As with stubborn fat, the most effective way to end stupidity is almost always by going for a run.
Good for ourselves, good for others, we have all been victims of stupidity once in which, inevitably, everything ended badly. We have promised ourselves a thousand times that that would not happen again, but have you succeeded? That something goes wrong is our responsibility or is it the cause of the stupidity of others? Can stupidity really be avoided in a real and effective way?
We live in a world full of dangers: cars speeding through our streets, flowerpots that threaten to fall on you on the edges of balconies or a sidewalk recently scrubbed by a Covirán cashier are just some of the reckless things that we must face in our day to day as genuine citizens.
It is impossible to avoid all dangers, since most of the time we cannot even anticipate them.
However, there is still something we can do: discover who are most directly responsible and anticipate their movements. Most of the times, the causes of these unnecessary risk situations are usually people dominated by a lowest common denominator raised to a very high power: stupidity.
Stupidity is everywhere and only a fool would not realize it.
If there is something dangerous about stupid people, it is that most of the time we do not pay attention to them and we end up underestimating the power of stupidity thinking that by ignoring that individual we are already safe, but, think about it, is there anything more dangerous than a group of idiots where their only remarkable characteristic is that for them there are no norms or rules?
It is convenient to always know what kind of person you are, because being with a stupid would be an unequivocal sign of imminent danger.
At this point there is something you should know: stupidity has no cure.
The good news is that we can prevent all its effects if we are aware of how it manifests itself and what its most common ways of representing itself are.
With what you will read below you will discover a practical and real way to avoid being stupid from today and, at the same time, this will help others not be too stupid.
To realize the importance of stupidity in our history, you just have to take a look at the theory that bears its name.
Studying stupidity empirically as a true science, and knowing how these subjects are and how they act, will allow us to detect who are the most stupid people around us and what to do if we come face to face with a serious case of chronic stupidity.
Understanding stupidity is vital to know how you can deal with the stupid that, without remedy, will appear on your way throughout your life and thus avoid the terrible consequences that they can cause, or at least be able to minimize them.
It was in a high school philosophy class that I first heard about the Theory of Stupidity.
The teacher explained to us that its creator is called Carlo Mario Cipolla and that, to him, stupid men posed such a great threat that he did not hesitate to study them thoroughly in order to classify them.
My teacher used characters that are well known to all so that we understand it more easily. I'm going to use those same examples to illustrate this article and to honor that great day that changed my life.
Just keep reading to know the legacy that Cipolla left us.
Reasonable explanation of the Theory of Human Stupidity
Basically, the Theory of Stupidity classifies people into four large groups:
- The smart ones
- The wretches
- The stupid ones
- The wicked
Each of us belongs to one of these large groups in every situation.
Everything will depend on the context of what is happening to us. Sometimes we will act as members of the group of the wicked, and other times as the intelligent, as unfortunate or as stupid.
In any case, your group will be the one you spend the most time in. If you detect that someone spends too much time in the group of stupid, then there is nothing you can do, it is someone stupid and they enjoy being that way, but how to detect a stupid without a doubt?
The 5 laws that confirm that stupidity is closer than you imagine
Cipolla was very clear. He had identified a potentially devastating and unpredictable group of individuals. Based on his observations, he deduced the following natural laws:
1. – Always and inevitably any of us underestimate the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
This means that no matter how alert we are, there will always be a fool who will appear to surprise us.
2. - The probability that a given person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
Anyone can be stupid. It doesn't matter if you are a Nobel laureate or a serial killer. You can be stupid in any case depending on the context.
3. - A person is stupid if he causes harm to other people or group of people without obtaining any personal gain, or, even worse, causing harm to himself in the process.
The height of stupidity is that it does not provide benefits to anyone, which means that with a fool around, we all end up losing. The only solution is to avoid stupidity as much as we can.
4. - Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people; they constantly forget that at any time, in any place and under any circumstance, associating with stupid individuals is invariably a costly mistake.
That is to say, if we hang out with stupid people knowing that they are stupid, then we are too.
5. - A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person that can exist.
The only solution is to flee.
But let's pay attention again for a moment to Law Number 3 of The Theory of Stupidity:
A person is stupid if he causes harm to another person or group of people without obtaining any personal gain, or, even worse, causing harm to himself in the process.
