the basic laws of human stupidity by carlo cipolla

Cipolla adds a corollary to the fifth law: a stupid person is thus more dangerous than a bandit. They constantly forget that at any moment, and in any circumstance, associating with stupid people invariably constitutes an expensive mistake.Ī stupid person is the most dangerous person in existence. Cipolla, Professor Emeritus of Economic History at Berkeley, in an essay called The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid people. The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity were first outlined by Carlo M.

The probability of a person being stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.Ī stupid person is someone who causes damage to another person, or a group of people, without any advantage accruing to himself (or herself) - or even with some resultant self-damage. The first basic law of human stupidity asserts without ambiguity that: Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation. Closer scrutiny will, however, reveal its realistic veracity. Closer scrutiny will however reveal its realistic veracity. At first, the statement sounds trivial, vague and horribly ungenerous.

At first, the statement sounds trivial, vague and horribly ungenerous. The first basic law of human stupidity asserts without ambiguity that: Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

the underestimation is after the first law itself is already accounted for. The First Basic Law of Human Stupidity asserts without ambiguity that Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

day after day we are hampered in whatever we do by stupid people who invariably turn up in the least appropriate places, and.

Cipolla, the late, noted professor of economic history at the University of California, Berkeley, created a vitally important economic model that would allow us to detect, know, and neutralize this threat: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity.

people we had thought to be rational and intelligent suddenly turn out to be unquestionably stupid Seeing the shambolic state of human affairs, and sensing the dark force at work behind it, Carlo M.

We always underestimate the number of stupid people. There is no upper bound on the amount of stupidity that can exist within any particular individual.

The basic laws of human stupidity by carlo cipolla