The nature of stupidity: an attempt at psychological analysis

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Department of Public Administration

The nature of stupidity: an attempt at psychological analysis

Malimon Vitalii Ivanovych, Candidate of Science

Abstract

Малімон Віталій Іванович кандидат наук з державного управління, доцент, доцент кафедри публічного управління та адміністрування, Івано-Франківський національний технічний університет нафти і газу

Природа тупості: спроба психологічного аналізу

Анотація

Різні аспекти тупості автор розглядає на основі аналізу наукових праць відомих психологів Карло Чіполли, Девіда Даннінга, Юстіна Крюгера, Макса Хоркхаймера, Теодора Адорно, Кріса Врайта. Зокрема, детально досліджено п'ять законів людської тупості Карло Чіполли, з'ясовано їх евристичний потенціал та можливості для різних інтерпретацій.

З психологічної точки зору тупість розглядається як вияв нераціонального мислення людини, парадоксальності та невизначеності її життя.

Тупість -- це структура думки як така: вона не є засобом самообману, вона виражає безглуздість думки по суті. Тупість -- це не помилка чи мереживо помилок. Є безглузді думки, безглузді дискурси, які повністю складаються з істин; але ці істини не мають відповідного раціонального обґрунтування. Тупість -- це прояв безсвідомого начала людини, іноді її комплексів, страхів, засвоєних в дитинстві моделей поведінки.

Наведено ряд прикладів поширення тупості в епоху інформаційно- комунікаційних технологій та звернуто увагу на окремі дослідження цього парадоксального явища сьогодення. Звернуто увагу на те, що ми живемо в епоху масової тупості і це призводить до не завжди доречного ускладнення суспільного життя, виникнення різних конфліктів, моральної та духовної деградації, пониження рамок толерантності та відчуття краси. Сучасний індивід часто не усвідомлює причин своєї тупості та не розуміє потреби позбутися набутих когнітивних викривлень та застарілих установок, не володіє навичками критичного мислення.

Автор висловлює переконання, що існує подальша необхідність комплексного дослідження явища тупості з врахуванням сучасних соціокультурних та геокультурних умов розвитку людської цивілізації.

Ключові слова: тупість, природа тупості, типи тупості, парадокси тупості в інформаційну епоху.

dullness psychological analysis

Introduction

Formulation of the problem. Stupidity is not an easy-to-define concept, though seemingly intuitive and universally understandable. For obvious reasons, it is necessary to take a scientific-objective approach to the subject, hence the formulation of the concept must be free from political contexts in the first place, secondly -- it must not affect or hurt anyone, and thirdly -- it should be, as far as possible, free from emotions [7].

Studying the attribution of stupidity should have psychological interest for several reasons. Firstly, it is a frequent everyday behavior and our knowledge of its social, affective and cognitive roots and consequences is scarce. Secondly, our behavior is often guided by the aim of avoiding actions that we might label «stupid». Understanding this categorization of actions and potential actions should inform us about what our behavior monitoring is tuned to, that is, what expectations we hold for our own and others' behavior. Thirdly, if calling one's actions stupid is a sign of interpersonal conflict, then understanding what people mean by this label can bring us closer to discovering the roots and, thus, a potential dissolution of the conflict [2].

Analysis of recent research and publications

The problem of stupidity is neither a new one, nor characteristic exclusively of modern times. Over the course of history, it has been addressed in literature so many times that it has almost become a classical trend. In his greatest work, devoted to the aforementioned problem, entitled Praise of Folly, Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536), a Dutch writer, philosopher, educator, one of the leading Renaissance humanists, a Christian thinker and a propagator of the ancient culture, criticized the Renaissance society and its vices, such as bribery, hypocrisy, promiscuity and stupidity.

