This easy read book gives us a new perspective of looking at our society. The author has talked about 5 laws of stupidity, which are not laws of nature but are observations. Throughout the book, he gives multiple examples which justify their validity. This book helps us understand people’s personalities and most importantly helps us improve ourselves. Carlo M. Cipolla (the Author) was a professor at UCB. He has done an amazing job making this book educational and hilarious at the same time.
The 5 laws that the author talks about in his book help us identify the prevalence of stupidity. The nature of stupidity, the definition of stupidity, and the impact of stupidity. With that, he also divides people’s personalities into 4 groups on the basis of whether a person is hurting themselves or others or is helping themselves or others. He calls these groups- The helpless, The Intelligent, The bandit, and of course the stupid person. He links the rise and fall of civilization to how well stupidity in a population has been contained or not.
This small book left a huge impact on me. This book is good for personal growth. I realized that I have been a helpless, an intelligent, a stupid person, and a bandit in many different scenarios. I realized what type of person I want to be and what type of person I want to associate myself with. The argument and observations are well organized This book is well written and is worth studying.