Cipolla’s 5 Laws of Human Stupidity

About this video lesson:
Carlo Cipolla's law of stupidity states that "always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation." Even though Cipolla originally wrote about the principle and its consequences for society in the form of an amusing letter to his friends, it gained wide attention. Today Cipolla's law is often used to highlight the importance of critical thinking and careful decision making in order to counteract the potential effects of endemic ignorance.

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COLLABORATORS
Script: Jonas Koblin
Artist: Pascal Gaggelli
Voice: Matt Abbott
Coloring: Nalin
Editing: Peera Lertsukittipongsa
Production: Selina Bador
Fact-checking: Ludovico Saint Amour Di Chanaz
Sound Design: Miguel Ojeda

SOUNDTRACKS
Toys Are Alive - Studio Le Bus
Nice Toys - Studio Le Bus

DIG DEEPER with these top videos, games and resources:
Read The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, Carlo M. Cipolla international bestseller

Watch our video on Bonhoeffer's Theory of Stupidity

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Classroom Activity
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CHAPTER
00:00 Introduction
00:44 5 Basic laws of human stupidity]
01:42 4 Factors of human behavior
02:26 The effects on society
03:32 Cipolla's point of view
04:21 What do you think?
04:49 Patrons credit
04:57 Ending

#sproutslearning #stupidity #cipolla #law

[mathiask]

Never git into an argument with a stupid person
They’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience
—-Mark Twain

[glenbateman]

"Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."
- George Carlin

[mangojulie]

"Some people are born stupid, some achieve stupidity, and some have stupidity thrust upon them." William Shakespeare.

[shaned]

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason, is like administering medicine to the dead." - Thomas Paine

[SSingh-nrqz]

*A great example of this in society are celebrities and athletes.* People assume they are intelligent just because they are famous or rich. While they might be smart at their skills in their career, people follow their advice on things they might actually be stupid in such as politics. The dangerous part is these stupid people can influence millions of people in a democracy and create bad laws that impacts everyone.

[RitzCaraldo]

I think a lot of stupidity is actually caused by formed habits and social interactions. If your ideas are not challenged (especially in groups) as a child you'll never develop the habit of doubt. Doubt causes people to double check and expand their knowledge to related topics in order to make sure they are correct.

[Bob-qkzg]

This is the single most useful piece of sociology you will ever learn. Notice there is no reference to race, gender, religion, politics, or any other divisiveness.

[hahamorehaha]

Everyone does stupid things. But the smart ones learn from their mistakes and apply that knowledge to future actions.

[maxxon]

You can definitely learn a ”nothing matters” attitude, which will hugely contribute to actually doing stupid things.
In these four classes of people, the stupid are the irrational actors who do things without considering the consequences.

[Twitchy_McExorcism]

The second seems like the most important lesson. It's _so_ easy to think "Oh, that guy's a doctor/congressman/any kind of "expert, " they _must_ know what they're talking about, " but that's not always the case. You'd think their stupidity would keep them from getting anywhere near those kinds of jobs, but all they really have to do is slip by unnoticed for long enough. Hell, with nepotism at play, too many idiots have a fast-track to positions they're not qualified for.

[lordofspearton]

I worked at a McDonald's as a Crew Trainer for far too long in my teenage years. Within a few weeks, I had my own motto that I still rely on to this day "Never rely on the intelligence of other people".

[marverickmercer]

Stupidity and Intelligence is not about IQ, it's about net good/harm done. That's the most eye-opening things I have ever witnessed when I first learn of this.

[paulthomson]

Social media certainly makes it clear to me when someone has no idea how dangerously stupid they are.

[KevdragonH]

When taking this and Bonhoeffer's Theory of Stupidity into account, my thoughts are that regardless of nature or nurture, Stupid People are ALLOWED to be Stupid, be it by their own actions, or because the people they are surrounded by are allowing their stupidity to continue and offer continuous excuses with no effort for improvement.

It is possible for a Stupid Person to become what would be considered an Intelligent Person, but they have to be willing to accept when they don't know something, and have a desire to want to actively learn more and improve, and be surrounded by actual Intelligent People that can actually teach them.

[GordonWillis-zt]

To paraphrase an old saying: while genius has limits stupidity knows no bounds.

[A._is_for]

"there'a always one more stupid person than you counted"
good lesson from my father

[BuildinWings]

Truth is that people move between these 4 roles depending on the situation. If you think you don't dip your toes into stupidity, helplessness, or banditry, you're not being honest about yourself.

[bostonjackson]

Never under-estimate the stupidity of people.

[judit]

There's an old saying in my country (explained by a parable), that states that it is better to have an intelligent enemy than a stupid friend.

[StepBaum]

The effect is nicely portrayed by Cipolla, but the way he thought someone becomes stupid is simply wrong. There are multiple sociatial, traumatic, environmental, genetical and educational effects that take part in that. Good video