The motif of stupidity has also been present in the statements by many famous people. Due to the limited scope of the article, only two most classic ones will be mentioned. The first one is a thought formulated by a great physicist and Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein (1879-1955): «Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former». In light of human history, it is somewhat difficult to argue against Einstein's position. The human capacity for stupidity, especially when assessed through the observations of nearly incomprehensible and sustained human violence, certainly seems unlimited. The second one is a sentence by a French poet, playwright, film director, painter and stage choreographer Jean Cocteau (1889-1963): «The drama of our era is that the stupid have started to think». This thought, formulated in the middle of the last century, needs to be developed so as to be up-to-date [7].

To better understand the reason for stupidity, let's turn to a unique study by Jean-Francois Marmion, who, in particular, presents an interesting classification of types of stupidity. In his opinion, classifying stupidity is difficult, but possible. Stupidity has its own degrees that can be described by a set of inherent properties different types of individuals. On the lowest rung of the ladder -- heavy stupidity, literally a savage, one who lacks intelligence and approaches to of the animal kingdom (donkey, ram, woodpecker) or vegetable (cabbage, pumpkin, vegetable), which is perfectly described by the term «stunned». And also a «dumb», who is driven into a stupor by everything, with a drooping bottom lip. The next level is idiots and imbeciles, that's what they are special, with such weak thinking that it is considered a pathology. To the same type should include cretins suffering from innate feeble-mindedness An even higher level are those who seem to be a little smarter than clumsy, clumsy, but cute. These are simpletons, fools, ignoramuses, scumbags. The talalai were located even higher. Talalai is optional unintelligent, and able, on occasion, to show common sense. But does it badly, and he is too tight-lipped, because he likes to talk a lot and needs listeners: it is a social type, and the Mudis are recluses. A level even higher than simple stupidity is what Musil calls «sophisticated stupidity», or «clever», about which he says that it extends into the highest spheres of the human mind. Clever a fool can be very educated and educated, maybe even become famous in society, but his knowledge is not in agreement with his actions [19]. This study by Jean-Francois Marmion, as well as very thorough studies by C. M. Cipolla, Ian Leslie, D. N. Perkins, Nicolas de Warren and formed the basis of this scientific article.

The concept of stupidity is not unambiguous. The Polish Dictionary defines it as «a lack of knowledge or thoughtlessness» [12]. However, this is not a valid definition, as most of us do not have knowledge in the fields and areas that we do not deal with and are not interested in, and yet it is not a determinant of stupidity.

Obviously, stupidity is a universal human datum; moreover, it is representative of humans -- in all the senses of the term; likewise, it is perfectly, though not completely, explicable; virtually no one is safe from it. More often than not, it is just unavoidable. As a type of error, it creeps into nearly all human enterprises. But, like error itself, if repeated, stupidity becomes demonic, evil (v. the Latin dictum Errare humanum est, perseverare -- diabolicum). As a matter of fact, a lot of remarks were made in connection with stupidity. The world's paremiology provides us with numerous proverbs and maximum regarding the unerring strength and universality of stupidity, e.g. «Numerus stultorum infinitus», «Nomina stultorum undique locorum», «The mother of all fools is constantly pregnant», «Imagine the clamor there would be if stupidity hurt», «Stupidity is an unlimited natural resource» etc. [6].

The phenomenon of stupidity began to be studied by scientists in the 20th century. One of the first researchers of this phenomenon was the famous English philosopher Bertrand Russell, who wrote in his essay «The Triumph of Stupidity»: «The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. Even those of the intelligent who believe that they have a nostrum are too individualistic to combine with other intelligent men from whom they differ on minor points. This was not always the case. A hundred years ago the philosophical radicals formed a school of intelligent men who were just as sure of themselves as the Hitlerites are; the result was that they dominated politics and that the world advanced rapidly both in intelligence and in material well-being. It is quite true that the intelligence of the philosophical radicals was very limited. It is, I think, undeniable that the best men of the present day have a wider and truer outlook, but the best men of that day had influence, while the best men of this are impotent spectators. Perhaps we shall have to realise that scepticism and intellectual individualism are luxuries which in our tragic age must be forgone, and if intelligence is to be effective, it will have to be combined with a moral fervour which it usually possessed in the past but now usually lacks» [10].

