The empire of imbeciles in organizations

I see you riddled by poisonous flies. Take refuge where a strong cold wind blows! Take refuge in your solitude, my friend! You've already lived too long between mediocre and miserable. Run away from his invisible revenge!

They think only of taking revenge on you.

Don't raise your hand.

They are legion, and your destiny is not to become a fly swatter. Those mediocre and miserable people are very numerous, and you know that the raindrops and the weeds have ended up knocking down a magnificent building… However, try that your destiny is not to have to support all its poisonous justice. (Nietzsche, F., 2000, p. 53).

This paper aims to describe the nature of imbecile minds, how they act, and how they manage to succeed in life. It is introductory in nature, in such a way that it serves as a basis for future research on this topic. In this sense, the importance of their study, the types of people that exist, the fundamental laws of stupidity, the general bases that support it and, finally, some conclusions are raised.

Introduction

The issue of imbecility is very important in the analysis of organizations, as it can help us understand many phenomena that occur within companies and unravel some characteristics of individuals, which have remained hidden until now. Despite its enormous importance, little research is found on the nature of imbecility; perhaps, due to the sensitivity of the subject and because we do not like to know that there are many imbeciles in society and that a large part of the ills that afflict us find their explanation in this typically human characteristic.

This is one of the reasons why geniuses do not develop in our countries.

When a genie arises, it is immediately detected by the imbecilic individuals and a whole huge mass ruthlessly falls on it until it destroys it. To do this, they use all the means at their disposal, even if they are labyrinthine, in order to achieve their objective. It is that stupid individuals attack with the same hatred of science with which Newton defended it. Smart people are a hindrance to their evil ends; therefore, they attack them mercilessly and sadistically. Idiots spend most of their time thinking about how to harm non-idiots, hindering the normal development of activities. Therefore, they raise the cost in organizations. Herein lies the importance of studying imbecility, in the search for ways to identify imbecilic individuals and, in turn,know their true nature to be able to face them.

Why studying imbeciles is important to organizations

The study of imbecile individuals has had little discussion within organizations, despite the fact that these types of people exist in abundance. They are found everywhere, in the universities, in the churches, in the companies, in the unions; in short, wherever you are. They have the characteristic of ubiquity. As these people are very harmful to the development of organizations and humanity, it is necessary to reflect on them, in order to know them and be able to fight them. This is a must. If imbeciles understood how harmful they are to society, they would exile themselves and constitute a parallel world, the world of imbeciles or, at least, put up a sign that said: “I am an imbecile, stay away from me”,like the men - from The Apocalypse - who had the mark of the beast. But, as this is impossible, imbeciles do not have the ability to know themselves and perceive the enormous evil caused by their sad existence and, furthermore, because nature is not sentimental when creating these beings, we are condemned to live with them and worse still if the theory of the eternal return, which Nietzsche defends, is true; therefore, we must know them, identify them and face them. Their wickedness and hatred are of such magnitude that they spread hemlock everywhere, when they should be consuming it. So the least we can do is walk away because they are an offense to the upright and brilliant minds; although it is difficult to do it because they are always in search of intelligent people,since the latter constitute a danger to them. They are like criminal dictators. Their history, as in the case of Hitler, states that very rarely do they stop by themselves, it is necessary that someone stop them. And to do it, you have to know them.

The imbeciles are like a barrel full of manure, with many holes, that has been rolling on a slope and splashing the individuals they find in its path. They resemble the swamp, which contains rot; therefore, the farther they are, the better and, as they are many, they constitute an enormous amorphous mass; remember that between bodies the law of gravity works.

We must be far and high from them not to hear their cursing voices. "It is necessary to be trained in living in the mountains, - said Nietzsche - in seeing below oneself the petty quackery of politics and the selfishness of the peoples (Nietzsche, F. 1999, p. 19).

Foolish and mediocre fools hate bright people and spend their entire sad lives looking for ways to hurt them. Therefore, it is essential to identify their characteristics and their way of acting because they always see as enemies the brilliant minds, the honest ones who attack without mercy with the intention of destroying them, even if they have to destroy themselves. They are true kamicazes. It is true that stupid and mediocre are harmful everywhere, even in your home; however, they are more damaging in institutions where they are dedicated to teaching, because our youth, the generation of relief, are being trained there. Imagine yourself, a teacher with a stupid and mediocre mind in front of young people with a brilliant mind.

