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| {{Otheruses3|stupid (disambiguation)}} | |||
| {{cleanup-date|July 2006}} | |||
| '''Stupidity''' is the quality or condition of being '''stupid''', or lacking ], as opposed to being merely ignorant or uneducated. This quality can be attributed to both an individual himself (e.g. ''Penny Person is stupid.'') or his actions, words or beliefs (e.g., ''Penny Person's policies are stupid.''). The term can thus also refer to poor use of judgement, or insensitivity to nuances in a person who is otherwise intelligent. The determination of who is stupid is relatively difficult, despite attempts to measure intelligence (and thus stupidity) such as ]. The adjective is also used as a general ]. (e.g., ''I didn't borrow your stupid cap - go look for it yourself.'') | |||
| == Luis Antonio Reyes == | |||
| ] for stupid include ], ], ] and ] (frequently shortened to just "'tard" in common use). The use of "]" can also be used to indicate stupid, but it has other frequently used connotations, including deafness and ignorance, while "]" is generally the same as stupid. The word is usually used in a highly opinionated sense with little regard for anything else but expressing an opinion. | |||
| ==Manifested by the educated== | |||
| Recently a great deal of attention has been paid to another class of stupidity: stupid actions by those that are very educated and worldly. It is an important subject as it is increasingly evident that powerful, and generally very intelligent, people sometimes do stupid things. In recent years a number of notions such as ] have been developed to explain this. This is a fairly new topic for researchers and there are still few academic works on the subject, though in the 19th Century ] wrote ''There is no sin except stupidity''. | |||
| Otherwise intelligent individuals may also become stupid when their rational thought is derailed by strong opinions or rigid beliefs. In this case the victim falls into ] and begins selecting data: becoming intentionally blind and deaf to contrary evidence, while at the same time collecting evidence which supports the beliefs. Rather than being based on low intelligence or missing knowledge, this is the stupidity of ] and willful ignorance. Note that modern science specifically evolved to combat this form of stupidity. During scientific thought we constantly criticise our own beliefs and assumptions (attempt to disprove hypotheses), while also using humility and ] to reduce our ego-based biases. | |||
| ''The Encyclopedia of Stupidity'' by ] is based on the author's contention that "stupidity is in fact the foundation of our civilization" and his idea that no one is intelligent enough to realise how stupid they are. This is not as stupid as it sounds if one includes in the definition of stupidity "unwitting self-destruction, the ability to act against one's best wishes". A saying attributed to ] is "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Stupidity may be more accurately viewed not the opposite of intelligence but as a kind of flawed or absence of intelligence, the darkness that makes the light of true intelligence visible. Contrasted with ignorance, which is the lack of knowledge, not the lack of intelligence. | |||
| ==In comedy== | |||
| For as long as ] has existed, stupidity has been a source of immense entertainment. Generally the entertainers are merely ]. The ] of ancient plays is the progenitor of a venerable lineage that continued through ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and countless others, and is portrayed in contemporary ] by characters such as ] and ]. The fool/buffoon has been a central character in most comedy. Today there are a wide array of television shows that showcase stupidity, from the ] genre to shows like ]. Often the greatest stupidity is deliberately generated by very smart minds such as the Oxbridge comedy of ]. | |||
| ==Use as a sales tactic== | |||
| ''Pretending to be less intelligent than your prospect'' is a form of ] without ] that is exploited by salespeople. As in most fields, to be successful in sales requires a great deal of intelligence. However, if one is selling something, the prospective buyer must feel as though he is in control. Therefore, it can help to know how to pretend to be stupid. The most successful salespeople tend to be extremely intelligent despite their pretended idiocy, particularly when their prospect is of above average intelligence, or is himself trained in such sales techniques. The television ] ] used this technique to solve crimes. See also ] | |||
| This mode is akin to the satirical tradition of supposedly naive observers, such as Oliver Goldsmith's supposedly Chinese letter-writer in 18th-century London, in ''The Citizen of the World'', and others, including Montesquieu's ''Persian Letters''. | |||
| == Individual vs collective stupidity == | |||
| In psychology, this is known as deindividuation in crowds, and can lead to behaviours usually not displayed outside the specific social situation. The behaviours occur because individuals will conform to perceived social norms in order to 'fit in' or project an impression of self as "normal". | |||
| == References == | |||
| * Matthijs van Boxsel. ''De encyclopedie van de domheid''. 1999. Translated by A. and E. Pomerans as ''The Encyclopedia of Stupidity''. London: Reaktion Books, 2003. ISBN 1861891598 - 2005 edition: ISBN 1861892314 - | |||
| == See also == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| * | |||
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| * The authors received the 2000 ] in ]. | |||
| * by Giancarlo Livraghi, the first in a series of three papers on the nature of human stupidity. | |||
| * | |||
| * , a monograph by Carlo M. Cipolla. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||