THE LAWS OF HUMAN STUPIDITY
As we continue through Tier 4 I am stunned at the continued stupidity of people who still refuse to wear masks,
still refuse to social distance,
or when walking along narrow pathways think it is OK to continue walking towards others as opposed to stopping and waiting,
or moving to the side, so social distancing can be observed.
C’mon people, this is absolutely ridiculous, and those of you that continue to display this type of behaviour should be ashamed of yourselves.
You’re being selfish and arrogant and you’re putting the rest of us at risk with your selfish attitude.
In 1976, Italian economist Carlo Cipolla published a definitive essay called The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. In it he outlines 5 stupid behaviours,
1. Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2. The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget dealing with or associating with stupid people always and everywhere turns out to be a costly mistake.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
Why is stupid behaviour so dangerous? Because it is irrational, and so the outcome is unpredictable.
Who would have thought so many people would die when taking a selfie that you can now take out insurance on the act? Or that aeroplane passengers would throw coins into engines for good luck?
What causes stupidity?
How can we better understand our own stupid behaviour, or recognise it in others? Stupidity is generally caused by an excess of one or more of the following factors:
-
the person believing, they know everything
-
the person believing, they can do anything
-
the person being extremely self-centred
-
the person believing nothing will harm them
-
the person’s emotions (for example, fear or anger)
-
the person’s state (for example, exhausted or drunk).
Starting now, and not waiting till 2021, think of others apart from yourself, and the potential damage or harm you could be doing to others by your selfish actions.
Use Common Sense, (which is in very short supply) before you do anything, and ask yourself, will it affect anyone else?
For those of you that don’t take this Pandemic seriously, or think it doesn’t affect you, Covid is laughing at you, because you are doing its work for it. It just needs to sit back and watch and smile, knowing there are enough stupid, selfish people out there to do the work for it. Remember Karma, “what goes around, comes around’
Now I know many people will take umbrage at this post. Before you fire back though, look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself ‘have I done everything I can not to be stupid’?