Almost from the very first steps on the path of philosophy, be it in Greece, India, or China, we KNOW! We know how we should behave and we know how stupid we are nevertheless.
Our current era is a textbook example of widespread stupidity. It is packaged in terms like "fake news" and "alternative facts". This should not be taken lightly. This is a moral issue.
Socrates (470–399 BC) already noted this: stupidity is not merely the absence of knowledge but the refusal to seek it. How often have we seen this in the past years and still today too?
Aristotle (384–322 BC) relates it to a weakness of will. Stupidity often involves knowing what is right but failing to act accordingly. For both Socrates and Aristotle, stupidity was a moral and intellectual failing, inseparable from questions of virtue and reason.
With the rise of Christianity, they gave a theological turn to stupidity. Augustine (354–430 CE) argued that human stupidity stems from original sin and the fall of man.
Augustine viewed stupidity as a departure from divine wisdom, emphasizing that only through faith and God’s grace could humanity overcome its inherent stupidity.
In addition, Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) argued that the fallen nature of humanity leads to a darkened intellect, making people prone to error and stupidity.
And this originated of course from the first stupid action of mankind... well, sorry to say...womankind in this case, because it was her who took that bite from that apple. That was stupid to do.
The Enlightenment brought a renewed focus on reason and the potential for human progress. Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) seems to join Aristotle when he says that stupidity is a failure to exercise one's rational faculties, often due to laziness or cowardice.
Similarly, Voltaire (1694–1778) lampooned stupidity in his satirical works, such as *Candide* (1759), where he mocked the naivety and irrationality of those who blindly accept dogma, the uncritical "follow the leader" behavior, still popular today.
A contemporary philosopher like Theodor Adorno (1903–1969), a member of the Frankfurt School, argued in *The Authoritarian Personality* (1950) that stupidity is not merely an individual trait
but a product of oppressive social structures. He suggested that authoritarian regimes thrive on the deliberate cultivation of stupidity, discouraging critical thought and promoting conformity. Isn't that what we see happening today?
He and Max Horkheimer (1895–1973), in their seminal work *Dialectic of Enlightenment* (1944), examined how modern society perpetuates stupidity through mass media and consumer culture.
They argued that capitalist systems commodify knowledge, reducing critical thought to passive consumption.
It's almost chilling to see how philosophers put their finger on the sore spot, but it seems that we are still living in an evolutionary phase
in which homo sapiens is still willing to ignore these insights for the sake of its own interests: The ultimate hallmark of stupidity.
The floor is yours...thank you...
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
24 - Materialism 7 Sept 2022 / 1011
25 - Historical Materialism 5 Oct 2023 / 1088
26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist 9 Jan 2024 / 1102
27 - Artificial Intelligence 9 Feb 2024 / 1108
28 - Why Am I Here 6 Sept 2024 / 1139
The Discussion
[13:13] Max Chatnoir: Thank you, Herman.
[13:13] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:13] Max Chatnoir: Is there a distinction between stupidity and ignorance?
[13:13] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): smiles
[13:13] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): I think so
[13:14] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they are connected in some way
[13:14] herman Bergson: Yes...as I said like Socrates did....ignorance is not knowing and sometimes even knowing that you dont know
[13:14] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): or ignorance is a part of stupidity
[13:14] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): u can say
[13:14] herman Bergson: stupidity is the refusal to learn and know
[13:14] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ye
[13:14] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): s
[13:14] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Stupidity is separate from ignorance
[13:14] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): i think
[13:14] Max Chatnoir: I would think so , too.
[13:15] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): NOT Knowing is not the saem
[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they are connected often but
[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well
[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed Genna
[13:15] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Knowing but accepting is stupidity
[13:15] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): do you think stupid people suffer?
[13:16] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): knowing they are stupid and perhaps intellectua inferior?
[13:16] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): mmm
[13:16] herman Bergson: ignorance is a healthy condition as long as you know you are ignorant and willing to learn
[13:16] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): but intellectual inferior i thinks is also a separate issue i think
[13:16] herman Bergson: Syupid people think they know it all....