What a terrible paradox! The importance of addressing the issue of imbecility is great. These enormously increase costs in companies and even more so the social costs in organizations and threaten the emotional stability of people.

The results of a study by Proudfoot Consulting of workers in nine countries for more than 10,000 hours showed that low European productivity is the result of mediocre management, Managing for mediocrity. Perhaps it will help to include in the study plans of the Faculties of Administration a subject called Stupidology.

It will be necessary, then, to know them and to know them well. The mediocre and imbeciles in this country are the worst there are. Although in general, the mediocre and imbecile of our country is easily identified by its immense pride and, in addition, many persist in being so, there are some who are not very easy to identify. These are the most dangerous. Knowledge of them will make the strategy to use easier and, therefore, the processes of personal and group development will flow with greater dynamism.

Get used to it - said Marco Aurelio - to be very attentive to what another says, and as far as possible penetrates the soul of the one who speaks (Book VI, 53). Sun Tzu already recognized it, too, when he affirmed… “Know the enemy and know yourself; you will never be in danger in a hundred battles ”(The Art of War, 1963). The central thought of Socratic teaching is the Delphi maxim "know thyself" (nosce te ipsum).

Hence, Socrates recommended to Alcibiades that he practice self-knowledge, as a way of developing reason: "this part seems really divine and whoever looks at it and discovers in it all that superhuman character, a god and an intelligence, it may well be said that both he better knows himself »(Alcibiades, 133 C). Combating these types of individuals (if they can be called that) is not only a necessity but also a duty; and, as they constitute an immense flock of imbeciles and arrogant, who perspire hatred through their pores, run over those they meet on their way, something will have to be done to marginalize them to the underworld of caves, of shadows, a place where they should be confined forever.

The words of Cervantes, in Don Quixote's mouth, are stimuli for action:…..so, I am almost forced to continue on his path, and for him I have to go despite everyone, and it will be for nothing to tire you. In persuading me not to want what the heavens want, fortune orders and reason asks, and, above all, my will wishes;….. (De Cervantes, Miguel, Second Part. Chap. VI, p. 592). If God Himself fights them, how could we not, mere mortals, do it… God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. (James, 4: 6). It is true that diversity must be respected; but, the intelligence of those who want to eliminate it must also be protected. Let us remember Newton in his defense against the ignorant, the hatred with which he defended science.

Hate can exist, also, in great men, when they passionately defend their ideals and, nevertheless, cannot feel envy; the imbecile hates to offend and slander and, at the same time, feels envy at the development of people. Envy is typical of obtuse minds. The inability to have lofty ideals motivates imbeciles to envy and slander. Slander and envy are his favorite resources.

For this reason, this work should be considered an apology for the least, those humble and brilliant people and a tenacious combat against the majority, the imbeciles and mediocre who constitute the majority. Is this undemocratic behavior? Should we give prominence to the majority? It does not matter whether or not it is undemocratic behavior. Let's leave this discussion for another time. Or will we allow this flock of imbeciles and mediocre people with pygmy and embryonic mentality, protected by the majority, to destroy the honor of the people? We will have to act today, so as not to regret it later. It is an unequal fight quantitatively and qualitatively, it is a fight of the least against the most. Many are the andantes - said Sancho. Many - replied Don Quixote -; but few who deserve names of knights (De Cervantes, Miguel, Second Part.chap. VIII, p. 608).

It is true that the majority government is fundamental for the good to live. However, it is not true that democracy always brings benefits for everyone. Democracy works when the majority is made up of rational individuals; But, simply observing the functioning of organizations shows that most people are irrational or act with limited rationality. When the majority of the population is stupid, in a democratic system the majority attack the non-stupid and they are unprotected. Aristotle was a faithful defender of rationality and democracy; However, he warned that when the population was made up, for the most part, of infamous and wicked individuals, democracy became a form of government not highly recommended. Let's see belowwhat Aristotle raises about it:

"We will deal with the other proposals elsewhere. As for that of the majority being sovereign before the best and few, it may seem like a solution that has some difficulty, but that, for the time being, also offers some truth.

