Cipolla called this the golden law of stupidity. A stupid person, according to the economist, is someone who causes problems for others without having a clear benefit for himself. Stupid people, Explained Carlo M. Cipolla, share several qualities of identification: they are abundant, they are irrational and they cause problems to others without obvious benefit to themselves, thus lowering the general well-being of society. There is no defense against stupidity, argued the Italian-born professor, who died in 2000. The only way for a society to avoid being crushed by the burden of its idiots is when the non-stupid work even harder to make up for the losses of their stupid brothers. Let`s take a look at Cipolla`s five fundamental laws of human stupidity: Cipolla calls it the golden law of stupidity. A stupid person, according to the economist, is a person who causes problems for others without having a clear advantage for himself. Uncle couldn`t help but post fake articles on Facebook? It`s stupid. The receptionist at your hotel who keeps you on the phone for an hour, hangs up twice and always manages to ruin your reservation? Stupid². These are the five fundamental laws of Cipolla`s stupidity: the second essay, “The Fundamental Laws of Human Stupidity” (“Le leggi fondamentali della stupidità umana”,”1976)[3][4][5] examines the controversial subject of stupidity. Stupid people are seen as a much more powerful group than large organizations like the mafia and the industrial complex, which nevertheless manages to operate with great impact and incredible coordination without regulations, leaders or manifestos. [Citation needed] There is no defense against stupidity.
The only way for a society not to be crushed by the burden of its idiots is for the non-stupid to work even harder to compensate for the losses of the stupid. If you draw parallels with the environment and some people try to compensate for other people`s, Cipolla wasn`t far from the truth. In 1976, a professor of economic history at the University of California, Berkeley published an essay describing the fundamental laws of a force he perceived as humanity`s greatest existential threat: stupidity. No matter how many idiots you think you`re surrounded by, Cipolla wrote, you`re invariably low. This problem is exacerbated by biased assumptions that some people are intelligent based on superficial factors such as their work, level of education, or other characteristics that we believe exclude stupidity. This is not the case. Which brings us to the following: declining societies have the same percentage of stupid people as successful societies. But they also have a high percentage of defenseless people and, Cipolla writes, “an alarming spread of bandits with connotations of stupidity.” This law also introduces three other phenotypes that, according to Cipolla, coexist with stupidity. First of all, there is the intelligent person whose actions benefit both himself and others. Then there is the bandit who benefits himself at the expense of others.
And finally, there is the helpless person whose actions enrich others at their own expense. Cipolla imagined the four types along a diagram as follows: Constant stupidity, however, is the only consistent thing about stupidity. This is what makes stupid people so dangerous. Cipolla explains: Cipolla postulates that stupidity is a variable that remains constant in all populations. Every category you can think of – gender, race, nationality, education level, income – has a fixed percentage of stupid people. There are stupid university professors. There are stupid people in Davos and in the UN General Assembly. There are stupid people in every nation on earth. How many stupid people are there among us? It`s impossible to say.
And any presumption would almost certainly violate the first law. Bandits? Think of the Balkanys. On the other hand, a stupid person is extremely rare. With the exception of my former colleague, who assured me that Hiroshima took place during the Vietnam War, I didn`t think of anyone. But this brings us back to the first law of stupidity: everyone always and inevitably underestimates the number of stupid people in circulation. The first essay, “The Role of Spices (and Black Pepper in Particular) in Medieval Economic Development” (“Il ruolo delle spezie (e del pepe nero in particolare) nello sviluppo economico del Medioevo”, 1973), traces the strange links between the importation of spices and population growth in the late Middle Ages and postulates causality due to an alleged aphrodisiac effect of black pepper. [Citation needed] The uncle who can`t help but post fake articles on Facebook? Stupid. The customer service representative who keeps you on the phone for an hour, hangs up twice and always manages to ruin your account? Stupid. Use your phone`s camera – scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
As a young man, Cipolla wanted to teach history and philosophy in an Italian high school and so enrolled in the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Pavia. During his studies, he discovered his passion for economic history thanks to Professor Franco Borlandi, a specialist in medieval economic history. He graduated from Pavia in 1944. He then studied at the University of Paris and the London School of Economics. Law 4: Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that dealing with stupid people and/or connecting with stupid people anytime, anywhere, and under any circumstances always turns out to be a costly mistake. `); doc.close(); } } this.iframeload = function () { var iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframe.style.display = “; setTimeout(function () { setIframeHeight(initialResizeCallback); }, 20); } function getDocHeight(doc) { var contentDiv = doc.getElementById(« iframeContent »); var docHeight = 0; if(contentDiv){ docHeight = Math.max( contentDiv.scrollHeight, contentDiv.offsetHeight, contentDiv.clientHeight ); } return docHeight; } function setIframeHeight(resizeCallback) { var iframeDoc, iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId); iframeDoc = ((iframe.contentWindow && iframe.contentWindow.document) || iframe.contentDocument); if (iframeDoc) { var h = getDocHeight(iframeDoc); if (h && h != 0) { iframe.style.height = parseInt(h) + `px`; if(typeof resizeCallback == « function ») { resizeCallback(iframeId); } } else if (nTries Bild von Vincedevries auf Wikimedia, lizenziert unter CC-BY-SA 4.0. Customer reviews, including reviews of product stars, help customers learn more about the product and decide if it`s the right product for them. Download the free Kindle app and immediately start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet or computer – no Kindle devices required. For example, Nabilla is excluded because she is a multimillionaire. And yet.
This brings us to the 2. Law: By creating a graph with the first factor on the x-axis and the second on the y-axis, we obtain four groups of people, with an additional category (inefficient people) existing independently or coming from the members of each previous category whose position is the least extreme with respect to the two axes: graphically, this idea is represented by a slope line -1, which halves the second and fourth quadrants and intersects the y-axis at the origin. The naïve to the left of this line are therefore “half stupid” because their behavior creates/allows a net exit of social wealth; Some bandits may also fit this description, although many bandits such as sociopaths, psychopaths, non-pathological “idiots” and amoralists may act in full knowledge of the net negative consequences for a society they do not identify with or care about. Conclusion: A stupid person is more dangerous than a looter. Read instantly in your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at any time, in any place and under any circumstances, dealing and/or connecting with stupid people is always a costly mistake. We underestimate idiots, and we do so at our own risk. This brings us to the fifth and final law: discover more author`s books, see similar authors, read authors` blogs, and more We can`t do anything against the stupid. The difference between societies that collapse under the weight of their stupid citizens and those that transcend them is the composition of the non-stupid. Those who progress despite their stupidity have a high proportion of people who act intelligently, those who compensate for the losses of the stupid by making profits for themselves and their fellow human beings.
📬 Start each morning with coffee and the Daily Brief (BYO coffee). Discover more of the author`s books, see similar authors, read authors` blogs and more “Such a change in the composition of the non-stupid population inevitably strengthens the destructive power of the [stupid] faction and makes decline a certainty,” concludes Cipolla. “And the country is going to hell.” As can be seen from the third law, Cipolla identifies two factors to consider when studying human behavior: Law 1: Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation. The non-stupid are an imperfect and incoherent group. Sometimes we act intelligently, sometimes we are selfish bandits, sometimes we act helplessly and are exploited by others, and sometimes we are a bit of both. The stupid, in comparison, are models of consistency, acting with unwavering idiocy at all times. Carlo M. Cipolla (15 August 1922 † 5 September 2000) was an Italian economic historian.
