Carlo Cipolla’s Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

From: Big Stupid, No Mercy/No Malice, 2022-06-03

The five universal laws of human stupidity, Quartz, 2017-04-29

(PDF of Chipolla Laws) 

…

1. Everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals among us.

2. The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person while deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.

4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.

5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.