Stupidity as Normal by James F Welles* in Significances of Bioengineering & Biosciences_ Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering
Abstract
When
considering “Stupidity” in such works, it is important to distinguish between
the word and the phenomenon. The word stems from the Latin stupere , meaning
dumb or astounded and is related to “Stupor”. It may be used to designate a
mentality which is informed, deliberate and maladaptive but nevertheless
normal. Usually, the term “Stupidity” is used like an extreme swear word-a
put-down for those deemed intellectually inferior although this tactic may
reveal more about the attitude of the user than the cognitive abilities of the
designatee(s). On the other hand, as a disparaging term for members of an
outgroup, the word “Stupidity” often indicates little more than a biased
evaluation of behavior. If we do “X” it is smart or necessary; if they do “X”
it is stupid [1].
For
example, when contemplating President Reagan’s “Star Wars” defense system,
freespending Democrats suddenly became fiscal conservatives, [2] so spending on
that program was deemed stupid. As the same act may be interpreted as both
stupid and reasonable (or brilliant), we do indeed live in a perceptual world
of “A” and “Not A”: that is, a statement may be true and false at the same time
e.g., “History is about people” is superficially true, but it is also about
geography, economics, psychology,
etc,. [3]. Further, changes through time may alter prejudiced evaluations, so
the label “Stupid” may express nothing more than a temporal estimate made
according to arbitrary standards subjectively applied to perceived conditions.
Thus, stupidity was invoked as the best explanation for the deaths of thousands
of young men during WWII for
no good reason over
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