Intelligence and Stupidity
“The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity” is a set of laws or principles that are sometimes attributed to economist and sociologist Carlo M. Cipolla. Cipolla’s laws are not a formal scientific theory, but rather a humorous set of observations about human behavior.
The laws are as follows:
- Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
- The probability of a person being stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
- A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or group of people while deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
- Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.
- A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
Cipolla’s laws are often cited as a humorous way to illustrate the negative impacts of stupidity on individuals and society. However, it is important to note that these laws are not based on rigorous scientific research, and should not be taken as a serious or accurate depiction of human behavior.