Bonhoeffer's Theory of Stupidity
By: YouTube
Does this ring as true to you as it does to me?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
In the darkest chapter of German history, during a time when incited mobs threw stones into the windows of innocent shop owners and women and children were cruelly humiliated in the open; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young pastor, began to speak publicly against the atrocities. After years of trying to change people's minds, Bonhoeffer came home one evening and his own father had to tell him that two men were waiting in his room to take him away.
In prison, Bonhoeffer began to reflect on how his country of poets and thinkers had turned into a collective of cowards, crooks and criminals. Eventually he concluded that the root of the problem was not malice, but stupidity. In his famous letters from prison, Bonhoeffer argued that stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice, because while “one may protest against evil; it can be exposed and prevented by the use of force, against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplishes anything here. Reasons fall on deaf ears.” Facts that contradict a stupid person’s prejudgment simply need not be believed and when they are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, is self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one.
If we want to know how to get the better of stupidity, we must seek to understand its nature. This much is certain, stupidity is in essence not an intellectual defect but a moral one. There are human beings who are remarkably agile intellectually yet stupid, and others who are intellectually dull yet anything but stupid. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or rather, they allow this to happen to them. People who live in solitude manifest this defect less frequently than individuals in groups. And so it would seem that stupidity is perhaps less a psychological than a sociological problem.
It becomes apparent that every strong upsurge of power, be it of a political or religious nature, infects a large part of humankind with stupidity. Almost as if this is a sociological-psychological law where the power of the one needs the stupidity of the other. The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, such as intellect, suddenly fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence and, more or less consciously, give up an autonomous position. The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us from the fact that he is not independent. In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and is abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil - incapable of seeing that it is evil. Only an act of liberation, not instruction, can overcome stupidity.
Here we must come to terms with the fact that in most cases a genuine internal liberation becomes possible only when external liberation has preceded it. Until then, we must abandon all attempts to convince the stupid person.
Bonhoeffer died due to his involvement in a plot against Adolf Hitler at dawn on 9 April 1945 at Flossenbürg concentration camp just two weeks before soldiers from the United States liberated the camp. “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility. The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.” Bonhoeffer once said.
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Know anyone who fits the description provided in this video?
Half my family fits the description to the point one or more of them may face unemployment rather than do the intelligent thing.
the anti-vaxers in my family wrecked any semblance of normalcy this holiday season. meh, I guess who cares if 92 year old grandpa is on oxygen with an inoperable heart condition. /s - f'n morons
are you kidding? there's a few places here that are a petrie dish of willful ignorance.
Yeah - the FP of NT fits that description quite well.
I've been avoiding those places like the plague lately. It is so much fun to see their attention seeking antics when their 'articles' aren't getting the traction that they're used to.
Let’s go Brandon!
As if on cue ... the "Fuck Joe Biden!" contingent arrives with a thoughtless comment that ignores yet arguably illustrates the topic.
A perfect case in point, which also answers your question in post 1.
Thank you for confirming the truth of the article.
I can name some here on NT alone.
We all can.
Also seen on a daily basis as you said.
I have quite a few in my family that fits - another reason we are avoiding the annual family Christmas party. There are several reasons, but right now stupid people are at the top of the reason list.
Yes, know more than a few, sadly.
Yes it is TG.
Note how some know exactly what I'm talking about?
Conformity (e.g. blind allegiance to a political party, religion, etc.) engenders stupidity (as defined by the video).
So I guess it's a good thing I march to the beat of my own drummer. I've never been much for having a bunch of friends and then blindly following where they led.
Mr. Giggles tells me I'm "different". Some days that's good other days....
I personally think your independence is a spectacular attribute.
Thank-you
How does the American abolitionist movement or the American temperance movement or the American labor movement fit into Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity?
European class based intellectualism doesn't fit well with American traditions or history. America has always been more culturally homogeneous than Europe. Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity may be applicable in a heterogeneous Europe segregated by national pride and conflict between those distinct nations.
European class based intellectualism has been attempting to unify Europe and Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity fits with the attempt. But intellectualism in the United States has been attempting to divide America. The United States has already achieved the unity that Europe has not. So, the conflicts in the United States isn't driven by Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity but, rather, by a desire to maintain and sustain American unity. America doesn't want to become divided like Europe; that would be stupid. We've already overcome Europe's stupidity.
thank you for supplying a demonstration of the subject matter.
Did you miss the point of the video that tribal groupthink is the source of stupidity? According to Bonhoeffer's theory, stupidity is overcome by challenging groupthink.
