No. of Recommendations: 11
Borrowed from GB Shaw
German minister and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer struggled to explain what happened to the German people in the 1930s. He wrote the following about the danger of prevalent stupidity in a society:
Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one's prejudgment simply need not be believed ' in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical ' and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly 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. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
[Emphasis mine]. Bonhoeffer also observed that stupid people tended to confuse their stubborn refusal to accept reasoned ideas as a sign of their higher contrarian intellect, or free thinking. This article brings it all home.
The Nazis imprisoned Bonhoeffer (after he refused a chance to escape to England), and he was hanged in a prison camp days before the Allies liberated it.
