What can be learned from the stupid?

The pandemic period has assaulted me with stupidity – left, right, centre, top and down. It has been a very painful period. Some will say, “Well, you didn’t have to take in all that stupidity. You could have just looked elsewhere.” Before I get into that get into the interview with Piers Corbyn’s below. If the video disappears I have a copy, which I’ll repost.

_{The following is a transcript of what as said, that may not be 100% accurate.}

02:11 PM: … let’s get to what you were actually protesting about do you believe the coronavirus do you believe the coronavirus pandemic is real
02:24 PC: well there’s various views on this i mean some some doctors say uh that actually what we’re seeing is some sort of flu that’s been around for 46 years and others say well uh it doesn’t exist at all there isn’t actually   a virus everything  happens is exaggerated..
02:38 PM & SR: what’s your view?
02:40PC:  well let me well uh what we’re doing is we’re challenging the government to give actual evidence that there is a virus and we’ve given them until the fifth of September to reply to show under standard tests that there is a virus.
02:53: SR: The prime  minister himself was hospitalized with the virus how much more evidence do you need
02:59 PC: Well was he hospitalized with the virus or was he ill from something else. You see there’s a lot of claims going on uh and  of course there might have been something happening in the past
03:08  PM: Okay just to clarify, you’re suggesting the British prime minister invented having a virus that may not exist.
03:18 PC: I don’t know if anyone invented it or not but I would say that uh the numbers of people getting whatever,  they’re getting is declining rapidly and there’s no justification whatsoever..
03:30  PM: Mr Corbyn let me just jump in just to clarify the numbers 25 million people around the world have tested positive for corona virus COVID-19.
03:40 PC: Well yeah and over 800 yeah…
03:44 PM: let me finish the question then i will…do not worry let me finish the question …don’t interrupt me I’ll let you answer…
03:53 PM: over 800,0000 people have now died from COVID-19 that is a demonstrable fact. Now what part of that do you think does not constitute a pandemic?
04:06: PC: Well 800 000 people have died and they’ve been labelled Covid when it might have been completely something else it is not a pandemic because the numbers dying are nothing different from a normal year of people dying as they die all the time and secondly it is not a high consequence infectious disease and that was declared by the government and the world health organisation on march the 19th so what we have is a psychological operation.. a psychological operation to close down the economy in the interests of mega corporations..

Am I saying that Piers Corbyn is stupid? Yes – I am saying so and he can find me and sue for defamation if he wishes. Bring it on! If it comes to court, his lawyers are instantly informed that my assertion is fair comment – and I will supply a brutal analysis of cognitive distortions, vagueness on his part, evasiveness and his thoughts infected with gross irrationality when referenced against the rules of logic. I’m not providing my analysis of the rubbish spoken by Corbyn here.

What do I learn from the stupid?

I learn the extent of their lack of reasoning. They gravitate to other stupid people because they don’t want their stupidity to be assaulted by people with ‘sense’. They form groups and repeat the same illogical garbage. The seeming power in numbers reinforces their confidence. Herd instincts which works in ‘numbers’ believing the same thing, further reinforces their stupidity.

But this is not just about Corbyn. Teams of govt scientists have been afflicted too by the above similar processes. Stupidity lives among the highly intelligent too. So it is not just about people being categorised into ‘stupid’ and ‘intelligent’. Bonhoeffer was right and is still right. By ‘stupid person’ I take it that he means a person afflicted by stupidity at a moment in time – scientist, big-mouth or pleb.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer ( 1906 – 1945)
“On Stupidity’ – Letters and Papers from Prison

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.

Wut! How? OMG!

Stupid: Look.. this post is ridiculous. You are totally insulting!

CW: Really?

Stupid:  Yes

CW: Good..back in the box!

Stupid: No.. stop..

CW: No – you’re gone! Poof! End of!

Disclaimer & Guidance