, he poses a threat to himself, and everyone around him, by virtue of his normal character.
If you have a difficult job (like brain surgeon), but are terrible at most of the other parts of your life, does that make you stupid?
Are slow readers stupid? What if they invent a product or start a business that makes them a lot of money?
“Smart” and “stupid” are such harsh, black and white terms. They leave no room for the many shades of gray in between.
We all think we’re smart, even if we say we don’t. No one wants to be the dumb kid.
I feel like being “smart” usually just means you can think and process information a little bit faster than others. But like having a super fast cpu installed, it’s really a matter of what you do with it. You could write a bestselling novel on a slower computer. You could have a super computer and just go on Facebook all day.
It seems like every time I feel like I’m smart, I see someone who I thought was dumber who is more successful or happier than me, and I wonder if I was that much smarter in the first place.
What makes a person stupid? If I have a friend who squanders their money while I save and build up wealth, are they stupid? What if they have a much happier and more fulfilling life than I do? If you have a difficult job (like brain surgeon), but are terrible at most of the other parts of your life, does that make you stupid? Are slow readers stupid? What if they invent a product or start a business that makes them a…
What makes a person stupid? If I have a friend who squanders their money while I save and build up wealth, are they stupid? What if they have a much happier and more fulfilling life than I do? If you have a difficult job (like brain surgeon), but are terrible at most of the other parts of your life, does that make you stupid? Are slow readers stupid? What if they invent a product or start a business that makes them a…
"A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses."
Speaking of intelligence, from my brief thirty-year existence, I've observed that self-reflection and creativity are positively correlated with intelligence. I haven't tested out this theory, but I believe r = 0.75.
There are lots of strategies which are rational, non-stupid, in a specific context but irrational & stupid if context is expanded. Eg. Paying it forward by advising a sociopath, working on something interesting despite it being damaging, not being religious because its illogical even if being religious makes you feel/act better. A better general definition of stupidity as a non-rational strategy would be "taking an a…
It's not exactly a choice. I for the life of me just can't start believing one or another unfounded story, because there's no basis to choose which story to believe. Even taking into account prevalent beliefs of the society as a basis, I can't imagine what kind of mental stunt I need to perform to promote probability of the hypothesis to one. Deep brain stimulation could probably work, but it's too risky.
Does anybody have a year for it? I went with 2009 via https://web.archive.org/web/20090601000000*/http://www.zoon.... but it feels like it might be older, especially as the author had been dead for 9 years. Edit: a comment (now deleted) helpfully pointed out the Whole Earth Review, Spring 1987 reference at the bottom. Thanks! Previously: https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Basic%20Laws%20of%20Human%20St... . Interesting an…