As one of the interesting examples of the study of the phenomenon of stupidity, we cite the study of the Italian Carlo Cipolla [3]. He formulated five rules of stupidity:

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

Stupid people exist, but according to Cipolla you may be deeply underestimating their number and influence in our society. He was so strongly convinced about this that he asserted that «any numerical assumption would turn out to be an underestimate». This statement was obviously an exaggeration, part of his playful writing style. On the other hand, such an idea should not be taken too lightly.

2) The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

Cipolla considered stupidity as a human characteristic, like having blond hair or black eyes. Consequently, it cannot but be distributed roughly equally in all walks of society, regardless of people's level of education. «Whether one frequents elegant circles or takes refuge among cannibals, whether they lock themselves up in a monastery or decide to spend the rest of their life in the company of a beautiful partner, the fact remains that they will always have to deal with the same percentage of stupid people», he concluded. In this pessimistic view, human beings are doomed to deal with stupidity. Also, according to Cipolla, there are no safer places or solutions to avoid it.

3) A stupid person is one who causes losses to another person or a group of people while they gain nothing or may even suffer losses.

Carlo Cipolla considered this the golden and most important law, never to be forgotten. He did not consider stupidity a matter of IQ, but rather a lack of relational skills. In particular, he believed that it is possible to classify people based on their behavior. Stupid people are the ones who harm others and often themselves. On the contrary, the behavior of intelligent or overly naive people is aimed at helping others. Specifically, he believed that stupid human beings behave in an irrational and difficult-to-understand way.

4) Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that in any time and place and circumstance dealing and/or hanging out with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

To make this law clearer, Carlo Cipolla added that «stupid people are deadly dangerous because reasonable people find it difficult to imagine and understand stupid behavior». In such a view, stupid people's attacks always catch intelligent ones by surprise. This makes it even more difficult to come up with a rational defense. On the other hand, this would be of little use since illogic actions cannot be understood using logic. As a result, by underestimating their power, you are vulnerable and always be at the mercy of stupid people's unpredictability.

5) Stupid people are the most dangerous type of people.

This law comes as a natural consequence of the previous and fourth basic law. Also, if you have no clue about what Cipolla meant here, he made it even more obvious by adding the following corollary: A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit. Of the five laws seen so far, this should be the most understandable and reasonable one [this example is taken from 13].

Another example illustrating the prevalence of stupidity is the Dunning-Kruger effect. In 1999, psychologist David Dunning and his grad assistant Justin Kruger carried out an experiment and tested their hypotheses about this phenomenon. Then they coined the term, the Dunning-Kruger effect. Dunning and Kruger examined a group of undergraduate students in several categories: the competency of writing grammatically, the ability to reason logically and a personal sense of humor. After knowing the test scores, they asked the students to estimate their personal results.

This effect can have a profound impact on what people believe, the decisions they make, and the actions they take. In one study, Dunning and Ehrlinger found that women performed equally to men on a science quiz, and yet women underestimated their performance because they believed they had less scientific reasoning ability than men. The researchers also found that these women were more likely to refuse to enter a science competition due to this belief. Dunning and his colleagues have also performed experiments in which they ask respondents if they are familiar with various terms related to subjects including politics, biology, physics, and geography. Along with genuine subject-relevant concepts, they interjected completely made-up terms. In one such study, approximately 90% of respondents claimed they had at least some knowledge of the made-up terms. Consistent with other findings related to the Dunning-Kruger effect, the more familiar participants claimed that they were with a topic, the more likely they were to also claim they were familiar with the meaningless terms.

So what explains this psychological effect? Are some people simply too dense to recognize it? Dunning and Kruger suggest that this phenomenon stems from what they refer to as a «dual burden». People are not only incompetent; their incompetence robs them of the mental ability to realize just how inept they are [18].