Indeed, it can be admitted that these many, each of whom is in itself a mediocre man, are, however, when gathered, better, not individually, but taken together; the crowd is made as a single man with multiple feet and many hands and many senses, and the same is true of characters and intelligence. That is the reason why most people judge musical and poetic works better. Some appreciate one part, and others another, and all of them all (…) unless the mass is too debased "(Aristotle: Politics, Book III, chap. 11, 1281b and 1282a, the bold is ours).

Gödel's own theorem is an objection to the democratic system of government, by posing the impossibility of solving all problems within its own limits.

But what is an asshole? The concept imbecil comes from the Greek: im = sin and becil = staff; that is, those who did not have a cane. The jerk is not without support; Rather, it refers to the person who makes a mistake, despite being told to do so. What imbeciles lack are immaterial supports, such as morality, noble ideals and reason.

In a more modern sense, the asshole is a serious deviation from rational and adaptive behavior. That is, the imbecile always adopts stupid behavior. Stupidity has cognitive and moral implications. Smart people can occasionally act stupid; that is to say, as an imbecile; but, the imbecile is permanently disabled to behave like an intelligent person.

It is appropriate to distinguish between blind stupidity and pure stupidity. Blind stupidity happens when a capable person is not aware of that ability. Pure stupidity results when the individual is not actually blind. A person adopts sheer stupidity when he insists on unwise behavior, even though he occasionally acknowledges it. This is the case of the stupid person. Pure stupidity, in this work, we will simply call stupidity or imbecility.

Stupidity shares many characteristics with mediocrity, such as defamation, slander, injury, dishonesty, vulgarity, envy, and the inability to create and adopt lofty ideals; some even consider both terms to be synonyms. However, the term stupid contains the lowest characteristics of human passions.

Mediocrity is the central point between imbecility and genius. The mediocre individual, if we compare him with the imbecile, constitutes progress. Of course, like mediocrity, imbecility has degrees. There are people more stupid than others, and there is the ultra stupid. This is the most dangerous of all.

Wherever you go you find complete imbeciles and mediocre. The world is full of them. Evil is what exists most in this world. But, the imbeciles and mediocre of our country abuse their condition. In our country, the imbecile and mediocre are everywhere, with their looks of criminals, eternal fugitives from reason and dignity, with their ways of walking and speaking typical of the thugs of the old west, with the same costumes, with the same smiles, the eternal depersonalized, the lacking in originality, the historyless, the inoculators of hate and toxin, the poisonous psychopaths, the beings without light, antipodal version of the individual, recycled garbage, obtuse minds, eunuchs and mentally handicapped, with infamous and ignominious past, mixture of beast and human, (although more of beast than of human),prehominids that have not yet distanced themselves from the chimpanzee line; in short, the insane terrorists without names, "the consumptive of the soul", the homo demens demens. Marco Aurelio already recognized it:

"What is evil? It is what you have seen so many times. And on the occasion of everything that happens, keep in mind that it is what you have seen many times. In short, above and below, you will find the same things, of which the fables of yesteryear, the intermediate ones and those of today are full, of which the cities and houses are now full. Nothing is new: everything is habitual and of little duration (Book VII, 1, p. 50) ”.

In organizations there are all kinds of people, assholes and non-assholes. If a leader were to pretend to form a group with only intelligent people, it would not take long for imbeciles to appear in the group who had forked from their group. This phenomenon is known as critical oscillation and makes self-regulation possible in open systems so that they can achieve homeostasis. The existence of imbeciles is necessary for the intelligent, as long as the quantity does not go beyond a certain critical range to maintain balance. In the country, the number of imbecile individuals far exceeds that of the intelligent, so the social system is in a state of permanent chaos and imbalance. Individual stupidity has already reached another dimension: social stupidity.The existing social crisis in the country is a crisis of imbecility.

The imbecilidad is a very powerful force because all the imbeciles are united and never rest in their fight against the intelligent ones. Little by little they are invading all spheres of society, replacing the imbeciles and occupying important positions.

