Blind Faith: Why We Should Study Stupidity
What is stupidity? Should we study it the same way we research intelligence today? How is people’s unconditional and blind faith in their intellectual abilities connected to the senseless war against GMOs and the psychology of extremism? And why does having more data not increase our chances of solving problems correctly, but actually decrease them?
Not long ago, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I was rereading Bertrand Russell. In 1933, deeply saddened by the “Nazification” of Germany, the philosopher wrote a book called The Triumph of Stupidity. In this work, he drew a direct parallel between Adolf Hitler’s popularity and the desires of the crowd—foolish and cruel. According to Russell, these two qualities—stupidity and cruelty—“almost always go together.”
He then wrote one of his most famous quotes: “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”
This statement anticipated the emergence of a new term in psychology: the Dunning-Kruger effect. The discovery of this cognitive bias made a real splash and even found its way into pop culture, inspiring a song that was once performed at Harvard University’s annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony: “Incompetent people somehow think that everything they do—they do first-class…”
It’s no surprise that psychologist Joyce Ehrlinger began a 2008 article she co-authored with David Dunning and Justin Kruger with a quote from Russell’s book New Hopes for a Changing World: “One of the most painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.”
In her article, Ehrlinger notes: “Today, this phenomenon can be applied to everyday tasks, where the level of competence and skill of the performers plays a significant role.” In other words, people are biased about their own level of mastery even in routine activities like driving a car.
Stupidity Is Not Just the Opposite of Intelligence
Bertrand Russell (who died in 1970 at the age of 97) probably wouldn’t have been surprised to hear about a recent study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior: “Extreme opponents of GMOs think they know the most, but in reality, they know the least.”
Researchers led by cognitive scientist Philip Fernbach, co-author of the book The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, analyzed survey results from American adults (with similar responses found in France and Germany). The survey aimed to assess public attitudes toward the medical use of genetic engineering (gene therapy).
The survey revealed a “distorted” public understanding of the topic. Fernbach emphasized that this result aligns with his previous work on the Dunning-Kruger effect and the psychology of extremism: “Extreme views often stem from people thinking they understand complex topics better than they actually do.”
Now, as always, society needs to figure out how to deal with this.
What Is Stupidity?
David Krakauer, president of the Santa Fe Institute, pointed out in an interview with Steve Paulson (for Nautilus) that stupidity is not simply the opposite of intelligence:
“At the core of stupidity is the idea that having more data doesn’t increase your chances of solving a problem correctly. In fact, it increases the likelihood that you’ll make a mistake.”
On the other hand, according to Krakauer, the essence of intelligence is the ability to solve complex problems in simple and elegant ways.
“Stupidity is a very interesting phenomenon in human history, and it’s connected to systems of rules that prevent people from reaching the truth. It’s interesting that there are entire departments dedicated to studying intelligence. But if you asked me what the biggest problem facing the world today is, I’d say it’s stupidity.
It’s embarrassing to be a stupid professor. That’s why there should be a professorship dedicated to studying stupidity.”
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