Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
by Carlo M. Cipolla · first published 2019
43% recommend57% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short, subtly humorous illustrated pamphlet (about a 15-minute read) that defines stupidity as harming others without gain and shows why stupid people are more dangerous than expected. For anyone wanting a framework.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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The OP lost me on a bunch of bad analogies. I’ll keep recommending to my friends The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlo Cipolla. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49348225-the-basic-laws-...
on “Stupidity is a specific cognitive failing” ↗…voters https://mises.org/wire/26-percent-eligible-voters-voted-trum... Which I've always more associated with the Crazification Factor than outright stupidity: https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crazification_factor But it always helps to have Cipolla's Basic Laws of Human Stupidity bookmarked: https://qz.com/967554/the-five-universal-laws-of-human-stupi... 72% of Americans thought invading Iraq was a great idea. https://news.gallup.com/poll/8038/seventytwo-percent-america...
on “Gates Foundation spent $200M funding toilet research” ↗Probably worth mentioning "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" by Carlo M. Cipolla, which has an interesting and somewhat different definition of stupidity and has been discussed here before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2570448
on “Stupidity is a specific cognitive failing” ↗Carlo M.Cipolla to the rescue, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_M._Cipolla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_M._Cipolla#/media/File:C...
on “Amazon allegedly scammed out of $370K by 22-year-old's return shipments of dirt” ↗A funnier version of the same <more or less> set of ideas is "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" by Carlo M. Cipolla. ...And unlike Paul's essay, it comes with illustrations! http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidit...
on “The Four Quadrants of Conformism” ↗For me it was "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" by C. Cipolla. A very short book that illustrates, in a subtly-humorous way, how stupid people are far more powerful than one would think.
on “Ask HN: What was a book that changed your life?” ↗…complaining about it risible. Given that complaining identifies the problem and nudges people towards a solution, how do you cure mediocrity and stupidity? P.S. When you have a chance, check out "The basic laws of human stupidity" by Carlo M. Cipolla. It's a 15 minute read and well worth it. You'll get a better understanding of where I come from.
on “7% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?” ↗…coincidentally overlap with other community members. Thus, our goals just happen to align, and I am glad if people can make money recycling the work. =3 Why bandits are not as relevant as people assume: "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" (Carlo M. Cipolla) https://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidi...
on “At Amazon, some coders say their jobs have begun to resemble warehouse work” ↗Reference Cipolla's basic laws of human stupidity. The commenters are genuinely unaware of how they are harming others and themselves.
on “Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country” ↗(Bear in mind that for the duration of this post, I am adopting the definition of stupid as given in "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity." It is not quite the same as "unintelligent", and it is sufficiently well-defined that it is no longer merely an insult, either.) Amusing, but less insightful than "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity".…
on “Survival Of The Stupidest” ↗You should read the Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, which concludes in the fifth law that a stupid person is the most dangerous: http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidit... However, while we can debate whether giving the drug to politicians…
on “Klotho – There May Be a Drug to Turbocharge Your Brain. Who Should Get It?” ↗…in a "ha ha only serious" way because anything else will make the reader too defensive to take it seriously. Two other examples of this genre I know of are the original Peter Principle book, and the Basic Laws of Human Stupidity [1]. Both of them wrap some hard truths in this format because it's the only way to get them past a lot of people's filters... [1]: http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidit...
on “Book Review: Fussell on Class” ↗…Cippola's definition "stupid is one causing harm to others while not deriving any gain, even taking a small personal loss" above. If you are interested further, I encourage you to check his pamphlet "The Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity". (is "book" too big word for it?) I must say I got a lot out of it and it's followups. It became much easier for me to understand the world around me, what is happening. And even predict what's to happen…
on “The US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide” ↗…reason before they create a catastrophe are equally impervious in its wake. They're either dead, along with all the other people they got killed, or intransigent to the last. Carlo Cipolla developed the "Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" as a quadrant model, positing Intelligence, Helplessness, Predation and Stupidity as four individual types [1]. Of all dark human qualities, including malicious psychopathy Cipolla thought that "the…
on “Global decline in ocean memory over the 21st century” ↗> Russia has long held that Ukraine is simply "southern Russia". That isn't for Russia to decide. Quoting from the Basic Laws of Human Stupidity by Carlos M. Cipolla: "Let me resort once again to a banal example. Tom hits Dick on Dick's head and he derives satisfaction from his action. He may pretend that Dick was delighted to be hit on the…
on “Has the CIA Done More Harm Than Good?” ↗