This has led some people to defend imbecility, even ironically, like the famous Chinese poet Sus, who said: Every family, when a child is born, wants it smart. I, with all my intelligence, have suffered and ruined my whole life. I only hope that my son is stupid and ignorant: he will become a minister, thus crowning a placid life.

(Quoted by Ponte di Pino, Oliviero, 2000). And do you also expect your child to be stupid and ignorant so that he can succeed in life? Is it not possible for brilliant minds to achieve happiness in this life? Don't answer me; Answer yourself and act on your response.

Sometimes, too, bright people act like jerks; but, it is more the exception than the norm. However, this does not make him stupid; It reminds him that he is human and nothing that is human is alien to the intelligent.

Already recognized by one of the greatest scientists of antiquity, Pliny: No mortal is wise at all times. When the intelligent person adopts a stupid behavior, he realizes it and tries to control himself. The imbecile is not aware of his imbecility and even less the ultra-imbeciles. These constitute the real problem. Acting as a jerk from time to time is not a serious problem. Seneca thought that sometimes behaving like one was nice: From time to time it is nice to be stupid. And Pythagoras, the philosopher of Samos, advised his young students: Excuse human weaknesses. Homer says that sometimes the gods themselves are neglected. History tells us how many brilliant people behaved like imbeciles; But, they knew how to take advantage of stupidity.This is not the case of pure stupidity, which develops as age progresses.

There are also cases of people adopting stupid behavior for strategic reasons; however, they cannot be considered stupid. It is a simulated tactic of stupidity that is used, many times, to deceive people and take advantage of that situation. This tactic is very dangerous. For example, a display of stupidity to make someone who likes to show power feel important and then take advantage, attack or make fun of them. There is an Ethiopian proverb that shows that situation:

When the great lord passes, the wise peasant bows deeply before him, and silently farts. But, this is not a type of pure stupidity. Stupidity as a tactic is a conscious action. The act of a stupid is unconscious, due to the lack of control of the neocortex that governs the limbic system. Stupid people have problems in the neocortex and, therefore, lack self-control and, for that reason, their love for others is very weak or does not exist. Stupid people are incapable of love; In them there are only interests, like the majority of rulers, from poor countries and great empires. They are all the same, the difference is one of degree.

As the existence of brilliant minds is a danger to the permanence of imbeciles in this world, they are always on the lookout for them, as rabid dogs will often try to tear honest people to pieces and will not rest until their thirst for blood is satisfied. They put all their efforts and foolishness into causing harm to upright people and they will invent a thousand reasons to do so.

King Solomon offers a good description of them: As a dog that returns to its vomit, so is the fool who repeats his foolishness. (Proverbs 26:11). Also, the psalmist says: They will return in the afternoon, they will bark like dogs, and they will surround the city. (Psalms 4: 6). Therefore, one should not have compassion for these failed and decadent; compassion is weakness and we need to be strong and brave against these hemiplegics of the soul; compassion is a sign of sadism and cruelty against life itself, it is an attack against natural selection, it is an offense against humanity itself.

The abundance of so much putrefaction already stinks and suffocates and it will be necessary to act doggedly and soon. They are more, it is true; But, each noble soul is worth thousands of them. Putting the foot on these worms, would disgust.

Let's fight these imbeciles in the field of values, science, art, light and you will see that they are cowards. It is that they feel a deep contempt for ideas, for science, for values, for what is truly human: It is not honey for the donkey's mouth… (De Cervantes, Miguel, First Part. Chap. LII, p. 528). It is necessary to overcome them, society is already fed up with them. As intelligence is not a fundamental characteristic for life (bacteria do not possess intelligence and yet they live) and geniuses are disappearing, it seems that there is a long way to go along with this horde of imbeciles. This constitutes nonsense of which Ecclesiastes speaks. Let us learn to know ourselves, learn to be men, let us no longer discuss what the good man should be like, let us no longer seek the good man (as Diogenes said),let us be ourselves the overcome man and have faith in ourselves. Let's learn from the sea its regeneration process. You have to be a sea- said Nietzsche, (2000, p. 14) - to be able to receive a dirty river without getting dirty at the same time.

