Theory of stupidity

Someone back in time coined the adage ‘patriotism is the refuge of a scoundrel’. With time, someone else substituted this epigram to read ‘politics’ instead of patriotism. These sayings could be applied to a system of government when harbouring wrongdoings.

Political parties have erroneously assumed that being elected to govern gives them a divine right to be haughty, conceited and sometimes arrogant. When a suspicious activity is being exposed and pertinent questions asked it requires a true and rightful response that merits reprimanded action.

A stamp printed by Germany, shows Dietrich Bonhoeffer, protestant theologian, circa 1995. Photo: Shutterstock.com

A shady doing leaves little space for common sense to prevail. Every possible excuse and backlash to undermine the accusation is brought forward to ignore any allegation of fault or offence. That brings me to why I quote and chose Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a title.

The theory of stupidity does not have to do with the level of intelligence, as Bonhoeffer infers, when he wrote that “it is a force that blinds us and hinders our ability to reason. It is more dangerous than malice itself, wilfully refusing to engage in critical thinking and self-reflection. Such is the manner of people who follow certain ideologies with a passion and their unwillingness to consider alternative perspective even in the face of contradictory evidence”.

Bonhoeffer saw stupidity as a mental block when there is abuse of power or peer pressure influenced by external factors such as propaganda, fear and ideology or a desire of belonging most evidently ever so often.

Once a person in power has the capability of enhancing his arrogance by degrading and belittle anyone who dares confronts his arguments it goes to show that stupidity is not an intellectual issue but a moral one. We are witnessing how disinformation is emphasised to secure political power and suppress political thinking.

Bonhoeffer observed that stupidity becomes more dangerous when combined with power. Brainwashing in today’s world makes it more easily achieved with fake news, conspiracy theories and manipulation.

When people ignore self-evident truth or allow themselves to be influenced by such power, that of turning a blind eye to morally or legally wrong, thus allowing evil to exist, then it is a downward path to anarchy.

As a wise man once said, “the only thing for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.

Francesco Simon Mercieca – Fgura