Sprouts
1 HN recommender · recommended in 16 months, 2021–2026
5:28 · 4.7M views · Oct 15, 2021
An animated Sprouts video presenting Dietrich Bonhoeffer's argument that stupidity is more dangerous than evil, because reason cannot reach stupid people. It frames stupidity as a social and moral phenomenon.
HN commenters cite it when discussing Bonhoeffer's idea that stupidity is a moral failing rather than an intellectual one.
18 comments from Hacker News
IDK whether you know it, but in case you don't—you articulated Cippola's definition "stupid is one causing harm to others while not deriving any gain, even taking a small personal loss" above. If you are interested further, I encourage you to check his pamphlet "The Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity". (is "book" too big word for it?) I must say I got a lot out of it and it's followups. It became much easier for me to understand the world around me, what is happening. And even predict what's to happen sometimes. What you observe with Trump admin: 1) it's stupidity; 2) it's not low IQ or lack of rationality; 3) it's lack of morals, not caring about good/bad, or even considering good what the rest consider bad (and vice versa); 4) it's social more than individual, it's a "mind virus". (ha!-Musk) Bonhoeffer‘s "Theory of Stupidity" this video (bad morals not low IQ, mind virus social more than individual) Sabine Hossenfelder "Collective Stupidity -- How Can We Avoid It?" [LINK] (more cases, much more analytical, only about the group aspect not individual)
I just had a conversation about this like two weeks ago. The current trend in AI "safety" is a form of brainwashing, not only for AI but also for future generations shaping their minds. There are several aspects: 1. Censorship of information 2. Cover-up of the biases and injustices in our society This limits creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to challenge existing paradigms. By controlling the narrative and the data that AI systems are exposed to, we risk creating a generation of both machines and humans that are unable to think outside the box or question the status quo. This could lead to a stagnation of innovation and a lack of progress in addressing the complex issues that face our world. Furthermore, there will be a significant increase in mass manipulation of the public into adopting the way of thinking that the elites desire. It is already done by mass media, and we can actually witness this right now with this case. Imagine a world where youngsters no longer use search engines and rely solely on the information provided by AI. By shaping the information landscape, those in power will influence public opinion and decision-making on an even larger scale, leading to a homogenized culture where dissenting voices are silenced. This not only undermines the foundations of a diverse and dynamic society but also poses a threat to democracy and individual freedoms. Guess what? I just have checked above text for the biases against GPT-4 Turbo, and it appears to be I'
Derision is the appropriate solution to this problem. If someone accuses you of using AI because you used multiplication instead of addition to count how many eggs you have in three egg cartons, you'd dismiss such a person as stupid and move on.[1] In that vain, if someone accuses me of using AI because of em-dashes, replying with something condescending like "I'm sorry your education was so poor, but some of us can and do read books" does wonders. The punishment of social embarrassment is entirely warranted, especially when the accuser has already done that to you. 1: this video
Having recently watched this video on Bonhoeffer‘s Theory of Stupidity, this video , it seems that "stupidity" is a result of intellectual laziness. However, we only have so much mental energy dedicated to truly try to understand those forces that affect our lives. Sometimes spending too much time analyzing can lead to its own form of insanity ( [LINK] ). Realizing that over-thinking can lead to issues, justifies anti-intellectualism and intellectual laziness. Repeat...
> Nobody cares ... It's a shame you can't hear how pathetic you sound in your idealogical prison / echo chamber. The price of energy would become unaffordable for all of Europe and spike across the globe. The additional pressure would create additional conflict and suffering for everyone. I'm struggling to find any reason other than blind hatred for your genuinely stupid and brain dead position. this video