stupidity

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Stupidity denotes a lack of intelligence , pars pro toto also a resulting foolish act.

Another dimension of stupidity is emphasized in Wanders Deutschem Sprich emphasis-Lexikon (from 1866): In the very extensive collection of proverbs on the subject it becomes clear that there are also the stupid who cheat their way through and get far with it (“Den stupid belongs to half the world ”;“ The stupid is lucky ”;“ The stupidest farmers harvest the biggest potatoes ”).

Descriptions

In a narrower sense, stupidity describes the inadequate ability to draw appropriate conclusions or to learn from perceptions . This deficiency is based partly on ignorance of the facts that are necessary to form a judgment, partly on insufficient intelligence or training of the mind, or on a certain sluggishness and clumsiness in comprehension or slowness in combining the available facts (see judgment ). In this sense Kant calls the “lack of judgment” as “that which is called stupidity” and postulates that “such a defect… cannot be remedied”. Other causes lie in the emotional area (emotional resistance to insights, dependence on opinion leaders) and in indoctrination and manipulation by others. Cognitive programs such as world views and religions could also act as “maladaptive programs” and thus hinder the clever handling of real requirements, according to James Welles (1988) in his anthropological- cultural-historical analysis, which also includes acts of political stupidity ( crusades , bay of pigs invasion ) .

Robert Musil (1937) names the paradox that anyone who talks about stupidity assumes that they are above things, that is, to be wise, although precisely this presumption is a sign of stupidity.

A - somewhat different - paradox can be found in the concept of a stupidity of the second kind , which was proposed by the social psychologist Peter R. Hofstätter on the basis of the error of the second kind in statistics .

Around 1900, stupidity was considered a matter of fact that was still in the normal range of cognitive abilities and could therefore be distinguished from intellectual disability or nonsense .

According to Werner Van Treeck, stupidity is relative: there is situation-dependent stupidity as well as individually, socially and historically different evaluations of stupidity. What is stupid for some doesn't have to be for others. What used to be considered wise and right may seem stupid today. Often in literature as in real life, the fools (e.g. the medieval court jesters ) are considered wise admonishers, while the philosophers are considered unworldly fools.

Horkheimer / Adorno state in the essay On the Genesis of Stupidity : “Stupidity is a wound”.

Ignorance

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Claims such as "colloquial often" must be substantiated by specialist literature, s. WP: NPOV #Word choice and formulation

Insofar as stupidity is understood as an (inadequate) ability to grasp a given situation appropriately and to (re) act effectively and efficiently in this situation, it means a cognitive function or ability to absorb and process information.

In contrast to this, colloquial language often speaks of stupidity when it comes to ignorance, i.e. the lack of availability of knowledge, prior knowledge or experience, or any other stored memory content; A distinction can also be made as to whether such memory contents and such knowledge are not yet available ( naivety or inexperience) or rather no longer ( dementia ).

"Dumbing down"

Stupidity can be learned and people can be educated to be stupid (so-called "dumbing down"), e.g. B. through passed on prejudices, group think in the team or media influences as well as a lack of suggestions from (adult) people. Limitations and deterioration in the ability to verbalize play an essential role: The use of unreflected phrases or euphemisms reduces the ability to make judgments. Not only a lack of stimulation, but also overstimulation can impair cognitive abilities and judgment. Manfred Spitzer speaks of “digital dementia” as a consequence of media flood even in small children. The need for fun when there is a growing reluctance to be critical of seriousness is also the cause of dumbing down in the “ fun society ” with its tendency to infantilize , so u. a. Berman in a critical analysis of US mass culture. For the first time in history, television ensured that the clever were jealous of the stupid.

insult

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The term stupidity is in everyday parlance a strong valuation or an insult and degradation as soon as it is used in connection with a person. A person can be described as stupid (or casually: stupid ) and is often equated with the equally disparaging term stupidity (actually weakness, shyness or clumsiness); something worked out / constructed can be called stupid; z. B. a stupid essay, a stupid discussion. In today's pedagogy, such a rating is forbidden because it extremely reduces the abilities of a child or young person (“You are so stupid that you grumble”; Hessian). The evaluator also arrogantly and insultingly rises above the status of the evaluator - an attitude that is nowadays considered out of the question in educational processes.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: stupidity  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikiquote: Stupidity  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ I. Kant: Critique of Pure Reason. A 133 / B 172.
  2. ↑ stupidity . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon . tape 5 . Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig 1906, p. 266 ( online zeno.org).
  3. ↑ Van Treeck 2015, p. 20.
  4. ↑ Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno: To the genesis of stupidity. In: Dialectic of Enlightenment , Frankfurt am Main 1981, (online)
  5. ↑ According to René Spitz, especially in early childhood: "Supplementary report", in: OM Ewert: Developmental Psychology, Cologne 1972, p. 124 ff; and Harry Harlow: Das Wesen der Liebe, p. 128 ff, in: OM Ewert.
  6. ^ M. Spitzer: Digital dementia . eBook, ISBN 978-3-426-41706-5 .
  7. ↑ Morris Berman: Culture Before Collapse? America pioneer. Frankfurt am Main 2002.
  8. ↑ J. Wertheimer u. a .: strategies of dumbing down. Infantilization in the fun society. 6th edition. Munich 2006.