# An Understanding of Stupid By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2022-10-31 In 1976 [[Carlo Cipolla]] wrote an essay titled [[The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity]] that proposes a new taxonomy of people. Fundamentally, he argues that there are four types of people: * Intelligent people make decisions that benefit themselves and society. * Bandits make decisions that benefit themselves but hurt society. * Helpless people make decisions that hurt themselves but benefit society. * Stupid people make decisions to hurt themselves and society. This categorization is interesting to think about by itself as it defines people in new ways. However, probably the most interesting aspect of Cipolla's work is his fundamental laws based on this taxonomy. 1. Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation. 2. The probability that a certain person (will) be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. 3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses. 4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places, and under any circumstances, dealing and/or associating with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake. 5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person. If these laws are true, the implications for organizational analysis are significant. How do you best anticipate the actions of stupid people during the decision-making process? Are there certain types of analysis that are best suited for each type of person? Can this better explain why people act the way they do? Answering these questions will challenge how many people approach societal and organizational problems. [[Ethics]], values, and beliefs are critical to avoiding catastrophe. #### Related Items [[Stupid]] [[Society]] [[Philosophy]] [[Psychology]] [[Value]] [[Organizational Analytics]]