The Power of Stupidity

by Giancarlo Livraghi

Chapter 1 The Stupidity Problem

tupidity is a nasty problem. have always been fascinated with human stupidity. !y own" of course as well as all sorts of stupid attitudes and obno#ious mista$es messing up everyone%s life every day. That%s a big enough cause of an#iety. &ut things get much worse when one has a chance to find out how powerful and influential people decide and behave on matters that have large scale 'and long term( conse)uences. *e generally tend to blame awful decisions on intentional perversity" selfishness" astute mischievousness" megalomania" etc. They are there" of course in staggering )uantity. &ut any careful study of history" or observation of current events" leads to the invariable conclusion that the single biggest source of terrible mista$es is sheer stupidity. This fact is )uite widely understood by anyone who has had a chance to loo$ into the sub+ect. t%s effectively summari,ed in Hanlons Razor./ever attribute to malice that which can be ade)uately e#plained by stupidity.0 1 The concept was confirmed by 1obert 2einlein in a shorter and simpler statement- ./ever underestimate the power of human stupidity.0 *hen stupidity combines with other factors 'as happens )uite often( the results can be devastating. n many situations human stupidity is the origin of a series of events that combine into constantly increasing complication" with effect that can be )uite funny until we discover that they are tragic. n other cases stupidity is not the origin of the problem" but all sorts of stupid behaviors ma$e it worse and prevent effective solutions. 3 fact that surprises me 'or does it4( is the very little amount of study dedicated to such an important sub+ect. There are 5niversity departments for the mathematical comple#ities in the movements of 3ma,onian ants" or the medieval history of Perim island6 but have never heard of any 7oundation or &oard of Trustees supporting any studies of Stupidology. 8 1
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The origin of 2anlon%s 1a,or is uncertain. t can be considered as a corollary to Finagles Law of Dynamic Negatives 'which is similar to Murphys Law see chapter 9.( t%s inspired by a classic" Occams Razor 'and it%s e)ually sharp(. :2anlon; is probably a phonetic variation on the name of 1obert 2einlein" who had stated that concept in his novel Logic of Empire in 1<91. 3 :stupidity class; was annnouced by the =ccidental College in 8>><" but its irrelevant.

n the literature if all times there are several comments" and descriptions of facts" that can help us to understand the problem. &ut very few boo$s that get into any depth on this issue. =ne read when was a teenager" but never forgot. t is called !hort "ntro#uction to the History of Human !tupi#ity by *alter &. Pit$in of Columbia 5niversity" and was published in 1<?9. ? found it by chance many years ago while browsing around old boo$shelves and" much to my delight" still have it. =ld as it is" it%s still a good boo$. Some of Professor Pit$in%s observations appear e#traordinarily correct seventy years later. @ven before reding the boo$" there is an obvious )uestion. *hy did he call a ?>>Apage boo$ a :short introduction4; 3t the end" it says$Epilogue% now we are rea#y to start stu#ying the History of !tupi#ity&' /othing follows. Professor Pit$in was a wise man. 2e $new that a lifetime was far too short to cover even a fragment of such a vast sub+ect. So he published the ntroduction" and that was it. 9 =ne of Pit$in%s observations is that it is difficult to study stupidity because nobody has a really good definition of what it is. Geniuses are often considered stupid by a stupid ma+ority 'though nobody has a good definition of genius" either(. &ut stupidity is definitely there" and there is much more of it than our wildest nightmares might suggest. n fact" it runs the world which is very clearly proven by the way the world is run. 'See chapter 1> (he !tupi#ity o# )ower.( 3 few years later '1<?B( also 1obert !usil" in his lecture On !tupi#ity" noted how scarcely studied was $the shameful #omination that stupi#ity has on us' and commented dismally that he had found $un*elieva*ly few pre#ecessors in #ealing with this su*+ect&' n recent years the literature on stupidity is somewhat less scarce. &ut all authors probing into any depth find that there is a lac$ of studies on this sub+ect. *hen we try to understand stupidity" we are dealing with a sub+ect that is scarcely studied" rarely understood" broadly avoided because it%s uncomfortable and disturbing 'as we shall see in chapter 8C(. t%s as though we all $new that we are stupid" but were uneasy abut admitting it. *e are not going to solve the problem by being afraid of it or pretending that it isn%t there. So let%s venture into the tric$y swamps of human stupidity and see what we can find. D D D 8
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t is reported that also Eorge Luis &orges" in 1<?9" started writing a Historia ,niversal #e la "nfamia but gave up when he found that the tas$ was too big for a lifetime. Gustave 7laubert was always obsessed with stupidity" but he was never able to complete his planned :encyclopedia; on this sub+ect 'see chapter 8C.( n Pit$in%s opinion" four people out of five are stupid enough to be called :stupid.; That was one and a half billion people when he wrote the boo$6 it is over five billion now. =f course he didn%t mean to say that such figures could be ta$en literally. &ut the fact is )uite worrying. 'See chapter 8F "s stupi#ity growing-(

