There are very few people around who don’t make mistakes, and, in hindsight, most mistakes are seen as being stupid ones. But why ‘stupid’?
“Stupid is as stupid does” goes the idiom popularized in the movie Forrest Gump. Stupidity is shown by a person’s actions rather than their appearance or mannerisms. If an action that obviously didn’t work previously is repeated despite the knowledge of the possibility of a faux pas, then a mistake, and a stupid one at that, is likely.
Not everybody will learn from mistakes and mistakes are part of life’s rich tapestry. Others, convinced of their own supremacy can have a perverse belief that ‘things will be different’ despite the contrary. In the case of the former, mistakes are put down to naivety or a lack of training or experience. For the latter doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different outcome is insanity, or just plain dumb.
Stupidity has prevailed throughout history. In the afterglow or sometimes embarrassment of hindsight or with historical perspective, many things have been branded as ‘stupid’ including wars, pandemics, bank collapses, oil spills, attempted assassinations etc. Despite mankind’s collective knowledge and lessons learnt it is an irrefutable truism that history repeats itself… or is it that mankind and those in power just let it happen that way.
Learning & Failure
We are taught that we should learn from our mistakes as well as those of others. Making mistakes is human and many will not own up to even making them, very few like to make them and even fewer will accept failure. We often hear the expression that somebody has ‘failed miserably’ but how many people fail happily. But, and here’s the rub, failure is an essential part of avoiding stupidity and learning how not to fail.
Learning in a Confucianist sense is encapsulated by “I hear I forget; I see I remember; I do I understand’ underling the importance of learning through action. Failure can be good, albeit not necessarily pleasant, so that the pain experienced may be avoided in future. Abraham Lincoln is attributed with saying “Lessons not learned in blood are soon forgotten.”
Rather than blood, if one doesn’t lose something tangible such as money, property, or reputation then the memory of failure, as with most memories, will fade with time rather than being ingrained and quickly recalled when needed. “Once bitten, twice shy” as we say.
Pain is likened to weakness leaving the body. But, by enduring pain immunity can result and the effects of being bitten are dulled. Unfortunately, rather than learning, thick skin results with no sense, no feeling and resultant stupidity…banging one’s head against a brick wall becomes a tonic rather than a struggle.
Stupidity
Stupidity is variously defined as a lack of intelligence, or understanding, or reasoning and, most relevantly, an inability to learn. This applies to both individuals and people alike but as Agent J of MIB observed individuals are one thing, but a group can be different…”A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.”
A person doesn’t start off smart. Children are innocent and naive and make mistakes. With time and learning they can become aware, and as experience is gained there is understanding and fewer mistakes. Eventually, and based on the application of lessons learned, failure and stupidity are avoided or mitigated and wisdom results.
Within this maturity model some people learn and develop faster while others can remain ignorant. Ignorant people fail to learn and, in failing, their actions will be seen as stupid. This is not always the fault of the individual. If learning is controlled, constrained, and regulated, then stupidity may well result. Our naturally inquisitive and knowledge-seeking minds will be stultified and gullibility results…if we don’t use our minds and question then we will lose them.
Stupid Questions!
“There’s no such thing as a stupid question“. Educationalists encourage questions as it promotes understanding. However, when a person’s ego gets in the way of the quest for learning and knowledge then asking the ‘stupid question’ can be difficult.
Asking can be seen as an admission of failing to understand something or another. It can be a brave person who asks such questions and, oftentimes, much to the appreciation of those who lack the courage to ask it themselves.
In contradiction to Mark Twain’s advice of “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open one’s mouth and remove all doubt” a 1970 “Dear Abby” column in the Milwaukee Sentinel expounded “Better to ask and risk appearing stupid than to continue on your ignorant way and make a stupid mistake”.
Carl Sagan advocated that “every question is a cry to understand the world” but how often are the questions not asked and if they are, how often is answer stupid.
Stupid Answers?
For those who are posed with the ‘stupid question’ the answers may not come easy. Outside of educational establishments answers may be few, far between or incomplete. Within government and business circles providing answers can mean providing information and, in such circles, information is power. Hence, rather than transparent and clear answers and sharing ‘power,’ information is controlled and manipulated to maintain a competitive advantage be it social, political, or commercial…how often does a politician or other person ‘on the spot’ actually answer a straight question with a direct answer?
Answers are dumbed down or paltered or even avoided. In so doing beliefs as to ‘truth’ are cultivated based on a combination of propaganda supported by one sided opinion without recourse to all the facts. Such answers may seem to be stupid to some but, as Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.” Intelligence or competence may not always be essential in politics, but stupidity can allow the handicap of strictly moral principles to be curtailed to promote political expediency.
Another would-be European conqueror advocated that in dealing with people, “If you wish the sympathy of the broad masses, you must tell them the crudest and most stupid things.” And despite Agent J’s observation regarding people, “The receptivity of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous…”
Stupid Is as Stupid Does
For the stupid, stupidity is not only about making stupid mistakes but also allowing the wool to be pulled over their eyes and be duped. If such experiences are not recognised as mistakes or wrong but are considered as acceptable then stupidity will prevail…stupidity is only realised if there is a realization of wrongness. If wrongness isn’t realised, then we have insanity… “doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result.”
For those who remain ‘stupid, then failure is just a repeat performance that they must endure again. But, for those who allow such stupidity to occur it’s a different story. They take advantage of such a bonanza of repetition and a confederacy of dullards who, rather than challenging the status quo prefer to go with the flow again (and again).
Allowing a known stupidity to recur is morally wrong and as such can be considered evil rather than merely a lack of intellect and honest mistake. The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed for his beliefs at 39 years old, wrote that “Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil…(but) against stupidity we are defenseless.”
The wisdom gained from following stupidity is also tainted. As Carl Jung also prophesized, “Beware of unearned wisdom” as such wisdom may well have been manipulated and be a far cry from the ‘truth.’ Stupidity can so easily beget stupidity.
Conclusions
People will inevitably make mistakes, after all, “to err is human.” With learning and experience a person is less likely to make stupid mistakes. However, history is peppered with stupid acts and repetitive ones at that by people rather than just a person.
Déjà vu, or a Groundhog Day, enables some people to reflect on their stupidity while for others they repeatedly absorb the status quo. Carl Jung philosophized that “it requires no art to become stupid; the whole art lies in extracting wisdom from stupidity. Stupidity is the mother of the wise, but cleverness never.”
The belief that there is no such thing as a stupid question and that answers will enable knowledge transfer is exemplary. However, answers can be far from straight and in the absence of ‘nothing but the truth’ resultant decisions and beliefs will be wrong. The answers may be a version of somebody’s truth but will lead to manipulation. In the absence of truth there are lies, and we should remember Joseph Goebbels view of such terminological inexactitudes:
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield people from the…consequences of the lie…the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie…the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
Allowing stupidity to happen in the knowledge of such stupidity is morally wrong and consequently evil. Hanlon’s Razor tells us to “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity” but where there is stupidity caused through malfeasance there is also evil.
When stupidity is not only allowed to propagate but actively encouraged then it’s difficult to differentiate between the manipulator and the manipulated. In these circumstances we not only have the gift that keeps on giving but also a gift that is repeatedly and all too willingly accepted.
Bio:
Malcolm Peart is an UK Chartered Engineer & Chartered Geologist with over thirty-five years’ international experience in multicultural environments on large multidisciplinary infrastructure projects including rail, metro, hydro, airports, tunnels, roads and bridges. Skills include project management, contract administration & procurement, and design & construction management skills as Client, Consultant, and Contractor.