From the above we can draw the conclusion that there are two indicators to understand humans:
- What an individual is capable of causing in himself
- What an individual is capable of causing in others
Two effects occur in each of our actions. One is the benefits and costs that it produces for ourselves and, on the other hand, the benefits and costs that we cause on others.
In this case, the benefits and costs will determine the overall satisfaction achieved. We understand that what interests us is that the benefits are high, both in what we do for ourselves, and what that same action means for the more the better.
The absence of benefits, most of the time involves costs.
Represented graphically, we obtain four large groups of individuals facing each other.
- Smart: They are the best. They do good for themselves and also benefit those around them. For example, Doraemon is someone smart. He is able to help others so that everyone wins. Being smart does not mean that everything is going well for you, since you will inevitably meet people who belong to other groups and who, as the laws of stupidity dictate, will affect you in some way, either in your favor or against you.
Belonging to the group of the intelligent will not always be easy, at any moment you can lose control and become in any of the other groups without realizing it. - Wretches: The unfortunate are characterized because they always make others achieve something without benefiting them. And not only do they not win, but most of the time they end up hurt. This is the case of Nobita, where, in the end, his interventions only serve to make everyone take advantage of him and that this unfortunate always loses out and needs the help of someone with a greater predisposition to act intelligently, like Doraemon.
- Stupid: The group that gives rise to this theory and from which all the others are born. Nobody wants to belong to the group of the stupid. If you are someone stupid it means that you cause evil, both to yourself and to others. The logical thing is to want to get out of here as soon as possible but, most of the times, stupidity itself prevents it. Homer Simpson can be considered one of its most honorary members, since he rarely achieves anything positive, neither for himself nor for others. Better to keep these kinds of people away than deal with their indomitable stupidity.
- Wicked: Without a doubt, much better to be evil than stupid or miserable. Why are evil people characterized? For getting what they want by harming others. Mr. Burns is a great example of this type of person. He's not worried about going over who it takes to achieve his goals, but at least he usually gets something good for himself (or so he thinks).
Stupidity symptoms: spotting a stupid in a matter of seconds
Stupidity is immobile, but you don't have to be.
We are all stupid sometime: There is nothing wrong with being stupid sometime. We have all been at one time or another, and without a doubt, we will also be in the near future.
Being stupid is something natural, and even if you don't like to admit it, it doesn't matter too much right now, since surely the consequences were not so terrible when you were, since everything has run its course and that has helped us to acquire the necessary experience to never repeat that mistake again.
Normally, people learn not to trip over the same stone twice, although this is not always the case.
You can be an idiot forever or a while, or only occasionally: Many times, although we have assimilated that we would not have the same error again, chance of circumstances pushes us back to the group of stupid. The important thing is to know that we are not precisely because we still consider it a mistake.
If there is an idiot in a group of people, it is very possible that all the others are too. The three characteristics that usually define every being stupid are the following:
- They are not afraid of others judging their actions. Precisely because they do not spend a second to "judge what is happening to them." A stupid person will always find an excuse that justifies that he acted with intelligence, even if the facts state that clearly he was not.
- They talk but they don't listen. Usually a chronic stupid only listens to himself. It doesn't matter how hard you try or how loud you say it. It will not work. You can assume that your efforts can be used for something better or, you can simply end up in exhaustion trying to correct the stupid, their actions and their consequences.
- They will never admit that they are stupid. For them, the stupid are always the others. This is rule number 1 of the stupid. Nobody considers themselves stupid, so the stupid are precisely those who always try to make themselves look like the smartest, when the reality is that nobody remembers that they did something right.
If you think you know someone who 99 % of the time complies with the above, do not worry, below I will tell you the only effective solution against stupidity:
There is no one smarter than the one who stays as far away from stupidity as possible
Knowing that you are in front of someone who does not care what they think of him, who is not able to be interested in what you say and who does not recognize his own mistakes in a natural way, we conclude that the only way to combat the stupidity and winning is walking away from it.
It is seldom possible that we are able to de-stupidize someone. When someone spends a lot of time in the group of stupidity, it is because he himself has decided so, even if he tries to deny it by all means. It is no use attributing responsibilities to a stupid person. Remember that the danger is not him, but his own stupidity.
Why should we always forgive the stupid?
Despite all the inconveniences involved in dealing with or attending close to these types of people, at all times we must be aware that those who are most affected by stupidity are the stupid themselves.
