DO YOU KNOW THE FIVE LAWS OF STUPIDITY?

 DO YOU KNOW THE FIVE LAWS OF STUPIDITY?

My random reading resulted in me stumbling upon the above topic and teased me read on. Often feeling stupid on many occasions, I was interested to learn that someone thought that there were actually laws that govern stupidity. Who knew? I list the laws below and try to provide an example or two to see if they really exist.

Law#1: everyone underestimates the number of stupid people.

Well, this one is not hard to substantiate. We see examples every day - people who still smoke, those who natter on their iPhones while driving on freeways and anyone who enjoys rock climbing without any safety ropes or harnesses.

Law#2: The probability that a person is stupid is independent of any other characteristics.

I really like this one. It does not matter if you are a doctor, a lawyer, a minister, a black person, a senator, a gay person, a prime minister, a movie star or a retired teacher, no category is immune to stupidity.

Law#3: A stupid person causes losses to others without gains to themselves.

My favourite example is the millions of individuals who choose not to be vaccinated against Covid, thus endangering others and remaining totally vulnerable themselves. Or the millions who use hard narcotics or excess alcohol or who smoke or those who partake of all three vices.

Law#4: non-stupid people underestimate the danger of the stupid.

Although I try not to think for one-second a day about this individual I have to nominate Donald Trump as the most obvious example of this law. Over 60 million people (I assume many of them non-stupid) voted for Trump and we are all aware of the destruction he has reeked upon us all in so many different ways.

Law#5: Stupid people are the most dangerous people on the planet.

Again, because we underestimate the number of stupid people, we do not consider the massive impact of their behaviours. Examples are endless. How many US states did not institute any Covid precautions until it was too late? How many governments have developed billion and even trillion-dollar national debts that will ultimately create financial havoc in the future?

The following quote possibly by Einstein, says it all, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe!”