The essence of stupidology is trying to understand why things go wrong and how that is due to human stupidity" that causes most of our problems. &ut even when stupidity is not the original source of a mishap" its conse)uences often get worse because of our stupid reactions and clumsy attempts to find a solution. This analysis is essentially diagnostic" not therapeutic. F The basic concept is that" if we get to understand how stupidity wor$s" we have a better chance of controlling its effects. *e can%t defeat it altogether" because it%s part of human nature. &ut its impact can be less harmful if we $now that it%s lur$ing everywhere" we understand how it wor$s" and so we are not ta$en by total surprise. D D D Some readers may feel that it%s too soon" in this first chapter" to )uote some authors that have interesting things to say about stupidity. &ut believe that they are properly placed here. /ot +ust to :give credit; to those who deserve it" but" more importantly" to begin to set the environment for the development. in the rest of the boo$" of a sub+ect that is generally undervalued or misunderstood. n chapters F and G we shall discuss the $ey contributions of two brilliant authors" Cyril /. Par$inson and Laurence Peter" who didn%t write about stupidity" but help us to understand :why things don%t wor$;. 3nd chapter B is about (he .asic Laws of Human !tupi#ity as defined by Carlo Cipolla. =f course interesting contributions are offered by Scott 3dams" not only in his famous :Hilbert; strips" but also in his boo$s about what%s wrong with organi,ations including (he Dil*ert Future% (hriving on .usiness !tupi#ity in the /0st 1entury '1<<B( that isn%t an essay on stupidity" nor an e#ercise in forecasting" but a sharply ironic description of the structural and cultural decay in business enterprises. 3n e#ception in the general scarcity of academic wor$ on this sub+ect is !tupi#ity by 3vital 1onell '5niversity of llinois 8>>?(. She confirms a basic fact- stupidity is hard to define and poorly understood. $Essentially lin2e# to the ine3hausti*le4 stupi#ity is also that which fatigues 2nowle#ge an# wears #own history'. 3nd it is a serious problem. $Neither a pathology nor an in#e3 as such of moral #efault4 stupi#ity is nonetheless lin2e# to the most #angerous failures of human en#eavor'. Stupidity" says 1obert Sternberg" in his preface to 5hy !mart )eople 1an .e !o !tupi# 'Iale" 8>>8(" is a sub+ect $which the vast ma+ority of theories in psychology4 inclu#ing theories of intelligence" seem to neglect& (he worl# supports a multi6million #ollar in#ustry of intelligence an# a*ility research4 *ut it #evotes virtually nothing to #etermine why this intelligence is s7uan#ere# *y engaging in amazing4 *reathta2ing acts of stupi#ity&' G ?
F G

Some :antidotes; are e#plained at the end" in chapter ?>. This boo$ is a collection of essays by different authors" with several e#amples of :smart people doing dumb things;.

This is e#plained even better by Eames *elles. n 1<CG he published the first edition of ,n#erstan#ing !tupi#ity" that he further developed in 1<<>. B Li$e Pit$in an !usil seventy years ago" he finds that stupidity is one of the least understood or discussed sub+ects in the study of history and culture. Eames *elles defines the problem )uite clearly. $ lthough stu#ents of human *ehavior have pointe#ly ignore# our rampant stupi#ity4 many have ma#e careers *y poun#ing intelligence into the groun#& Rooms coul# *e fille# with the *oo2s written on the topic& No one coul# even 2eep up with the scientific literature pro#uce# in the fiel#& 8et4 as vast as this literature is4 it lea#s to *ut one overwhelming conclusion 9 no*o#y 2nows what it is& (he only thing we 2now for certain is that whatever intelligence is4 it has never *een teste# on intelligence tests& !o even if we are intelligent4 we are not intelligent enough to 2now what intelligence is4 so we #o not 2now who an# what we are&' $5e cannot really un#erstan# ourselves without un#erstan#ing stupi#ity4 an# if we un#erstan# stupi#ity4 we will un#erstan# ourselves&' $"f it is un#erstan#a*le that so much energy an# effort shoul# *e #evote# to the scientific stu#y of intelligence4 it is somewhat *ewil#ering to fin# the much more common4 actually #angerous an# potentially #evastating phenomenon of stupi#ity totally neglecte#& One coul# rea# the entire literature in the social sciences without fin#ing so much as a single reference to it& t *est4 it is #ismisse# as the opposite of intelligence4 *ut this +ust she#s more sha#e on the topic& 1ertainly4 a matter of this importance #eserves a hearing in its own right&' D D D *e shall see" in other parts of this boo$" how and why the problem of stupidity is either overloo$ed" or misunderstood" or dismissed too easily as +ust :silly;. The fact is that" as we ta$e further steps on this sub+ect" we move into uncharted territory. &ut the e#ploration can be )uite interesting and it becomes less distressing when we begin to understand how stupidity wor$s and how we can cope with its insidious power. t isn%t easy. &ut comments by many readers 'of the talian printed edition and of the online material that has been developing for twelve years( show that this boo$ is offering some useful insights. The initial chapters are introductory" because some premises need to be e#plained before we get into the core of the sub+ect. n any case" this boo$ can be read in two ways. 7rom the beginning to the end or choosing sub+ects 'chapters( according to one%s inclinations and curiosities" then e#ploring the rest from there.
3 description of (he )ower of !tupi#ity is online stupidity.it

9
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Latest printing '!ount Pleasant Press( 8>>?. Eames *elles also wrote (he !tory of !tupi#ity 9 History of 5estern "#iocy from the Days of :reece to the )resent '1<<F" e#tended and revised in following editions latest printing 8>>G(. t%s a series of interesting comments on the ways of being stupid 'and" more broadly" on the ways of thin$ing( in different ages and cultures. 5nfortunately now these boo$s are out of print" but both are online in stupidity.net/story2 and some suggestions on how to find printed copies are in gandalf.it/stupid/welles.htm