“Idiots are out in force again today,” uttered my father sotto voce whenever someone cut him off or flagrantly disobeyed the road rules.
asserted
someone → utter → rules
From the back seat, I, a young lad naive to Sydney’s road rage, interpreted this to mean the “idiots” had got themselves organised.
asserted
themselves → interpret → rage
They were deploying en masse to the great inconvenience, even danger, of us ordinary citizens.
asserted
They → deploy → citizens
The separation between norms and idiots may not have been as impermeable as my father supposed.
uncertain
father → suppose → norms
Norwegian philosopher Lars Svendsen explains in the recently translated Stupid Idiots: A Philosophy of Stupidity and Complete and Utter Downright Idiocy that at times we’re all stupid and idiotic.
asserted
we → explain → times
Svendsen’s examination has been timed to a moment when both have taken the world by storm.
asserted
both → time → storm
First, a distinction: the stupid are those who choose not to think, while the idiots among us think poorly.
asserted
idiots → choose → us
From this point, the author develops a taxonomy via a survey of philosophers and writers.
asserted
author → develop → philosophers
Kant, who features heavily, considered stupidity a lack of judgment, while Socrates labelled the stupid as those who failed to examine life.
asserted
who → feature → life
We, of course, could not leave without mention of Harry Frankfurt’s seminal On Bullshit, who defined bullshit as a disregard for the truth (as opposed to lying, which acknowledges truth and says the opposite).
uncertain
which → leave → opposite
This introduces us to an overlapping concept: stupid idiocy.
asserted
This → introduce → concept
Through its short but incisive exploration of failures to think well, Stupid Idiots paradoxically becomes a guide to rigorous thinking.
asserted
Idiots → think → thinking
For it is at the border between wisdom and idiocy that greatest insights lie.
asserted
insights → lie → wisdom
It is also an exercise in humility as those who consider themselves best informed are most likely to err – like when Schopenhauer explains that one can “read themselves stupid” by consuming only literature that accords with their opinions.
asserted
that → consider → opinions
Svendsen recommends the budding Marxist pick up Hayek and vice versa.
asserted
Marxist → recommend → Hayek
Through echo-chamber busting, Svendsen suggests a return to the fundamentals of discourse and a subtle rejection of our fractured, dug-in politics.
uncertain
Svendsen → suggest → politics
Instead, if we cultivate critical thinking, are suspicious of orthodoxy and listen to those holding opposing views, we have a real shot at avoiding idiocy, if not attaining wisdom.
asserted
we → cultivate → wisdom
On the other hand, Stupid Idiots articulates how the chips are stacked to the advantage of the habitually moronic.
asserted
chips → articulate → moronic
The Dunning-Kruger effect, for example, boils down to the less you know about a subject the smarter you think you are.
asserted
you → boil → subject
You simply don’t know how much you don’t know.
asserted
you → know → much
Meanwhile, bad information (bullshit) travels further and faster than the truth.
asserted
information → travel → truth
Svendsen’s work exudes tolerance and empathy on the subject of human fallibility.
asserted
work → exude → fallibility
Great thinkers have all been idiots at times: Heidegger was a Nazi, Aristotle thought women had fewer teeth than men, and Schopenhauer believed in all sorts of paranormal nonsense.
asserted
Schopenhauer → think → nonsense
Indeed, our discourse, the basis of our political system, can and must withstand certain amounts of stupidity and idiocy.
asserted
discourse → withstand → stupidity
The author states that conservatives tend to be stupid, as they too readily accept authority, while progressives are more likely to be idiots as they overestimate their outside-the-box thinking.
asserted
they → state → thinking
Things only go awry when we reach a critical mass of stupid idiots.
asserted
we → go → idiots
They are those who think badly and are so pigheaded they refuse to be swayed by life, experience or contradictory data.
asserted
they → think → life
All dictators are stupid idiots as they cannot stomach dissenting opinion.
asserted
they → stomach → opinion
And so, in rounding its final corner, Stupid Idiots reaches the subject it had been alluding to all along: Donald Trump.
asserted
it → round → subject
So rare IRL does one meet a near-perfect archetype.
asserted
one → meet → archetype
Trump, who is convinced “nobody knows more about this than me”, routinely demonstrates stupid idiocy par excellence.
asserted
nobody → convince → idiocy
What is special about this book is that up to now it appears more beard stroking philosophy until the revelation it has been a political script the entire time.
asserted
it → appear → revelation
Through acknowledging this, Stupid Idiots is short, sharp, rigorous and avoids condescension.
asserted
Idiots → acknowledge → condescension
It is a guide to how we can all think better and an admission that fallible thinking is universal.
asserted
thinking → think → ?
Or in other words, to “duh” is human.
asserted
duh → duh → words
Stupid Idiots: A Philosophy of Stupidity and Complete and Utter Downright Idiocy by Lars Svendsen, translated by Matt Bagguley, is published by Reaktion Books ($35).
asserted
Idiots → translate → Books
What else is happening in the book world?
asserted
What → happen → world
- Pulitzer prizewinner Barbara Kingsolver on her new novel and Appalachian pride
- He lasted 11 days in Trump’s White House.
asserted
He → last → House
Now the Mooch has a warning
asserted
Mooch → have → warning
- This novel is the raw, moving reality check Australian fiction needs
asserted
fiction → need → ?
The Aporia
