The Theory of Stupidity

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“Nothing gives the feeling of infinity as much as stupidity”, said Ödön von Horváth in the introduction to his famous ‘Tales from the Vienna Woods’. The Austro-Hungarian writer understood stupidity as dullness and narcissistic communication disorder that communicates itself in smug phrases and absurd logic. One wishes things were not as bad today as they were in Horváth's time – unfortunately, they are much worse.

In the end, every country gets the government it deserves, they say cynically. In democracies, the people sometimes even get the government they want. In particularly dramatic cases, one wonders who will then protect the people from themselves, or at least one half from the other, or to put it more abstractly, who protects a social system based on freedom, equality and solidarity from gross abuse. Now the biggest pukes in the USA have taken the helm of that crazy Maga movement and the people are rejoicing. How could anyone have overlooked this blatant backwardness?

So let's start from the beginning and prove Horvath's literary assertion in the simplest possible way, in plain language, so to speak, and using an animated graphic novel for schoolchildren. The short video tells the story of the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was murdered in a concentration camp, and the theory of stupidity he developed in prison.

The target group is schoolchildren, so the cartoons are perhaps a little too cute – Source: Sprouts Schools

Frustrating realization: there is no cure for stupidity. At least psychology gives us some consolation when it works out the reason for our despair with scientific zeal. So at least we know that we have to stoically endure such unfortunate facts. Which “may God be lamented” has a religious undertone.

End of the Enlightenment?

In the slipstream of our sciences and, above all, our art and culture industry, we are fooling ourselves if we believe that our sacred Enlightenment is still the engine of a better society. The majority of stupid forces have long had the cheapest but most powerful media at their disposal to ruin everything in no time at all. This happens literally without sense or reason, precisely because stupid people are not aware of what they are doing.

Pessimism is purely a precautionary measure, because who hasn't observed that discussions, whether in private or on public talk shows, are unexpectedly dominated by stupid spokespeople? This is particularly unpleasant when the subject matter is a little more complicated. The situation is often similar: anyone who discusses an issue in an illustrious group with too many subordinate clauses is quickly stifled by self-proclaimed fast talkers. You could also say that they impulsively cut off the words of someone who is arguing thoughtfully in order to state with defiance and pride that all is actually quite simple, you just have to do this or that, etc. blah blah blah, and that's it.

However, when it comes to important issues, the situation is often not simple but complicated, for example climate change and the associated energy transition. Such things definitely can't be solved at the yellow press level, of course. And this is where the dynamic described by Bonhoeffer sets in, when some of our contemporaries find their own cheeky behavior downright sexy, reactivate their childish defiance and and babble on unabashedly. As if they had finally freed themselves from the burden of being adults who think far too complicatedly, when everything is actually quite simple and all you have to do is this or that, and so on …

Just do it! is Nike's claim. Could you run a nuclear power plant with this mentality?

“Stupidity creates disasters”

This striking quote is the headline to an interview in the Frankfurter Rundschau with environmental historian Geoffrey Parker, published many years ago. Conclusion: “History shows that human stupidity turns a crisis into a disaster – climate change leads to a crisis, but human action then leads to disaster”.

So the problems of the future are actually difficult to overcome if you don't want to have any problems in principle. The inner child says, "I don't want to!" and covers his ears. Politicians must reassure their people that they will not be disadvantaged, that everything will run smoothly, and that everyone will be rich and happy. And all this within one legislative period. A pioneering spirit looks different. Then I ask myself how it was even possible to found a city like Venice.

The full extent of the tragedy of contemporary history can be seen in the many absurd, stupid conspiracy narratives, the refutation of which drains valuable energy, the energy and willpower that is urgently needed to meet and develop positively within society. A stupid idea that multiplies in the network of many stupid people, i.e. refuting a real idiocy, only devours nonsensical argumentation power, because idiots per se do not want to listen. Smug stupidity is the greatest obstacle to the development of humanity. In the end, civil societies kill their precious time mainly with lies and bullshit. The USA is increasingly setting a bad example.

D-Day November 6, 2024¹

And now today, this global political disaster of stupidity. We saw it coming and gave the whole thing a lot of attention and differentiated analysis. Unfortunately, the facts here are actually really simple in a tragic way: the late Peter Glotz, a clever German Social Democrat great from better times, once said:

“Why suspect an intrigue when stupidity suffices as an explanation?”

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¹ I'm alone in the office today and have to somehow get my murderous frustration into shape.