(Read the original article here.
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There's an internet adage that goes, "Debating an idiot is like trying
to play chess with a pigeon- it knocks the pieces over, craps on the
board, and flies back to its flock to claim victory." It's funny and
astute. It's also deeply, depressingly worrying. Although we'd never say
so, we all have people in our lives we think of as a bit dim- not
necessarily about everything, but certainly about some things.
Most of the time, we laugh this off. After all, stupidity can be pretty
funny. When my friend asked a group of us recently what Hitler's last
name was, we laughed. When my brother learned only last month that
reindeer are real animals- well, that's funny. Good-natured ribbing
about a person's ignorance is an everyday part of life.
Stupidity, though, has its dark side. For theologian and philosopher
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the stupid person is often more dangerous than the
evil one.
The enemy within
In comic books and action movies, we know who
the villain is. They wear dark clothes, kill on a whim, and cackle madly
at their diabolical scheme. In life, too, we have obvious villains- the
dictators who violate human rights or serial killers and violent
criminals. As evil as these people are, they are not the biggest threat,
since they are known. Once something is a known evil, the good of the
world can rally to defend and fight against it. As Bonhoeffer puts it,
"One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be,
prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of
its own subversion."
Stupidity, though, is a different problem altogether. We cannot so
easily fight stupidity for two reasons. First, we are collectively much
more tolerant of it. Unlike evil, stupidity is not a vice most of us
take seriously. We do not lambast others for ignorance. We do not scream
down people for not knowing things. Second, the stupid person is a
slippery opponent. They will not be beaten by debate or open to reason.
What's more, when the stupid person has their back against the wall-
when they're confronted with facts that cannot be refuted- they snap and
lash out. Bonhoeffer puts it like this:
"Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons
fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one's prejudgment simply need
not be believed- in such moments the stupid person even becomes
critical- and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as
inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in
contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being
easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack."
With great power comes great stupidity
Stupidity, like evil,
is no threat as long as it hasn't got power. We laugh at things when
they are harmless- such as my brother's ignorance of reindeer. This
won't cause me any pain. Therefore it's funny.
The problem with stupidity, though, is that it often goes hand-in-hand
with power. Bonhoeffer writes, "Upon closer observation, it becomes
apparent that every strong upsurge of power in the public sphere, be it
of a political or of a religious nature, infects a large part of
humankind with stupidity."
This works in two ways. The first is that stupidity does not disbar you
from holding office or authority. History and politics are swimming with
examples of when the stupid have risen to the top (and where the smart
are excluded or killed). Second, the nature of power requires that
people surrender certain faculties necessary for intelligent thought-
faculties like independence, critical thinking, and reflection.
Bonhoeffer's argument is that the more someone becomes part of the
establishment, the less an individual they become. A charismatic,
exciting outsider, bursting with intelligence and sensible policies,
becomes imbecilic the moment he takes office. It's as if, "slogans,
catchwords and the like... have taken possession of him. He is under a
spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being."
Power turns people into automatons. Intelligent, critical thinkers now
have a script to read. They'll engage their smiles rather than their
brains. When people join a political party, it seems like most choose to
follow suit rather than think things through. Power drains the
intelligence from a person, leaving them akin to an animated mannequin.
Theory of stupidity
Bonhoeffer's argument, then, is that
stupidity should be viewed as worse than evil. Stupidity has far greater
potential to damage our lives. More harm is done by one powerful idiot
than a gang of Machiavellian schemers. We know when there's evil, and we
can deny it power. With the corrupt, oppressive, and sadistic, we know
where we stand. You know how to take a stand.
But stupidity is much harder to weed out. That's why it's a dangerous
weapon: Because evil people find it hard to take power, they need stupid
people to do their work. Like sheep in a field, a stupid person can be
guided, steered, and manipulated to do any number of things. Evil is a
puppet master, and it loves nothing so much as the mindless puppets who
enable it- be they in the general public or inside the corridors of
power.
The lesson from Bonhoeffer is to laugh at those daft, silly moments when
in close company. But, we should get angry and scared when stupidity
takes reign.
-----
Jonny Thomson teaches philosophy in Oxford. He runs a popular account
called Mini
Philosophy and his first book is Mini
Philosophy: A Small Book of Big Ideas.
Categories:
Big Think;
Dietrich Bonhoeffer;
Evil;
Stupidity
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