Categories of people

To develop this part I will rely on the book by Oliviero Ponte di Pino (2000). Many years ago, humanity could be grouped into two broad categories. Thus, in the Chinese book of transformations, the I Ching, men are classified as superior (the one who practices the precepts and rules of the book) and then the others, those who, by fate, are doomed to ruin.

In the Bible (Proverbs and Psalms), two great human categories are mentioned, the wise and the foolish.

With the development of society, two categories were not enough to classify humanity. Machiavelli, in his very famous book The Prince, classifies men into three categories:

"Because there are three kinds of brains, one that understands by itself, another that discerns by what is said to it and a third that does not understand either by itself or with the help of others, the first being superior in everything, the second excellent and the third useless (Machiavelli, Nicholas, chap. 22) ”.

Confucius spoke of four categories: those born with great intelligence; those who have acquired a lot of knowledge with effort and study; Then there are those who, despite having devoted a lot of effort to study, possess little knowledge and, finally, there are those who, lacking intelligence and without having made an effort to study, remain their entire lives in absolute ignorance.

The French historian and critic, Hyppolite-Adolphe Taine (quoted by ponte di Pino, 2000, p. 74), in his essay De l'intelligence (1870), also established a classification of four groups. There are four species of people in the world: lovers, ambitious people, observers and imbeciles; and the happiest are the latter.

More recently, the Italian historian of economics and writer Carlo María Cipolla, in his Allegro ma non troppo, states that humanity is classified into four classes (in Ponte di Pino, 2000):

1. The unfortunates who only seek their own profit and in the end, instead, their actions end up taking advantage of others;

2. The intelligent, who obtain advantages for themselves and for others;

3. The bandits, who only seek their own profit;

4. The stupid, who harm everyone, unpredictably and blindly.

Others assure, among which is Oliviero Ponte di Pino (2000), that these four categories are not enough to understand humanity, and in the effort to classify people based on degrees of stupidity, there was a need to create political parties. It seems that this, that of the political parties, is the preferred place where most stupid individuals take refuge. Since then, political parties have grown significantly. It is as they say everywhere: There is no fool who does not find his partner.

The fundamental laws of stupidity

Much of this section is a distillate of an article published on the Internet (E: \ laws of stupidity Carlo M_ Cipolla (1922-2000).htm), which was based on Carlo María Cipolla, Allegro ma non troppo, 1988.

First Fundamental Law: Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.

Trying to quantify the number of stupid in a population, besides being expensive, would be a futile task. The number would be so great that it would almost coincide with the population itself. Therefore, the idea of creating a gradual and progressive tax on stupidity, which could be called Stupidity Damage Tax (IDE) applied differently, depending on the degree of stupidity and the position held by individuals, would not be a bad idea. Thus, the greater the degree of stupidity, the greater the tax burden, and the stupid who occupy very delicate charges must pay a higher sum than those with lesser charges. With this tax, the country's external debt can be paid very quickly, in a short time. Of course, to measure the level of stupidity, it is necessary to create a measurement scale and its instrument. A kind of cretinibarometer.You can get an idea of which strata would have to pay more for the IDE.

Second Fundamental Law: The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.

Stupid behavior has an ultimate genetic cause. There is a "stupid" gene in all people, just as there is a selfish gene and a gene for aggression. The factors that trigger stupidity are found in the cultural environment.

Human development is a complex interaction between genetic data and cultural shaping, as modern geneticists insist. However, it seems that it is not very pleasant for many to hear that our behavior has an entirely genetic ultimate cause.

Professor Cipolla conducted many extensive demographic investigations with various population sectors: "blue collar", "white collar" workers, students and university professors. He observed that the stupid fraction was greater than expected and that, regardless of their professional level, the same proportion was maintained. He was very surprised with the results obtained among the university professors. In reality, many non-professors work at universities; rather, they are workers who teach classes; but, they are not teachers, in the true sense of the term. In many cases, they are professionals who have failed in jobs outside the university and have made the university their den. And what is worse, several have even been successful.

The Dilbert principle is not fulfilled here: Less effective workers are systematically moved to positions where they can do less harm: they become managers. Because stupid teachers do a lot of damage in universities.

Third Fundamental Law (or Gold): a stupid person is one who causes losses to another person or group of people without obtaining any profit for himself and even incurring losses.

