The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

by Carlo M. Cipolla

more powerful than the Mafia, or the Military Industrial Complex,

one of the most powerful, dark forces which hinder the growth of human welfare and happiness.

Whether I considered a large university or a small college, a famous institution or an obscure one, I found that the same fraction σ of the professors are stupid.

stupid individuals are proportionally as numerous among men as among women.

you always have to face the same percentage of stupid people – which percentage (in accordance with the First Law) will always surpass your expectations.

Class and caste were the social arrangements which favoured the steady supply of stupid people to positions of power in most societies of the pre-industrial world.

But in lieu of class and caste we have political parties and bureaucracy and in lieu of religion we have democracy.

fraction σ of the voting population are stupid people and elections offer to all of them at once a magnificent opportunity to harm everybody else without gaining anything from their action.

Essentially stupid people are dangerous and damaging because reasonable people find it difficult to imagine and understand unreasonable behaviour.