The Dunning-Kruger effect also has to do with what scientists call Metacognition. Metacognition is «cognition about cognition», «thinking about thinking», and «knowing about knowing». It's the highest form of cognition -- which is to be aware of the awareness itself.

Since the original study was published, various studies have produced similar results. But in recent years, some researchers have called into question the statistical model that Dunning and Kruger used. There are also criticisms that people are overusing the theory when it is not really relevant.

Some researchers say that, statistically, the argument does not hold up, and chance played a greater role than Dunning and Kruger allowed for. They argue that the theory is popular simply because people like to find patterns to explain why things happen. Anyone can be susceptible to the Dunning-Kruger effect. It does not reflect low intelligence, but rather a lack of insight and reflection on our own abilities. A person who is very knowledgeable in a field but lacks insight into their own performance can easily overestimate or underestimate their own ability [14].

Seeing stupidity as a simple case of cognitive deficit or psychological impairment is impossible to really justify from the evidence, however. There are many people who have cognitive limitations who otherwise are perceptive and display a level of wisdom that places them in Cipolla's category of Intelligent people. This way of viewing stupidity also ignores the concept of social-emotional intelligence, which does not depend on cognitive ability per se. That is where Bonhoeffer's theory helps supply the mechanism. Bonhoeffer attributed stupidity to moral failure rather than lack of cognitive ability. Here we begin to see a mechanism that might be said to explain why stupidity exists. It relates to a lack of integrity and an unwillingness to confront and interrogate one's world view, along with a distinct lack of empathy. When used in combination with Cipolla and Dunning-Krueger, it helps to put an explanation of what produces the behaviors and characteristics those other frameworks identify. Whether this condition is learned or related to actual physiological causes is an open question. The research that has come out in recent years on differences in brain structure and functioning between political conservatives and the rest of the population might supply some clues [16].

A famous researcher Perkins [8] provides a framework for understanding stupidity as various failures of self-organizing criticality. Self-organizing criticality is a concept borrowed from physics describing dynamic systems that have a critical point as an attractor. For example an earthquake happens when the increasing stress of frictional resistance leads to a sudden release of energy. Perkins suggests that the simple bottom-up activity switching mechanisms of human behavior work similarly. For example, increasing thirst will eventually trigger water-seeking activities. As thirst increases and approaches the critical point, activity switching becomes more likely. Perkins proposes that foolish episodes of behavior, such as impulsiveness, neglect, procrastination, vacillation, backsliding, indulgence or overdoing are the results of the failures of this emergent activity switching. More specifically, these failures happen when one of the phases of activity switching (Buildup of drivers, Critical phase, Trigger event, and Focal activity) is mismanaged. In the case of impulsiveness, after a strong buildup of drivers, the focal activity starts without sufficient control. In contrast, neglect happens when the buildup stage is too weak to reach the critical phase. Procrastination is the suppressed buildup of drivers, while vacillation happens when the buildup fluctuates between competing drivers, never reaching the focal activity. In the case of backsliding, if the new activity satisfies its drivers then the original drivers will recapture the old behavior. Indulgence happens when the buildup is so strong that it initiates the focal activity more often than desirable. In the case of overdoing, the drivers are strong, but the activity does not satisfy these drivers, so the activity is sustained [2].

«Stupidity» -- said Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno in The Genesis of Stupidity -- «is a scar. It can stem from one of many activities -- physical or mental -- or from all. Every partial stupidity of a man denotes a spot where the play of stirring muscles was thwarted instead of encouraged. In the presence of the obstacle the futile repetition of disorganized, groping attempts is set in motion». Curiosity dies out, experience becomes repetitive. «Partial» stupidity becomes general obtusity [15].

