This seems to be a common discussion topic of late. So I think I’ll chime in. I once assumed people aren’t really “stupid.” Being human, we just happen to do a lot of stupid things. I thought stupidity was a behavior, not a inbred glitch in our mental software. Maybe I was wrong about that. Perhaps it was more a hope than a belief.
I’m not suggesting people aren’t intelligent. We’re born with that capacity. Self-awareness comes from experience. If we have an enquiring mind, a healthy dose of skepticism and humility, and are prepared to think critically, we acquire knowledge. That said, as Yogi Berra once opined, knowing something and doing something are two entirely different things. Even high-IQ people can behave in ways that make them seem dumb as rocks. Paraphrasing the historian Carlo Cipolla, the probability one is stupid is independent of any other of our traits.
In simple terms, stupidity might be defined as an ignorance of the consequences of one’s actions, particularly those that hurt people. Including themselves. It’s an inability to ask questions that are relevant to the outcomes sought. Like “What might happen if I do this?” Conflicting beliefs generate disagreements – a topic I sometimes write about. Stupidity produces confusion, obfuscation and chaos. When stupidity rules, as Patrick Moreau argues, words become “unscrewed from reality.”
Stupidity is often fueled in groups that are incapable of respectful, robust disagreement. Karl Albrecht framed a “law” about this: he said that intelligent people, when assembled into an organization, will tend towards collective stupidity. This is also known as groupthink and often happens when a leader has unchallenged authority. Because followers tend to flatter his self-concept of narcissism rather than pushing back on his idiotic notions. Dietrich Bonhoeffer coined a similar law – that the power of the one needs the stupidity of others.
Those who behave stupidly can be more dangerous than those who behave maliciously. Evil people at least have some sense of their own self-interest, which may occasionally restrain them. The stupid believe they already have all the answers. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect – an ingrained, therefore subconscious, bias of the over-confident which suggests their hubris makes them incapable of recognizing their own incompetence. Obviously, stupidity is founded on ignorance and incompetence. Reasonable arguments fall on deaf ears, counter-evidence is brushed aside and facts are deemed irrelevant.
Apart from ignorance, stupidity is also rooted in nihilism – the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It’s associated with extreme pessimism, neuroticism and a radical opposition to normative principles of the common good. A true nihilist believes in nothing, has no loyalties to standards or principles, and no real purpose in life other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy. Nihilism includes the rejection of existing social and political institutions, the stance that no knowledge can or does exist, and that ethical views are quite inconsequential.
Americans are not alone in witnessing the stupid ascend to power. Hard-core Republicans hate government so much that any amount of pain they cause is not only worth it, it’s part of the plan. If government can’t function, it’s a good thing because they don’t want it to function. If the economy crashes, that’s not bad either, because they can then blame those who shaped it earlier. As the country changes demographically and culturally, extremist groups get more angry, bitter and desperate. They urge their followers to focus on their selfish tendencies and try to convince them that someone somewhere is cheating the system and living high off the hog (paid for by their tax dollars) while they’re struggling to survive.
This obviously brings us to Donald J. Trump. Not all Canadians like him, though some do. Although those are now confused by his latest rants about our wanting to become part of his empire. He lacks certain qualities we hope for in a leader. He has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – qualities some of his predecessors possessed in abundance.
To lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s his reality. His idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult or a casual act of cruelty. He’s never said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing. He’s a troll – he never laughs; he crows or jeers. He doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults. He thinks in them. His mind seems to be a bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. So he’s a bully. Except when he’s among bullies. Then he becomes a sniveling sidekick. He punches downwards. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable and the voiceless. And he prefers to kick them when they’re down.
The fact that a third of Americans listen to what he says with close-minded devotion, often against the very principles they profess, and then say ‘Yeah, he’s my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion to most Canadians. Including me. Arrogance and stupidity make the worst kind of leader. They are a toxic combination. There have always been buffoons in positions of executive responsibility and plenty of them were nasty. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. In Trump’s world, there’s no true and false. If a lie makes it up to him on the food chain, it could be a good one others might believe. Those who embrace big lies act on the grievances smaller lies generate. To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies.
The opposite of stupidity is not intelligence. It’s rationality – the capacity to think and make decisions that can help us achieve our objectives and advance the common good. Those in the grip of populist beliefs or nihilism tend to be contemptuous of experience, prudence and expertise which are the building blocks of open-minded, contemplative thought. They’re quick to cast judgement or aspersions on others rather than engage them with humble curiosity. They prefer obedience and conformity rather than honesty, skepticism and possibility thinking.
Populists are willing, if not eager, to accept conspiracy theories and spread misinformation rather than consider the merits of conventional wisdom. They’re ignorant of, therefore uncomfortable with, knowledge borne of scientific truths. So they coddle and proliferate nonsense, like vaccines are harmful to children or the deep state is out to destroy humankind. Or that Ukraine started the war with Russia. I was wrong … there are some stupid people out there. Unfortunately, they’re gaining more power. So, what options do we have?