As we have mentioned, in his Allegro ma non troppo (1988), Carlo María Cipolla analyzes costs and benefits and classifies human beings into four types:

Disgraceful (D): one who causes harm to himself, benefiting others, Clever (I): one who benefits himself, benefiting others, Bandit (B): one who gains benefits for himself, hurting others. Stupid (E): one who causes losses to others, while hurting himself.

Each of them can be located in a quadrant in a coordinate system, as in Figure 1. By representing on the X axis the benefit (+) or cost (-) obtained by a person and on the axis of the And the benefit (+) or cost (-) that it produces to the others with whom it is related, it is possible to define and estimate the coordinates of the types of people mentioned:

There are four possibilities, corresponding to the types of people described: both the person and the person with whom they are related are intelligent; therefore, everyone wins (their transaction is located above and to the right with respect to zero. Both the person and those who are related to are stupid; therefore, everyone loses (transaction below and to the left with respect to zero).

The person is a bandit and, consequently, is profitable; however, the individuals with whom it relates lose (below and to the right of zero). The person is a wretch, so he loses, while the people with whom he interacts benefit (above and to the left of zero).

In the Cipolla graph, a “zero sum” game works; that is, what one loses, another gains. There is a balance. At this point, the following extrapolation can be made, according to Cipolla (commented by Ponte di Pino): in societies where positive-sum games exist, they are destined for progress; while those in which negative sum games predominate, their destiny is decadence.

Although people generally tend to display only one behavior, they do not always do so. Thus, we observe intelligent people acting as stupid or as unfortunate. However, stupid people will normally display stupid behavior in any situation. It is possible to represent the position of the other types of people in terms of an average of the results of their actions based on costs and benefits, caused on themselves and on others on the coordinate axis of the graph1. This allows us to talk about the following:

A "perfect bandit" is one who acts to achieve a benefit for himself equal to the cost it produces in others. The thief who steals another fifty dollars without causing any additional cost, is an example. This case is a 'zero-sum game', in which what one player wins is exactly what the other loses; that is, the whole of society neither wins nor loses. The "perfect bandit" is represented on the coordinate axis of graph 2, on the line OM that bisects quadrant B.

But, the "perfect bandits" are very rare types. It is easier to find "intelligent bandits" (Bi), who obtain more benefits than the damages they cause, or "stupid bandits" (Be) who, to obtain some benefit, cause a high cost to others. So the bandits that stay above the OM line are relatively few in number. The individual Be is much more frequent. For example, a worker who denigrates another just to satisfy his selfishness.

The same can happen with the unfortunate. A "perfect wretch" is one who with his behavior produces harm to himself equal to the benefit it causes to others. An expectant mother who prefers to die in exchange for her son to live is an example. Also, in this case, it is a “zero sum game”, in which what one loses, the other wins.

The “perfect wretch” is represented on the coordinate axis of graph 3 on the ON line that bisects quadrant D. This type of person is rare; there are more “smart bastards” (Di), who with little harm achieve greater benefits for others, or “stupid bastards” (De), who achieve some benefit with high costs for him. The "stupid bastards" are more frequent than the "smart bastards". Example of individuals De are observed a lot at work. There are individuals who, to make their bosses feel good, adopt a very submissive, even humiliating, behavior. Also, it is very frequent to observe the “stupid bastards” in political parties.

The danger of stupidity

To deal with stupid behavior you will have to know it; however, it is not very easy to understand this type of behavior. It is easier to keep track of the logic of a bandit's behavior. Let's see why. Observing the behavior of a bandit, we see that it follows a model of rationality.

He always seeks to obtain benefits, and since he is not capable of achieving them, also seeking benefits for others, he does so by harming others. And, although this is not fair, it is rational (rationality is not always accompanied by truth and justice) and, being rational, it is possible to foresee such conduct and, therefore, to prepare the defense. On the other hand, with a stupid person, defense is very difficult. It is that stupid individuals, as we have mentioned and as predicted by the Third Fundamental Law, are very insistent to persecute the intelligent, without any plan, in all possible places. They have a very keen sense of smell to detect intelligent people and even dream of harming them.