So, which of us is demonstrating what?
Try watching the video and you'll see his comment is much more accurate than your one-liner.
I did watch the video. TiG even graciously provided a transcription of the dialogue.
The context of Bonhoeffer's understanding of stupidity is rooted in Europe's very tribal history. By the 20th century the tribes of Europe had been demarcated by national borders. Since the Roman empire, European intellectualism has been attempting to unify Europe. And there are only two ways to unify disparate tribes; unity through common cause or unity through a common enemy.
Bonhoeffer pointed to an upsurge of power (political or religious) infecting humanity with stupidity. In the European context that upsurge of power unifies a tribe and then attempts to unify all tribes through common cause or through a common enemy. In the European context that upsurge of power is associated with nationalism since the tribes are demarcated by national borders. Each tribe (or nation) establishes it's own identity that consists of the prejudgments that are unassailable by reason, as Bonhoeffer says. Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity is directly applicable to tribal Europe.
The United States achieved a unity that Europe has not achieved. To apply Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity to the United States it is first necessary to destroy the unity of the United States. Intellectualism in Europe has been directed toward unifying the various tribes of Europe. But intellectualism in the United States has been directed toward destroying the unity of the United States and creating tribes.
How does the American abolitionist movement or the America temperance movement or the American labor movement fit into Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity?
I think you're arguing with the content of the seed just to argue
The whole point of the video is to argue with tribal groupthink. I'm doing what Bonhoeffer said needed to be done.
According to Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity, unchallenged prejudgments and backslapping endorsement of a narrative to show group loyalty results in stupidity.
I've asked a question that challenges tribal groupthink. How does the American abolitionist movement or the American temperance movement or the American labor movement fit with Bonhoeffer's theory of stupidity?
It's your choice whether or not to actually think about the topic - or - to respond with prejudged groupthink stupidity.
That's all he ever does.
I think my English is getting rusty. I really have a hard time deciphering Nerm's word salads. Or maybe I'm intellectually challenged
No you're fine. It's GIGO
GIGO?
Garbage in, garbage out. It is a very, very old computer data processing term.
thank-you. Have heard of it but couldn't connect the acronym
Wow, I haven't heard that term in a long time.
GIGO means a computer can only follow its programming; a computer cannot think for itself. GIGO is an example of Bonhoeffer's description of stupidity. Bonhoeffer claimed that sociological programming makes people stupid. Groupthink means people can only follow their programming. Groupthink programming can overwhelm intellect.
A bit of a stretch, but I suppose the analogy is there.
Trying to keep the discussion on topic.
Reasons fall on deaf ears.” Facts that contradict a stupid person’s prejudgment simply need not be believed and when they are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental.
Stupid people just label anything they disagree with as "fake".
Thanks for the custom meme al.
So damn stupid they are evil? Who? Nobody answer...
A long time ago I once had a friend tell me the difference between ignorance and stupidity. Ignorance is forgivable because ignorant people generally do not know any better that something is wrong but can be taught otherwise. On the other hand, stupid people do know something is wrong and do it anyway.
Well defined. Ignorance is lack of knowledge, and knowledge can be gained, but stupid people are incapable of learning, or simply resist learning, and usually are not even aware that they're stupid.
Drunkenness can be sobered, ignorance can be taught, youth outgrown, but alas, stupidity is forever.
Unknown
There are stupid people who simply cannot help the fact that their brains do not function as well as the average. That is not their fault and we should of course accommodate their condition.
However, we have another kind of stupid — stubborn stupidity. Stubborn stupidity is a form of stupidity that is self-induced by stubborn refusal to be objective. The lack of objectivity produces a myopic and distorted reality. This is typically the result of confirmation bias — accepting whatever 'trusted authorities' say is true and rejecting without consideration all that differs from said authorities.
Examples of stubborn stupidity are seen on a daily basis.
I don't even like to call these types of people stupid. I'm going to be more PC and call them intellectually challenged. I've known some.
I call them purposely obtuse. They have a confirmation bias agenda and will go out of their way, twist any/all logic and move all the goalposts to not think objectively.
And some (most?) of them do not care how utterly stupid they make themselves look in the process. They want to argue their cause and are willing to sacrifice their own credibility (and perceived intelligence) in the process. Thing is, if the person making the argument is deemed to be stupid by the argument, the result is counterproductive. How stupid is that?
It's very stupid. But some people are too stupid to see it. Some are even stupid enough to "double down" on their stupidity and take pride in it. Stupid doesn't get much more stupid than that.
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." --- Albert Einstein