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[[File:George-W-Bush.jpeg|thumb|180px|A typical stupid person.

Stupidity (also called fatuity) is the property a person, action or belief instantiates by virtue of having or being indicative of low intelligence or poor learning abilities. Stupidity is distinct from irrationality because stupidity denotes an incapability or unwillingness to properly consider the relevant information. It is frequently used as a pejorative, and consequently has a negative connotation. The term has fallen out of favor in medical journals as it is seen as a generic term used to describe a wide variety of conditions.

Etymology

Stupidity is a noun of Latin origin representing a quality or state of being of being stupid, or an act or idea that exhibits properties of being stupid. The root word stupid, which can serve as an adjective or noun itself, comes from the Latin verb stupere, for being numb or astonished, and is related to stupor.

According to Merriam-Webster, the words "stupid" and "stupidity" enter the English language in 1541. Since then, stupidity has taken place along with "fool," "idiot," "dumb," and related concepts as a pejorative appellation for human misdeeds, whether purposeful or accidental, due to absence of mental capacity.

The modern English word "stupid" has a broad range of application, from being slow of mind (indicating a lack of intelligence, care or reason), dullness of feeling or sensation (torpidity, senseless, insensitivity), or lacking interest or point (vexing, exasperating). It can either infer a congenital lack of capacity for reasoning, or a temporary state of daze or slow-mindedness.

In politics

Robert J. Sternberg notes that many politicians have acted in ways that were stupid despite indications of general intelligence He argues that there is an inherent psychological drive causing some acts of stupidity.

In comedy

The fool or buffoon has been a central character in much comedy. Alford and Alford found that humor based on stupidity was prevalent in "more complex" societies as compared to some other forms of humor. Some analysis of Shakespeare's comedy has found that his characters tend to hold mutually contradictory positions; because this implies a lack of careful analysis it indicates stupidity on their part. Today there is a wide array of television shows that showcase stupidity such as The Simpsons.. Famous fictional characters whose comedy is based on stupidity are Homer Simpson, Chief Wiggum, Dumb & Dumber, Peter Griffin, the characters in Laurel & Hardy, Stimpy, Beavis & Butt-head, Officer Barbrady, Patrick (SpongeBob SquarePants), Baldrick (Blackadder), Cody in Step by Step (TV series), Rantanplan (Lucky Luke),...

Group stupidity

In psychology, group stupidity is known as deindividuation in crowds, and can lead to behaviors usually not displayed outside the specific social situation. The behaviors are attributed to a variety of causes, including loss of self-identity, incentives to conform to group behavior, and other dynamics.

Quotes Pertaining to the Nature of Stupidity

"Deficiency in judgement is properly that which is called stupidity; and for such a failing we know no remedy. A dull or narrow-minded person, to whom nothing is wanting but a proper degree of understanding, may be improved by tuition, even so far as to deserve the epithet of learned. But as such persons frequently labour under a deficiency in the faculty of judgement, it is not uncommon to find men extremely learned who in the application of their science betray a lamentable degree this irremediable want." Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, pg A133/B172; tr. J.M.D. Meiklejohn; Paul Guyer (1998) translation: "The lack of the power of judgment is that which is properly called stupidity, and such a failing is not to be helped. A dull or limited head, which is lacking nothing but the appropriate degre of understanding and its proper concepts, may well be trained through instruction, even to the point of becoming learned. But since it would usually still lack the power of judgment (the secunda Petri), it is not at all uncommon to encounter very learned men who in the use of their science frequently give glimpses of that lack, which is never to be ameliorated."

Literature review

The first book in English on stupidity was A Short Introduction to the History of Stupidity by Walter B. Pitkin (1932):

Stupidity can easily be proved the supreme Social Evil. Three factors combine to establish it as such. First and foremost, the number of stupid people is legion. Secondly, most of the power in business, finance, diplomacy and politics is in the hands of more or less stupid individuals. Finally, high abilities are often linked with serious stupidity.

According to In Search of Stupidity: Over Twenty Years of High Tech Marketing Disasters, (2003) by Merrill R. Chapman:

The claim that high-tech companies are constantly running into 'new' and 'unique' situations that they cannot possibly be expected to anticipate and intelligently resolve is demonstrably false....The truth is that technology companies are constantly repeating the same mistakes with wearying consistency...and many of the stupid things these companies do are completely avoidable.

"While In Search of Excellence turned out to be a fraud, In Search of Stupidity is genuine, and no names have been changed to protect the guilty." according to one reviewer.

Other books on stupidity include, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30) (2008) by Mark Bauerlein and The Encyclopedia of Stupidity (2005) by Matthijs van Boxsel. Several books on stupidity have published in German, including Lob der Dummheit (In Praise of Stupidity) by Lutz Walther and Über die Dummheit (Over Stupidity) by Horst Geyer.

See also

• Bounded rationality
• Darwin Awards
• Genius
• Ignorance
• Irrationality
• World Stupidity Awards

References

1. "stupidity". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
2. "stupid". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
3. "stupor". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
4. Sternberg, Robert J. Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid. Yale University Press, 2003.
5. Finnegan Alford; Richard Alford. A Holo-Cultural Study of Humor. Ethos 9(2), pg 149-164.
6. N Frye. A Natural Perspective: The Development of Shakespearean Comedy and Romance. Columbia University Press, 1995.
7. R Hobbs. The Simpsons Meet Mark Twain: Analyzing Popular Media Texts in the Classroom. The English Journal, 1998.
8. Reicher, S.D., R. Spears, and T. Postmes. A Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Phenomena. European Review of Social Psychology 6, 1995.
9. Pitkin, Walter B. A Short Introduction to the History of Stupidity (1932).
10. http://www.insearchofstupidity.com/

External links

• In praise of irrationality
• "Unskilled and unaware of it: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments" The authors received the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in psychology.
• The Power of Stupidity by Giancarlo Livraghi, a series of nine papers on the nature of human stupidity.
• Understanding Stupidity by James F Welles, Ph.D.
• Stupidity Quotes

• Sociology