3.5
The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
ByPublisher Description
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • An economist explains five laws that confirm our worst fears: stupid people can and do rule the world
"A masterly book" —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan • "A classic" —Simon Kuper, Financial Times
Throughout history, a powerful force has hindered the growth of human welfare and happiness. It is more powerful than the Mafia or the military. It has global catastrophic effects and can be found anywhere from the world's most powerful boardrooms to your local bar.
It is human stupidity.
Carlo M. Cipolla, noted professor of economic history at the UC Berkeley, created this vitally important book in order to detect and neutralize its threat. Both hilarious and dead serious, it will leave you better equipped to confront political realities, unreasonable colleagues, or your next dinner with your in-laws.
The 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 themselves.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
"A masterly book" —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan • "A classic" —Simon Kuper, Financial Times
Throughout history, a powerful force has hindered the growth of human welfare and happiness. It is more powerful than the Mafia or the military. It has global catastrophic effects and can be found anywhere from the world's most powerful boardrooms to your local bar.
It is human stupidity.
Carlo M. Cipolla, noted professor of economic history at the UC Berkeley, created this vitally important book in order to detect and neutralize its threat. Both hilarious and dead serious, it will leave you better equipped to confront political realities, unreasonable colleagues, or your next dinner with your in-laws.
The 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 themselves.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities102 Reviews
3.5
Sanchi
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Elena
Created 10 days agoShare
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Rishi (Bookworm_login)
Created 24 days agoShare
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“--------𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙡𝙖𝙬𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙮----------
So I have been reading this non fiction book for quite a long time. In spite of the book itself being short, it has some critics on human stupidity. Carlo M.Cipolla, Italian economic historian gave us a warning from the biggest threat of humanity, Stupid people. He noted this group of people in a certain manner with 5 key laws, offering an insightful yet lighthearted framework to understand their behaviour and social interactions.
1. 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅.
2. 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅.
3. 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔.
4.𝑵𝒐𝒏-𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒚'𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓.
5. 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚
Cipolla categorizes people into four types to describe the destructive power of stupidity in society
• H͟e͟l͟p͟l͟e͟s͟s͟ : Harm themselves while benefiting others.
• I͟n͟t͟e͟l͟l͟i͟g͟e͟n͟t͟: Benefit themselves while benefiting others.
• B͟a͟n͟d͟i͟t͟s͟: Benefit themselves at the expense of others.
• S͟t͟u͟p͟i͟d͟: Cause harm to others without benefiting themselves.
The essay, though comedic, offers sharp commentary on human nature and society's challenges in managing stupidity.”Em
Created about 2 months agoShare
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Iker Villanúa Garcia
Created 2 months agoShare
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About Carlo M. Cipolla
CARLO M. CIPOLLA (1922-2000) was an Italian economic historian, Fulbright Fellow and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Cipolla was awarded the International Balzan Prize for Economic History in 1995 and held honorary degrees in Italy and Switzerland. His classic treatise The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity was first published in 1988 and has been published in more than ten languages. Originally written in English, this is the first time it's being published in the US.
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