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stu·pid·i·ty

st(y)o͞oˈpiditē/

noun

behavior that shows a lack of good sense or judgment.

"I can't believe my own stupidity" ~

The perpetual trademark of our species. The random and unpredictable state of mind that causes and governs wars, unwanted pregnancies, political actions, divorces, ripoffs, reality TV shows, copycat crimes, cults, self-injury, and lawsuits.  Since the stupid in our midst are breeding uncontrollably while the intelligent minority are dying out, one can easily predict that our stupidity will far outpace our technological progress within a few decades, and propel us back to the Stone Age or extinction within a few centuries. Stupidity is knowing better but doing something anyways. Not to be confused with ignorance. ~ Urban Dictionary

If we want to avoid repeating past mistakes, we must acknowledge that even the brightest people can do monumentally daft things.

WHEN studying human talent, the temptation is usually to concentrate on the upper reaches. Understandably so: we all admire the Einsteins and Mozarts of this world and aspire to emulate them.

In comparison, studying the opposite end of the spectrum might seem pointless, patronizing or downright tasteless. Lack of intelligence is stigmatized enough without treating people like lab rats.

Yet it often takes an oblique viewpoint to find new insights into an old problem. Stupidity is too important and interesting to ignore. The science of stupidity is producing results that challenge our concepts of intelligence and that should be humbling for many of the smart people who run the world.

It turns out that a tendency for entertaining rash, foolish or illogical ideas is not necessarily the result of a low IQ. This measure of intelligence is largely independent of rationality. Just because you score on the high end of one scale doesn't mean that you won't fall at the bottom of the other Importantly, no one is immune to the biases that lead to stupid decisions. Yet our reverence for IQ and education means that it is easy to rest on the laurels of our qualifications and assume that we are, by definition, not stupid.

Large-scale stupidity is even more damaging. Business cultures that inadvertently encourage it, for example, may have contributed to the economic crisis. Indeed, the effects may have been so damaging precisely because banks assumed that intelligent people act logically while at the same time rewarding rash behaviour based on intuition rather than deliberation. As one researcher puts it: "The more intelligent someone is, the more disastrous the results of their stupidity". The same surely applies to politicians: the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq serves as a reminder that clever people can do monumentally stupid things.

If we want to avoid making similar mistakes in the future, everybody – especially the most intelligent and powerful – would do well to humbly acknowledge their own weaknesses. To quote Oscar Wilde: "There is no sin except stupidity."

http://www.newscientist.com

You know you're stupid when..
 

• You wonder what branch of the military Captain Kangaroo was in.
   
• You wipe your butt with a dollar then decide you still want to spend it.
   
• You swallow a nickel and wait for the change.
   
• You climb mountains to `get a closer look' at the constellations.
   
• You repeat yourself often.
   
• You repeat yourself often.
   
• You buy season tickets to the super bowl.
   
• You put a `Buy American' sticker on your Toyota.
   
• You call up Phone Psychics so you can ask them why they let the phone ring.
   
• You put an antennae on your mailbox in order to receive mail from people farther away.
   
• You body build and subscribe to Playgirl so you can look at the future you.
   
• You wonder how your going to get that ring over your girlfriend's head, down her arm and onto her finger.
   
• You get a ticket for speeding and claim you didn't know you were because you can't count that high.
   
• You subscribe to the newspaper so you can save on toilet paper.
   
• You wave good-bye instead of hello when answering the phone.
   
• You try to convince the cop who pulled you over for a burned out taillight that he merely has one eye closed.
   
• You call your neighbor who is blasting the stereo at 3 am to demand that he change the station at once.
   
• You think WWF is real, and Pay-Per-View it.

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