Nobody but them will be in worse situations because of stupidity, so the first thing we must do to avoid falling into the trap is basically to know that we could all be him.
Relativizing and not giving greater importance to some stupid act is the number 1 remedy to eradicate any type of stupidity with a blow of effect.
Showing compassion and condescence to those who ever suffer from stupidity will not only make us less stupid ourselves, but the sufferers themselves will also be able to benefit from the intelligent acts that happen around them, taking our behavior as an example of intelligence to follow, continue.
Always remember that actions weigh more than words, and in any case, it is the first who determine whether or not someone is hopelessly stupid.
Anti-stupidity protocol: Step-by-step instructions to keep stupidity well out of our lives
When you believe that someone is really stupid, getting away from that person does not mean having been defeated by the stupid, but rather that you choose the quickest way to end the stupidity as soon as possible. However, dealing with a stupid lover in certain life circumstances can be complicated and exhausting if we are not sure how to deal with this terrible virus. Without a doubt, I consider it urgent that everyone know the following recommendations to be prepared for when the time comes - which will come - to face the next stupid that appears out of nowhere.
1. - Give him every reason in everything he tells you even if you know that he is not at all right
Stupid people are happy when they agree with them. This is one of the most characteristic signs of stupidity: they always believe that what they think is the only description of reality that exists and worst of all, they are absolutely convinced of it. For these people there are no half measures, things are always black or white: they are either happy or sad, or they are in a good mood or they are angry, or something goes right or wrong. They are annoying because, in addition, they spend the day complaining about everything. Remembering over and over again something that has made you feel bad just to confirm that it has made you feel that way is a waste of time that only stupid people are capable of assuming. Remember that you do not care what someone stupid thinks of you, so you should not feel bad for agreeing to everything they tell you so as not to multiply the effects of their stupidity voluntarily. The non-stupid have the ability to accept any point as valid as it really is, so just accept his speech, even if you don't share it, without trying to convince him of his mistake, and everything will work out for you.
2. - Don't listen to anything he says but make him think at all times that he is the genius
Stupid people know everything, except that they are stupid. They will be able to talk to you about anything with total conviction and they will never accept another version as reasonable. Speaking in the presence of stupidity can consume a lot of your energy if you do not know well how this evil works, so the best thing you can do when you detect it is to understand that in a fight against stupidity, you are always the loser if you do not act as smart. Do not take anything personally and understand and accept that there are different points of view are the aspects that make the difference between someone stupid and someone who really is not.
3. - Stay calm, but try to get out of that situation as soon as you can
Spending a lot of time in an ecosystem of stupidity is not recommended for anyone. Not only because of the dangers of being around someone stupid in terms of security, but in certain conditions its contagion is also possible and very likely. The reality is this: spending too much time with a stupid will make you, sooner or later, stupid. Remember that stupidity is a very contagious disease, so when faced with it, it is best to escape without looking back.
4. - Under no circumstances, never ever, follow the instructions of a stupid
We try to be good people by nature and sometimes this plays bad tricks on us. They already say that the touch makes the affection, and that is the case even if it is not with the most intelligent being on the planet. Many times we are comforted by knowing that others make appropriate decisions and we let ourselves be carried away by them. However, if you already know that that person tends to be stupid, it is best to ignore what they are saying and let yourself be carried away solely by your own criteria. Do not forget that sanity, good sense and critical thinking are the traits that are most affected by stupidity.
5. - APEI: Permanent alert tonte stupid imminent
That they are stupid does not mean that they are docile and relaxed. I assure you that disturbing or disturbing a fool can have consequences that are as unpredictable as they are catastrophic. Many times we do not even know that we are in front of him, so we must be aware of this and try not to do or say anything that could upset the stupid. Remember that, when faced with a stupid person, the slightest gesture or the slightest misunderstanding can be the trigger for a situation that you obviously do not want to witness. If you prefer to avoid reckless, ridiculous, embarrassing, or degrading connections, the best thing you can do is not draw too much attention from the stupid subject. Your priority must be your integrity, so that one of the most effective formulas that have always existed to safeguard our lives is simply to keep the subject infected with stupidity calm and calm and keeping in our mind that any of us can be stupid some time.
I hope that with this anti-stupidity manual you will achieve a calmer and more peaceful life. We all deal with some stupid from time to time, so I understand how you could feel. Now you know there is nothing to worry about, right?
