Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran
pastor and theologian in Germany during World War II. He was hanged in a
concentration camp at Flossen burg because of his opposition to the Nazis and
for that part, he played in an assassination plot against Hitler.
In prison, he began to try to understand how good, intelligent,
and peaceful people could become supporters of such an evil regime. That led to
his theory that the greatest opponent to truth and reason was not evil, but
stupidity.
“If we want to know how to get the better
of stupidity, we must seek to understand its nature.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“If we want to know how to get the better
of stupidity, we must seek to understand its nature,” wrote Bonhoeffer in his
treatise. And the nature of stupidity has its roots deep in the subconscious. The
fundamental mechanics of the human experience drives it. As ancient
philosophers noted, humans are social animals. It is this very sociability that
is at the base of stupidity.
“We note further that people who have isolated
themselves from others or live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently
than individuals or groups inclined or condemned to sociability. And so it
would seem that stupidity is perhaps less psychological than a sociological problem.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Stupidity is a group phenomenon. An
individual can act stupidly, but that does not affect the whole. However, when
a group works stupidly, that dramatically impacts the individual, compounding
the entire effect. In many ways, something with initially positive
ramifications stabbed humanity in the back.
Human nature doesn’t change as the years
pass by. The inner workings of individual people are the same as those of their
remote ancestors living on the savannas of Africa 50 thousand years ago. Some
of these internal processes stretch even further back, millions of years into
the past, when primitive brains started to develop.
When you speak with a stupid person, it does not seem like that
person is speaking from their own heart or mind but in catchphrases and slogans
adopted from others. Stupidity, to Bonhoeffer, originates when people give up
their independent thinking and parrot the words and phrases of the rising power
movement. They “jumped on the bandwagon” and ceased thinking independently. He
observed that stupidity was found less among isolated people and more in social
groups. As you reflect on the evening news and its daily presentation of people
doing crazy things to others, consider that they may not be evil or malicious,
but rather, stupid.
Italian economic historian Carlo M. Cipolla believes so. In his book 'The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity', Cipolla identifies four different kinds of people – stupid people, helpless people, intelligent people, and bandits.
As a group, stupid people are far more powerful than the Mafia and the Military-Industrial Complex because they actually drive and influence social outcomes.
Cipolla found that the same proportion of people in any group tended to be stupid, even within the group of Nobel laureates or professors, or even blue-collar workers. The reality is that we have to face the same proportion of stupid people, no matter where we go or travel.
Everyone underestimates the effects of stupid people in action because it is not apparent. As a result, non-stupid people underestimate the damaging power of stupid people.
Intelligent people benefit themselves and society; bandits steal from others to benefit themselves; helpless people are exploited for their naivety despite contributing positively to society. However, stupid people are counterproductive to both their own individual and society's overall interests.
Cipolla says that a stupid person is far more dangerous, especially if the individual was born into the elite class. Their total damage capacity is infinite within their potential position as bureaucrats, generals, and even politicians.
As stated by Yuval Harari, history teaches us that people must never underestimate the role of stupidity in human history. It is one of the most powerful forces around the world.
We cannot trust human decency and supposedly good human leadership to do what is best for humanity. We can only hope that is the case, but stupid humans could win at the end of the day.
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