What is stupidity?
There are many forms of stupidity. I am mostly interested in the form of stupidity that’s the shadow of intelligence or an apparently stupid use of our intelligence.
Willful ignorance
We can call ignorance stupidity, especially when we could have known and could have sought out vital information. Willful ignorance is a kind of stupidity.
Making mistakes can be seen as stupidity, especially when we know better and go against our better knowing.
Both of those point to a form of stupidity that’s the shadow of intelligence. It comes out of and depends on a certain intelligence, and it can easily be seen as a misuse of intelligence.
Likely evolutionary benefit – up to a point
Often that stupid way to use our intelligence happens because we hold onto familiar beliefs, identities, and habits. Our mind tries to protect itself, and we prioritize familiar beliefs, identities, and habits over reality. That’s very understandable, it has some limited upsides, and it also comes with a range of downsides, lessons, and feedback from life.
There is no reason to assume this stupid use of intelligence is new, and it very likely has survival benefits, especially in the situations our ancestors found themselves. In many cases, it helps us preserve the status quo and saves energy, and that likely helped many of our ancestors to survive.
In many cases, it works well enough in spite of the downsides. We can live with the downsides, including sometimes being annoying to others.
Other times, the downsides stare us in the face. They are significant and undeniable.
That’s the situation we collectively find ourselves in today in our modern world.
Stupid intelligence today
Collectively, we are currently almost unbelievably stupid in exactly this way.
Let’s start with the big picture: our relationship with this living planet we are local and temporary expressions of.
Through stupid use of our intelligence, we are collectively engaging in ecocide and suicide. We know it well, or could very easily know it well, and still do little to change it.
In spite of all our knowledge and the very real feedback from Earth itself (deforestation, extinctions, loss of insects, climate disruptions), most of us are in some form of denial of this. Some try to convince themselves that things are moving in the right direction. (My brother, for instance, says the world is much better than ever before and we don’t need to make significant changes. This is true in a very limited sense, if we only look at the lives of some privileged humans. It’s not true if we look at all of humanity and our ecological situation. I assume he has adopted that view to feel better about himself and the world, and so he doesn’t personally need to change anything.) Some try to convince themselves that our current climate changes are natural variations even if what we are seeing closely follows climate change models from the 1970s onwards. Some ignore ecological overshoot and focus on sub-issues within global ecological overshoot, like climate change or species loss. Some assume that it’s someone else’s fault and overlook that the problems are systemic and we are all part of it. Some assume it’s someone else’s problem (future generations, poor people in other places) or that someone else will take care of it (the government, future generations). Some assume we’ll find a technological solution, which is a piece of the puzzle but not the main one. Some assume it must not be important or urgent since most seem complacent about it.
People vote for the same politics and policies as before, even if these were largely formed in the 1800s when the world and our challenges were very different. Our worldview, models, and policies from that time did not take ecological realities into account because they didn’t have to.
In economics, we still largely work with models that don’t take ecological realities into account. These models assume infinite Earth – infinite resources and infinite capacity to absorb the waste of civilization. Business people, politicians, and society as a whole use these economic models. And again, we know, or can easily know, that following these models is inherently ecocidal and suicidal.
We grow our food with poison, knowing well that it harms us and severely damages the web of life we are part of and depend on. We support systems that reward farmers to grow food with poison.
We maintain manicured lawns, knowing well we are in the middle of an insect apocalypse partly due to loss of habitat, and that a wilder garden is a part of the solution.
MAGA is an especially clear example of what can be seen as stupid intelligence. They willfully ignore reality, likely for some kind of emotional satisfaction, and in the process damage their democracy and the aspects of the US that does to some extent work. I assume that something in them knows what they are doing. It knows the contradictions, cruelty, lying, and damage, and the motivation for engaging in it, even if they may not consciously know or accept it. This is a fragile arrangement, which is expressed in being thin-skinned and reactive when questioned.
So we are not only collectively stupid, with our billions of people and powerful technology we are also ecocidal and suicidal.
Will we collectively continue to use stupid intelligence? Or will we somehow decide that smart intelligence is better since it will help us survive? That’s the big question. And how much needs to be destroyed before we eventually, if ever, decide to use smart intelligence?
The larger picture
As usual, there is a lot more to say about this.
As Yuval Noah Harari points out, human history is a dynamic interplay between stupidity and wisdom. It’s what has characterized us and what makes our collective human life interesting. It creates some drama and suspense, just like a good novel or movie.
It’s also not something we can do away with. We live with it and can find some peace with it or not.
A smart use of intelligence is to recognize stupid and smart intellgience, find some peace with the existence of both, and be good stewards of our own lives and do what we can to move the world in a slightly more life-centered direction.
Also, the dynamics behind stupid intelligence have their own intelligence. As mentioned, they help preserve a certain self-image, they encourage status quo (which often works to some extent), and they help preserve energy. There is a reason for them, and it’s good to explore – especially in ourselves.
In my life
How does this apply to me? When I write about the world, I write about me.
When and how have I engaged in stupid intelligence?
There is no lack of examples. Several times, I have followed the advice of experts even if it makes no sense to me, and I have regretted the results.
In the 2000s, my doctor in Oregon insisted I eat less salt. I had perfect blood pressure, made my own food from scratch, didn’t eat any processed foods, and already used very little salt. Reducing that small amount likely led to heat stroke within a few months. I knew she probably assumed I ate like an average person in the US and the advice was based on that and not tailored to me, but I still followed it – against my better knowing.
The same doctor refused to give me antibiotics for a long lasting and profoundly debilitating pneumonia. I again accepted her professional opinion, even if it seemed as misguided as the salt advice. After many weeks of that pneumonia, it very likely led to a collapse of my health and return of the CFS/ME.
My wife insisted we hire two young architects to design our first house in the Andes. I wanted to design it myself since I have a relatively solid background in that type of design (MA program in architecture, extensive personal studies in vernacular architecture, many hands-on building workshops, etc.) I didn’t like them or their work, didn’t trust them, and saw that they understood far less than me, and still accepted them and their work. I again went against my own better judgment because someone else insisted.
Predictably, they made several serious mistakes in their design, and we ended up with the cost of necessary redesign and repairs. After the collapse of our roof, which almost killed us in our sleep (large roof beams and tiles crashed down next to us), a third-party report found them responsible, and they responded with denial and suing us for defamation.
This is clearly very stupid and it has had serious consequences for my life.
Why have I so often deferred to experts, or people in my life insisting, even when it goes against my better judgment? At one level, I tell myself that they must know something I don’t. If they say something that seems stupid, and insist, either they are stupid or they know something I don’t. Something in me prefers the second possibility. In the moment, it also requires less energy and I don’t have much to begin with. Also, I tend to want to avoid conflicts which is a pattern I learned in my birth family. Going into disagreement feels uncomfortable and it takes energy that I often feel I don’t have. When I notice someone has a wrong idea about me or my situation, I don’t always speak up to correct it. A part of me may also secretly enjoy the “I told you so” I can go into after, even if I typically don’t say anything about it.
It may also not help that on the Big Five personality test, I am unusually high on agreeableness and conscientiousness, which feeds into my other patterns of wanting to please, avoid conflict, and do things correctly.
These are all surface answers and I am sure there is a lot more there.
The solution is simple, although not always so easy for me: Notice when someone wants me to do something that doesn’t make sense to me. Speak up and make sure they have the fuller picture. Get a second or third opinion. And follow my own best judgment and guidance, informed by solid info.
Note: Originally from Brief notes on healing and awakening and occasional personal things – vol. 50.