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Stupidity 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 (e.g. "your baseball cap instantiates stupidity"), 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.
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 prevelent 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 .
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.
See also
References
- Sternberg, Robert J. Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid. Yale University Press, 2003.
- Finnegan Alford; Richard Alford. A Holo-Cultural Study of Humor. Ethos 9(2), pg 149-164.
- N Frye. A Natural Perspective: The Development of Shakespearean Comedy and Romance. Columbia University Press, 1995.
- R Hobbs. The Simpsons Meet Mark Twain: Analyzing Popular Media Texts in the Classroom. The English Journal, 1998.
- Reicher, S.D., R. Spears, and T. Postmes. A Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Phenomena. European Review of Social Psychology 6, 1995.
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.