They are true psychopaths. Actually, it is very difficult for an intelligent mind to understand such a personality type, and even more difficult to defend itself, because these people use the most vulgar and dishonest methods that intelligent people do not dare to use. They are completely irrational.

And it is that, both the intelligent person and the bandit and the unlucky wretch, are aware of their behavior; However, the stupid does not know that he is stupid and this contributes greatly to giving greater strength, incidence and efficiency to his devastating power.

Fourth Fundamental Law: Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupid people. The non-stupid, especially, constantly forget that at any time, place and circumstance, dealing with and / or associating with stupid individuals is unfailingly manifest as a costly mistake.

The unfortunate and unsuspecting people, that is to say, those who in graphs 1 and 2 are located in quadrant D, do not recognize how dangerous stupid people are, due to their short vision; so this fact is not strange. But, what is strange is that intelligent people and bandits fail to recognize and understand, almost always, the immense damaging capacity of stupidity.

It is very difficult to explain this fact. Perhaps this is due to the fact that both the intelligent and the bandits, when faced with an attack by the stupid, prefer to despise or ignore them instead of defending themselves and believing, falsely, that they will give up their efforts, and they do not imagine that the stupid will always be on the lookout for the smart ones.

Smart people, because of their brain structure and values, find it extremely difficult to recognize that a stupid individual is capable of committing so much evil against others, and they believe that a stupid person can only harm himself.

Big mistake that has serious consequences for the survival of the smartest. With some frequency, in organizations, people are united with a stupid individual to achieve certain objectives. This is another mistake that shows a great ignorance of the essential characteristic of stupidity and, on many occasions, it is counterproductive and harmful, since the stupid person shows erratic behavior that makes it impossible to foresee his actions.

Fifth Fundamental Law: The stupid person is the most dangerous type of person that exists.

The following corollary is derived from this law:

The stupid is more dangerous than the bandit

The fifth law and its corollary have global implications. Imagine a society made up only of perfect bandits.

In such a situation, although society would be stagnant, it would not enter a disastrous situation; rather, a fluid mass transfer of goods and wealth would function in society. So far, everything works fine. The problem arises when the stupid appear, since they produce losses to other people, without any benefit to themselves and, therefore, society as a whole is impoverished.

Graph 3 shows what we have said previously. The shares located to the right of the NOM line represent a net social benefit; on the other hand, the actions that are to the left or below said line pose a scheme of net social losses.

Professor Carlo M. Cipolla affirms that the coefficient σ is a historical constant. The question then arises: Why do some societies develop and others not only stagnate but, what is worse, deteriorate frankly? It depends exclusively on the high degree of debasement of the population, due to the massive existence of imbeciles and the strategic capacity of intelligent individuals to face the stupid.

Cipolla observes that in declining societies, the percentage of stupid individuals remains equal to σ; while in the rest of the population, mainly among individuals in power, bandits with a high percentage of stupidity abound.

On the other hand, there is an alarming increase in the number of the unfortunate unwary, among individuals who are not in power. Such a change in the population composition of the non-stupid is the one that inevitably reinforces the destructive power of the σ fraction and leads the country to ruin.

The journalist and writer Pino Aprile, in his book Elogio del imbécil, analyzes the rise of stupidity in the face of intelligence, which, in the end, will be extinguished. The book answers questions like: Why are there so many stupid people in the world? Or why is it that the first person to ascend is the most idiotic in the office?

Aprile, to defend his thesis of the disappearance of intelligence, ironically points out that the intelligence that saved the human being from extinction, has already finished its function. The intelligent have built the world, but those who enjoy it and those who succeed in it are the imbeciles. The author is based on a series of laws:

First law: “The imbecile survives. Genius is extinguished ”Corollary of the first law:“ Fools rather than dead ”A principle:“ Evolution prefers a living fool, than a dead genius. In exchange for giving us life, evolution asks us for the brain "Second law on the end of intelligence:" Modern man lives to become silly "Third law:" Intelligence works for the benefit of stupidity and contributes to its expansion " Fourth law: "The imbecility can only increase" Fifth law: "The union does not make the force, but the imbecility"

A characteristic of stupidity is violence; therefore, the growth of stupidity leads to violence. "The stupid when he has no arguments screams, sometimes he raises his hands and if he has power he destroys those who ask questions, power is afraid of intelligence," adds Aprile.

