Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (1976)
What makes a person stupid? If I have a friend who squanders their money while I save and build up wealth, are they stupid? What if they have a much happier and more fulfilling life than I do?If you have a difficult job (like brain surgeon), but are terrible at most of the other parts of your life, does that make you stupid?Are slow readers stupid? What if they invent a product or start a business that makes them a lot of money?“Smart” and “stupid” are such harsh, black and white terms. They leave no room for the many shades of gray in between.We all think we’re smart, even if we say we don’t. No one wants to be the dumb kid.I feel like being “smart” usually just means you can think and process information a little bit faster than others. But like having a super fast cpu installed, it’s really a matter of what you do with it. You could write a bestselling novel on a slower computer. You could have a super computer and just go on Facebook all day.It seems like every time I feel like I’m smart, I see someone who I thought was dumber who is more successful or happier than me, and I wonder if I was that much smarter in the first place.