Cipolla's 5 Laws of Stupidity

I came across Carlo Cipolla's 5 laws of stupidity this week.

In 1976, Italian economist Carlo Cipolla wrote a tongue-in-cheek essay called "The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity" that provides a framework for judging someone's real intelligence. His laws, which have great application in the current times, follow:

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 to 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, to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake. 
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

The traits identifying a stupid person are summed up in the matrix below:

It would seem stupidity is rife the world over, especially in respect of the 3rd law; anti-vaxxers, those who won't wear masks or socially distance, Trump supporters, the Polish government and, dare I say it, Brexit. 

Perhaps it's a bit unfair to label Brexiteers themselves as stupid - they were conned and too trusting of charlatans, or Bandits, as Cipolla calls them in his matrix. It's more a case of contempt for the conmen and compassion for the conned - unless, of course, they persist in allowing themselves to remain conned in the face of facts and evidence in the shape of observed reality and the latest report from the Office of Budget Responsibility (which says the negative effects of Brexit on the economy will be far greater in the long run than the pandemic). It is not deserving  of respect if someone observes that the direct opposite of what they voted for has come about and still refuses to admit they were mistaken. That's fanaticism and does not deserve respect. 

Fanaticism is a triumph of emotion over fact, and emotions are very powerful. I thought until recently that Keir Starmer was wrong to not keep attacking Johnson over the fallout from Brexit, but he's treating that section of the electorate that voted Leave like one treats fanatics - leave them alone and eventually, like those who lose their religious faith (and make no mistake, Brexit is a faith), events will prove them mistaken within their personal lives and swathes of them will then start to question their belief and what they were told. Facts and evidence will not sway them, only personal experience, so it's not worth bombarding them with that which they will ignore and deem heretical.

It will be a bit like when, according to polls, a narrow majority supported the Iraq invasion, but now you're hard pressed to find anyone who will admit to having supported it. The day will come when very few will admit to having voted Leave - it would simply be too embarrassing.