[13:17] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): im not talking about a learning disability
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ah oj
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed Herman
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ok
[13:17] bergfrau Apfelbaum: I don't think they suffer because they don't know they are stupid. Example: Trump, Putin and co
[13:17] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): im talking about uncapable to cope with a conversation that is not stupid
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): exactly
[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): + total egos, not caring but for themselves
[13:17] herman Bergson: there is no relation to all kinds of human traits like education IQ etc and stupidity...
[13:17] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ? nicky?
[13:17] herman Bergson: Stupid people are everywhere in all layers of society
[13:18] Lecturehall: 2025-01-30 [23:18] DumbPony Resident
[13:18] Max Chatnoir: So stupidity is a kind of wilful ignorance?
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): sounds good to me Max
[13:18] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): they can be bullies also
[13:18] herman Bergson: yes, you could say so Max....that makes it a moral issue too
[13:18] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): oh wow yes
[13:18] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): is an old kindergarten cope strategy
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): for rumpf its definitley the case
[13:19] Lisle Larsson: so is elitism a form of stupidity?
[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Drumpf
[13:19] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): well sometimes people can affoard to be stupid
[13:19] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ah define elitism
[13:19] herman Bergson: Interesting observation Lisle ㋡
[13:19] Stranger Nightfire: Dunning-Kruger effect is very real and I fear ;pretty much everybody suffers from it in some as;pects of their life
[13:19] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): while others need to escalate the social ladder intellectually speaking to get out of their shit hole
[13:19] Lisle Larsson: ty herman
[13:19] herman Bergson: Right stranger
[13:20] herman Bergson: Elitism might be a form of DunningpKruger effect
[13:20] Max Chatnoir: What is the DK effect?
[13:20] Lisle Larsson: elitism seems self-limiting so a kind of stupidity
[13:20] herman Bergson: It is a form of overestimating your qualities
[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aah
[13:21] Stranger Nightfire: where people who don't know much abuot a subject have the illusion they know all they need to know about it
[13:21] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the word is being so distorted these days in the USA it is hard to really understand wht it means
[13:21] herman Bergson: The inclination to attribute an A+ to yourself while you are hardly a C
[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the Besserwissser syndrome you can call it also
[13:22] herman Bergson: Yes indeed Stranger
[13:22] herman Bergson: That explains it better
[13:22] herman Bergson smiles
[13:22] Max Chatnoir: know-better?
[13:22] herman Bergson: I think so yes, Bejiita
[13:23] herman Bergson: yes Max
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes, not sure its maybe mostly a Swedish say even its a German word
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): when ur a Besserwisser you, well its in the word
[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): think u know everything even if u dont
[13:23] herman Bergson: In Dutch, we have the same word...Betweter
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aah
[13:24] Dumb Pony shivers
[13:24] Lisle Larsson: love these languages
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like better knower
[13:24] herman Bergson: Must comes from German Besserwisser
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aa
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Exactly
[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): same meaning
[13:24] herman Bergson: yes
[13:25] herman Bergson: At least these are good times to learn about stupidity
[13:25] Dumb Pony: <~<
[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well that's true for sure like omg what a mess
[13:25] Lisle Larsson: things changing so quickly everywhere
[13:26] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): today's crash was.... not a big display of intelligence
[13:26] Max Chatnoir: Do we know what happened yet?
[13:26] herman Bergson: Which crash, Nicky?
[13:26] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): the helicopter we talked about it earlier
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the tragic part is people suffers and might even die, like I heard something that the plane crash before today was because Trump fired the safety responsible ones for aviation
[13:27] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): I even extended my condolences
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): oh we don't know it was a lack of intelligence yet
[13:27] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): and Musk asked the airlane CEO to quit
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): don't know if true but its a scary coiincidence
[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): thinks we should wait to see the outcome of a big investigation
[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:27] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): Im not impressed
[13:28] herman Bergson: It is at least not a philosophical issue
[13:28] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): Trump blamed learning disabled people
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): sigh stupidity on display
[13:28] Lisle Larsson: it was an accident waiting to happen in poorly planned airspace
[13:28] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): and tried to explain how a helicpter works
[13:28] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): that was not smart
[13:28] herman Bergson: But feel free to discuss it...:-)
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): sssss
[13:28] herman Bergson: Then we end our discussion on stupidity :-)
[13:28] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): imagine that
[13:28] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): isn't that the subject?