There are also more straightforward causes of the stupidity epidemic. As the researcher Chris Wright rightly states, powerful people and institutions don't want the masses to empower themselves on the basis of solidarity and knowledge, so they use their considerable command over resources to fragment people and keep them ignorant. The ideal is that they act and think as irrationally as possible, for instance by voting against their own economic interests, refusing to unionize, and blaming their woes on people who are even worse off than they (such as blacks or undocumented immigrants). It isn't necessary to dwell on the ways that big business accomplishes its goals of social control; suffice it to say that when business has a virtual monopoly over government and the media, the kinds of information, entertainment, commentary, ideologies, and educational policies on offer will not conduce to rationality and social understanding. A pronounced intellectual laziness and lack of curiosity about others' beliefs will be widespread, not least because of the self-fixated personality-type manufactured by late-capitalist social structures and consumerist values. And the human tendency to filter out information that contradicts what one believes or wants to believe is accentuated in a society that makes it very easy to surround oneself only with like-minded people and news sources [20].

Stupidity's obscurity is often proportional to its sheer flagrancy. Stupidity strikes us with-out any residual ambiguity regarding its presence and consequence, even if its prove-nance -- the how and why -- remains darkly shrouded. We just know that to have been the most stupid thing ever done or said by anybody. Even our own stupidities, at first drowsily committed, seize us all too clearly in the disbelieving after-shock of self-revelation. This obscurity expresses stupidity's (in its most aggravated and aggrieving forms) unforgiving incorrigibility. Unlike ignorance, error, or negligence, where, even in the most egregious of instances, some hope may prevail, stupidity seems to be impervious to reason, evidence, judgment, or any other instructable conscientiousness [17].

1) A pair of researchers with the Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research in Norway has found that IQ test scores have been slowly dropping over the past several decades. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of

Sciences, Bernt Bratsberg and Ole Rogeberg describe their study and the results they found. They also offer some possible explanations for their findings. Prior studies have shown that people grew smarter over the first part of last century, as measured by the intelligence quotient -- a trend that was dubbed the Flynn effect. Various theories have been proposed to explain this apparent brightening of the human mind, such as better nutrition, health care, education, etc, all factors that might help people grow into smarter adults than they would have otherwise. But, now, according to the researchers in Norway, that trend has ended. Instead of getting smarter, humans have started getting dumber.

2) Scientists from different countries working at the Swedish University of Umea, the University of Amsterdam and the University College of Ireland from the city of Cork, decided to compare the level of education of people of the present time and the Victorian era from 1837 to 1901, and came to a sad and unexpected result that people about a century and a half ago were much more developed and inventive than they are now. According to the author of this comparison, Dr. Michael Woodley, scientists were able to do this thanks to the analysis of the reaction rate.

The truth is that stupidity is often an act of will: people make themselves stupid, when it suits them. That humans are able to do this at all is, in its way, quite impressive. The English psychoanalyst Wilfred Bion fought in the First World War, and his ideas were shaped in part by that experience. Bion was fascinated by the way that people shut down their capacity for thinking and reasoning when they go into battle, figuratively as well as literally. His theory of how people learn was unusual in that he incorporated the fact that we don't always want to know. People don't just miss out on knowledge; they unconsciously resist or reject it. They seek minus knowledge, which Bion called -K. Failing to learn from experience stems from fear of thinking about what we don't know, and sticking to the reassuring heuristics and habits at hand. Learning from experience, according to Bion, requires the hard, uncomfortable work of thinking about our own emotions [5].

Educators, media experts and -- simply -- thoughtful and wise people draw attention to the worrying development of the global epidemic of stupidity -- idiocracy. This concept was borrowed from a 2006 American movie directed by Mike Judge, belonging to the science fiction genre. The film shows the world in 2505, in which both the intellectual level and ethical standards of people have been significantly reduced. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a sad prophecy, as the vision outlined in the movie was fulfilled only ten years after its premiere. This phenomenon is of concern to the majority of researchers, but it also requires an indepth analysis of its causes and search for remedies [7].

Milan Kundera said: «Stupidity comes from having an answer to everything. Wisdom comes from having a question for everything». We can never know where we can find an answer -- even when we are not asking a question. The desire to understand, in its deepest and most intense quality, doesn't ask itself what it's trying to know. It seizes every opportunity to learn something new or different -- or to correct some unfocused perception -- or to understand better something that we already knew, but takes a new shape in a different perspective [15].

