The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, by Carlo M. Cipolla, Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley, in Whole Earth Review, Spring 1987

1. "Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation."
2. "The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person."
3. "A stupid person is a person who caused losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses."
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 costly mistake."
5. "A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person. Corollary: A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit."

"One is tempted to believe that a stupid man will only do harm to himself but this is confusing stupidity with helplessness. On occasion one is tempted to associate oneself with a stupid individual in order to use him for one's own schemes. Such manoeuvre cannot but have disastrous effects because a) it is based on a a complete misunderstanding of the essential nature of stupidity and b) it gives the stupid person added scope for the exercise of his gifts. One may hope to out manoeuvre the stupid and, up to a point, one may actually do so. But because of the erratic behavior of the stupid, one cannot foresee all the stupid's actions and reactions and before long one will be pulverized by the unpredictable moves of the stupid partner. "

Italian researchers suggest random selection of legislators (sortition) as a way to improve representative government, using Cipolla's categories as a basis. Full report here.

(Via Ace of Spades HQ.)