Basis of imbecility

The analysis of mediocrity and imbecility requires a multidisciplinary approach, involving etiology, neurobiology, psychology, and even quantum physics and logic, since the individual is the product of a bio-psycho process -Social.

Human behavior is, in part, determined by physical laws, the same laws that totally govern the behavior of the atom. Of these elements, the biological one is, perhaps, the most unknown and is the object of neuroscience with the study of the brain. It is in the brain where we must look for the fundamental causes of this type of behavior and of all behaviors; therefore, the brain should be a compulsory study of any discipline; Ultimately, all our behavior, all our vision of the world and all attitude towards life depends on it.

Perhaps the world would be different if we knew how the brain works in interaction with the body. There is a directly proportional relationship between knowledge of the brain and knowledge of the possibilities of development as individuals. As we learn more about the organization and functioning of our brain and nervous system, we will be better able to know all our immense capacities to develop as a human species. In him are the bases of our aggressiveness, of hatred, of love, of envy, of mediocrity, of imbecility, in short, of all human passions. It is not true that, when we are born, our brain is like a tabla rasa (tanquam tabula rasa).

Individuals, men and women, have different abilities and this makes us different from each other; It is not that some are superior to others, we are simply different. Each person inherits some more developed abilities than others, and therefore the results will have to be different. Thinking that to be successful in life depends on the will of the people and the opportunities that are presented to them, is a way of thinking that is not serious.

In summary, imbecile and mediocre behavior is the product of the interaction of environmental and genetic factors; however, the environment by itself does not act mechanically, but depends on how the individual internalizes that environment; that is, on how the person interprets a certain experience and this interpretation will depend on the meaning that the same subject assigns to him, consciously or unconsciously.

Some conclusions

Crick says that our highly complex and developed brains did not evolve to discover scientific truths, but simply to become more intelligent and cooperative in order to survive, reproduce and perpetuate the species.

The message that will have to be rescued from all this is: do not lose hope, perhaps the times will come when in this world full of imbeciles and mediocre, of people so superficial and stupid, diversity allows the emergence of exceptional men and women. Recall that: “Kepler was born from the copulation of a drunk military man and a witch. In their day, psychotics were generally accused of sorcerers. (…) Diversity is an essential factor of evolution since it is the one that allows the most varied «mixtures». (…) Progress can be born from the diversity of concepts, from the diversity of original solutions to a problem posed. (Laborit, Henri, 1975) ”.

One of the many pieces of advice that the philosopher of Samos offered his students was not to despair or discourage the human species. Over time, the clay turns into marble.

Therefore, even in this empty and stupid world, there is the hope that individuals will one day change to develop a life different from the current one, in which we are more rational, in which there are less imbeciles, in which reason triumphs about it without reason and let's be more responsible with ourselves, as a condition to be responsible with others.

And just as the stars reach their brilliant end by collapsing under the action of their own gravity to create new stars and the basic elements (carbon and oxygen) that gave rise to life, so the human being reaches his true apotheosis when he assumes responsibility his actions at all moments of his life, aware of his limitations and the finitude of his existence; but also aware that it is part of a planetary community.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we can repeat all the words of Rabindranath Tagore:

I cannot choose the best.

The best chooses me.

The best does not come alone.

It comes with the company of the All.

Bibliography

Castellanos Moya, Horacio (1997). Disgust. El Salvador: Editorial Arcoiris

Crick, Francis (1995). The scientific search for the soul. Barcelona: Ed. Debate

De Cervantes, Miguel (2004). Don Quijote of La Mancha. Mexico: Editorial Impresora Apolo. Edition of the IV Centennial

Di Pino, Oliviero Ponte (2000). Anyone who doesn't read this book is a jerk. Madrid: Grupo Santillana de Ediciones, SA

Gómez P., Marco Antonio (2004). Pythagoras. Mexico: Grupo Editorial Tomo, SA de CV

Engineers, José (2005). The mediocre man. El Salvador: Salvadoran Legal Editorial