Conclusions

Studying the nature of stupidity helps to better understand many paradoxes of our time, develops reflective skills and encourages a more complete rationalirrational perception of modern realities.

References

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2. Balazs, Aczel, Bence, Palfi, Zoltan, Kekecs, (2016). What is stupid? People's conception of unintelligent behavior. Retrieved from https://cpn-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/ dist/c/183/files/2016/02/Stupid-Mistakes.pdf [in English].

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Література

1. Alvesson, M., and Spicer, A. (2012). Stupidity-Based Theory of Organizations. Journal Of Management Studies. № 49 (7). Retrieved from https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/ 15604/1...ed%20final.pdf [in English].

2. Balazs, Aczel, Bence, Palfi, Zoltan, Kekecs, (2016). What is stupid? People's conception of unintelligent behavior. Retrieved from https://cpn-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.gatech.edu/dist/c/ 183/files/2016/02/Stupid-Mistakes.pdf [in English].

3. Cipolla, C. M., (2013). The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. WaybackMachine. Feb. 16. Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20130216132858/http://www.cantrip.org/stupidity.html [in English].

4. Dunning-Kruger Effect: The Smarter You Feel, the Dumber You Are. Retrieved from https://www.deanyeong.com/article/dunning-kruger-effect [in English].

5. Leslie, Ian. Seven Varieties of Stupidity (and what to do about them). Retrieved from https://ianleslie.substack.eom/p/seven-varieties-of-stupidity [in English].

6. Manea, Constantin. About stupidity -- its presence and role in philology. Retrieved from http://esmsj.upit.ro/ESMSJ%20vol%205(3)%20pentru%20Denis%20pe%20site/ARTICOL%204.pdf [in English].

7. Morbitzer Janusz. Into idiocracy -- pedagogical reflection on the epidemic of stupidity in the generation of the Internet era. Retrieved from https://bibliotekanauki.pl [in English].

8. Perkins, D. N., (2002). The engine of folly. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.). Why smart people can be so stupid. London: Yale University Press, P. 64-85. [in English].

9. Researchers find IQ scores dropping since the 1970s. Retrieved from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2018-06-iq-scores-1970s.html [in English].

10. Russell, Bertrand: The Triumph of Stupidity. URL: https://russell-j.com/0583TS.HTM [in English].

11. Scientists have announced a sharp decline in human intelligence, (2018). [Вчені заявили про різке зниження людського інтелекту]. Retrieved from http://life.pravda.com.ua/ society/2018/06/15/231603 [in Ukrainian].

12. Slownik j^zyka polskiego [SJP] (2018). Retrieved from https://sjp.pwn.pl/slowniki/g% C5%82upota.html [in Polish].

13. The 5 Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. Retrieved from https://medium.com/mind- cafe/the-5-basic-laws-of-human-stupidity-513de9dd0bd5 [in English].

14. The Dunning-Kruger Effect Explained. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/ health/dunning-kruger-effect [in English].

15. The Power of Stupidity by Giancarlo Livraghi. Retrieved from http://www.gandalf.it/ stupid/chap30.pdf [in English].

16. Toward a Unified Theory of Stupidity. Retrieved from https://www.dailykos.com/ stories/2022/4/15/2092159/-Toward-a-Unified-Theory-of-Stupidity [in English].

17. Warren, Nicolas de. The Maturity of Stupidity: A Philosophical Attempt on Flaubert and Others. Retrieved from https://lirias.kuleuven [in English].

18. What Is the Dunning-Kruger Effect? Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/an- overview-of-the-dunning-kruger-effect-4160740 [in English].

19. Why are people stupid? Psychology of stupidity / Edited by Jean Francois Marmion [Чому люди тупі ? Психологія дурості / За редакцією Жана-Франсуа Марміона], (2020). [in Ukrainian].

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