The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

by Carlo M. Cipolla

At this point it is imperative to elucidate the concept of human stupidity and to define the dramatis persona. Individuals are characterised by different degrees of propensity to socialise. There are individuals for whom any contact with other individuals is a painful necessity. They literally have to put up with people and people have to put up with them. At the other extreme of the spectrum there are individuals who absolutely cannot live by themselves and are even ready to spend time in the company of people whom they do not really like rather than to be alone. Between these two extremes, there is an extreme variety of conditions, although by far the greatest majority of the people are closer to the type who cannot face loneliness than to the type who has no taste for human intercourse. Aristotle recognised this fact when he wrote that ‘Man is a social animal’ and the validity of his statement is demonstrated by the fact that we move in social groups, that there are more married people than bachelors and spinsters, that so much wealth and time is wasted in fatiguing and boring cocktail parties and that the word loneliness carries normally a negative connotation. Whether one belongs to