I don't necessarily disagree on the need - but it's not my (re)definition. Having said that - I rather like the use. "Stupid" is part of quartet. All humans ar

I don't necessarily disagree on the need - but it's not my (re)definition. Having said that - I rather like the use. "Stupid" is part of quartet. All humans are categorised in four categories: intelligent (I), helpless (H), stupid (S), bandit (B). In X-Y coordinate system, by quadrant Q, actions taken by Tom, that affect both Tom (on X-axis) and Dick (on Y-axis): - Q1 (+,+) Tom gain and Dick gain => Tom was intelligent (I). - Q2 (-,+) Tom loss and Dick gain => Tom was helpless (H). - Q3 (-,-) Tom loss and Dick loss => Tom was stupid (S). - Q4 (+,-) Tom gain and Dick loss => Tom was a bandit (B). Specifically on the S-Stupid in quadrant Q3 (-,-): + There is no upper bound on the amount of stupidity that can exist within any particular individual. + We always underestimate the number of stupid people. + The probability of a person being stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. + A stupid person is someone who causes damage to another person, or a group of people, without any advantage accruing to himself (or herself), or even with some resultant self-damage. (Golden law of stupidity) + Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid people, and that it's impossible to predict the actions of the stupid. + A stupid person S is the most dangerous person (compared to I, H, B), and crucially stupid S is more dangerous than a bandit B. This is all on individual one unit level. Another relevant observation I can think of is Bismarck-ian most dangerous general — stupid and energetic. Bonhoeffer is the one to make a connection to morality. That looks very important observation to me. And that it happens in groups, like a mind virus-I can see that. Sabine's video is all about collective stupidity. (Extraordinary Popular Delusions as a mirror image to Wisdom of crowds.)