Bonhoeffer on Stupidity

[Klaralven]

Taken from a circular letter, addressing many topics, written to three friends and co-workers in the conspiracy against Hitler, on the tenth anniversary of Hitler’s accession to the chancellorship of Germany…

‘Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed- in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.

http://southsidemessenger.com/bonhoeffer-on-stupidity-entire-quote/

[TygrBright]

1. "You can't fix stupid, but the hat makes it easy to spot"...

I laughed at that one, when I first saw it on a t-shirt.

Now I'm not really laughing... more thinking "every tool in the box can help somehow."

A lot of what we're seeing isn't ordinary stupid, but 'situational stupid' grossly inflated by fear.

Take away the fear and many of the stupid people may revert to just slightly on the dim side of normal.

But we MUST find a way to take away the fear being monged by those who make an obscene profit off it.

wearily,
Bright

[Hekate]

2. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was brilliant and insightful. Thanks for the quote. nt

[Hortensis]

3. I think we're seeing that behind a lot of seemingly genuine stupidity

is an urge, or vulnerability, to evil.

Many millions of incredibly stupid people right now have something very important on common -- their stupidity requires them to soak up malicious lies about others; to abandon their morals and distort their religious doctrine; to fear, believe ill of, and have a duty to oppose others, and ultimately always to do harm to others.

[mountain grammy]

4. The Five Universal Laws of Human Stupidity

We underestimate the stupid, and we do so at our own peril.

In 1976, a professor of economic history at the University of California, Berkeley published an essay outlining the fundamental laws of a force he perceived as humanity’s greatest existential threat: Stupidity.

Stupid people, Carlo M. Cipolla explained, share several identifying traits: they are abundant, they are irrational, and they cause problems for others without apparent benefit to themselves, thereby lowering society’s total well-being. There are no defenses against stupidity, argued the Italian-born professor, who died in2000. The only way a society can avoid being crushed by the burden of its idiots is if the non-stupid work even harder to offset the losses of their stupid brethren.

Let’s take a look at Cipolla’s five basic laws of human stupidity:

Law 1: Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

Law 2: The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

Law 3. 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.
Cipolla called this one the Golden Law of stupid

Law 4: Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

Law 5: A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Full article here.. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-five-universal-laws-of-human-stupidity?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[rurallib]

7. that is right on target!

[OneGrassRoot]

5. K&R n/t

[Disaffected]

6. I would add:

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers."

[Shellback Squid]

8. and we have learned...what?

history repeats itself unless we act early and with reason

[Solly Mack]

9. K&R