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well it is what it is
[13:29] herman Bergson: So, thank you all again....:-)
[13:29] herman Bergson: Class dismissed...
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥
[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Herman
[13:29] Lisle Larsson: thank you herman
[13:29] herman Bergson: But pls continue :-)
[13:29] Guestboook van tipjar stand: Gemma Cleanslate donated L$100. Thank you very much, it is much appreciated!
[13:29] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): estimuating lecture
[13:29] bergfrau Apfelbaum: thank you Herman and class :-)
[13:29] Lisle Larsson: yes
[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but indeed my first thought when I heard about that accident was Trump had totally fucked something up- firing important staff to save on expenses ect
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said the investigation will tell
[13:30] Lisle Larsson: no had nothing to do with Trump
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): well the last three days have been a nightmare
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): maybee just freak coincidence3´
[13:30] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): off and on and on again but still off
[13:30] Dumb Pony fidgets with the chains
[13:30] herman Bergson: He has not the power to do that Bejiita
[13:30] Dumb Pony snorts
[13:30] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): well is not that he piloted the helicopter Herman
[13:30] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): is actually what he said
[13:30] Lisle Larsson: that is scary landing on the best of days
[13:31] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): and fingers he pointed at
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm
[13:31] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): he said clearly this is because the inclusive act that allows people with learning disabilities to work
[13:31] herman Bergson: Just be patient....
[13:31] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): he was not patient with the investigation
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): its chaos nontheless and its just 2nd week!
[13:31] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): well would fit the definition we are using of elite would you not say?
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): of 4 years total
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well we just have to wait
[13:32] herman Bergson: T. just said in a speech that America is entering its Golden Age today....
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): now i don't want to wait any longer though lets shuffle cards
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:32] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): A golden bath he meant
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the people who are doing the investigation of it all are independent
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): so hopefully it will work
[13:32] Max Chatnoir: Good
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the goden age? sheeesh!
[13:32] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): fingers crossed
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the trash age if anything as ong he is in power
[13:32] herman Bergson: It is a tragic accident...
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said we can only wait
[13:33] Lisle Larsson: we are in a new era of mass communication and no one understands it yet
[13:33] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): every country has the governors they diserve
[13:33] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): At this point I believe that too
[13:33] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): who said that Herman?
[13:33] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): true he was invited by vote
[13:33] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): still trying to understand the thinking of all those voters
[13:33] herman Bergson: I don;t know, Nicky
[13:33] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed
[13:34] herman Bergson: Yes Gemma, THAT is our big questionmark
[13:34] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): "Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite."
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): that is why we need to wati a bit
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): within 30 days there will be a partial report
[13:34] herman Bergson: indeed....
[13:34] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): oh it was Joseph Maistre
[13:34] Lisle Larsson: we think we see reality but everything is mediated in ways we dont fully appreciate
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): true
[13:34] herman Bergson: I saw that 12 eggs cost 8 dollars 75 yhese days inthe US
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): that is due to the serious bird flu
[13:35] herman Bergson: In my country less than 3 dollars
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): those voters were also stupid i say not realizing Trump only used them
[13:35] Lisle Larsson: oh get some chickens and that solves that
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): "i don't need you i only need your votes"
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): every time an infection is found in egglayers the whole flock must be destroyed
[13:35] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): in Sweden we got 48 eggs for 3 usd
[13:35] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): millions of birds
[13:35] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): socialist... they sell eggs cheaper
[13:35] Lisle Larsson: need about 30 of them tho
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hes
[13:35] Nicky (nickyparis.bellecoeur): smiles
[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes
[13:35] herman Bergson: Yes yes....happens here too, Gemma
[13:36] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): so maybe your eggs will become more espensive if it spreads like it is here
[13:36] herman Bergson: communist chickens in Sweden!!!
[13:36] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!
[13:36] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...
[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hahaha
