7 Sure Signs of Stupidity.

Coping with an individual who lacks discernment can prove exasperating. The primary cause of this frustration, aside from their unintelligent actions, is their inability to recognize their own lack of wisdom.

“The whole problem with the world,” as the British philosopher  Bertrand Russell said, “is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.”

And this is hardly surprising.

No truly wise individual can feign omniscience. The sheer magnitude of the enigmatic universe is sufficient to inspire eternal wonder.

It's quite likely why Albert Einstein once articulated, "It is enough if one endeavors to grasp a fragment of this enigma each day."

Consequently, handling someone lacking in wisdom necessitates a comprehension of their character. Without this understanding, they can bewilder you to such an extent that you might even start doubting your own intelligence.

Here are 7 signs of stupidity.

1. Illusory superiority, the criminal case of McArthur Wheeler.

In 1999, Dunning and Kruger delved into the intriguing case of McArthur Wheeler, a bank robber.

Here's the remarkable and comical aspect of Wheeler's bank heist: To obscure his identity, Wheeler opted to use lemon juice to cover his face. 

His reasoning behind this choice was that lemon juice contains chemical properties also utilized in invisible ink, leading him to believe it would render him imperceptible to the bank's security cameras.

Unsurprisingly, Wheeler's supposedly brilliant plan turned out to be quite foolish, leading to his swift apprehension. What's even more amusing? He remained perplexed about why his plan failed, despite its apparent ingenuity.

As Dunning and Kruger would subsequently establish in their research, it is imperative for all of us to possess an accurate understanding of our social and intellectual competencies in order to lead effective and successful lives.

Individuals lacking this self-awareness tend to overestimate their abilities and intellectual prowess. Consequently, it becomes challenging to persuade them to reconsider their misguided notions. 

Winning debates with them becomes a formidable task, as the more you argue and present sound arguments, the louder they tend to assert their viewpoints.

2. Repeated irrationality. 

Frequently, individuals engage in thoughtless actions because they fail to thoroughly consider their behavior. Their motivations often stem from societal notions of what's considered fashionable, morally upright, or unacceptable.

If you were to remove these external influences, they would find themselves at a loss, unable to explain the rationale behind their actions. They become easily swayed by prevailing group dynamics and trends, overlooking the underlying reasons and choices they make.

For instance, a person might take up smoking and drinking solely because they believe it appears trendy, without giving due thought to the long-term consequences or the actual motives behind adopting these detrimental habits.

The fundamental point to grasp is that engaging in the wrong actions solely because they align with someone else's perspective is an act of imprudence. It's worth noting that this behavior has had more far-reaching adverse effects on society than one might initially realize. 

Incorrect beliefs and doctrines have persisted across generations simply because people are reluctant to critically assess their actions. As the saying goes, "Just because an idea is popular doesn't make it morally correct."

3. Arrogance.

As narrated in Plato's "The Apology of Socrates," when the Oracle of Delphi declared Socrates as the wisest person alive, Socrates couldn't readily accept this accolade. Why?

His conviction lay in the fact that there was an immense expanse of knowledge that eluded him. More significantly, he firmly believed that there had to be at least one individual who possessed insights beyond his own.

In an effort to disprove the Oracle's proclamation, Socrates embarked on a quest to find someone more enlightened than himself. 

To his astonishment, he promptly discovered a significant flaw in all the self-proclaimed "knowledgeable" scholars, philosophers, and poets he encountered: they exhibited an air of arrogance regarding their limited expertise.

To these individuals, the fragment of knowledge they possessed represented the entirety of what was worth knowing. Due to this presumption, they behaved as though there was nothing more to be gleaned. 

They conveyed their opinions with unwavering confidence, even on subjects about which they possessed minimal understanding.

It was at this juncture that Socrates came to terms with the accuracy of the Oracle's pronouncement.

In essence, a wise individual comprehends the vast extent of what they do not know, while a fool is perpetually certain about everything.

4. Gullibility.

A gullible individual is susceptible to being readily convinced, manipulated, or misled by a wide range of matters.

Gullible people often become easy targets for various scams, sometimes falling victim to these deceptions on multiple occasions. According to the Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, this susceptibility arises from the fact that some individuals do not base their choices on rational thinking. 

Instead, they rely on swift, intuitive, and automatic decision-making methods, a strategy that frequently results in remorse.

Individuals who frequently make imprudent decisions do so because they fail to engage in rational thought. They place their trust in luck or their emotional impulses, thereby rendering them vulnerable to even the most outlandish offers presented by scammers.

5. Blind arguments.

One of the most effective means of identifying lack of intelligence is by observing how someone engages in argumentation.

Certainly, arguments can escalate in intensity, even among individuals of average intellect. However, when it comes to those who lack wisdom, the dynamics differ. 

You can witness their struggle to maintain their position, even when it becomes glaringly evident that their statements lack coherence. This often leads to a situation where their arguments appear so feeble that it may elicit a sense of sympathy.

The fundamental point is that when an unintelligent person engages in an argument, their discourse is seldom grounded in a rational, independently formed standpoint. Most of the time, everything they express are notions they've gleaned from external sources. 

They may unquestionably believe in the validity and absoluteness of these ideas, but the issue lies in their inability to substantiate why. 

Consequently, when you engage in a debate with them, they typically lack substantial evidence to uphold the ideas they profess to endorse. This is what makes it relatively straightforward to expose the inadequacy of their arguments.

6. Sticking to something detrimental.

People maintain their involvement in unhealthy relationships and addictive substances for various motives. However, simply having a justification for such behavior does not make it acceptable to subject oneself to emotional (and sometimes physical) harm.

Certainly, many of us retain certain aspects in our lives that do not contribute positively, whether it's in the form of employment, friendships, family relationships, substance use, or negative habits, among others. But does this mean that we are all displaying a lack of intelligence? Not necessarily.

The fact of the matter is that most of us will, at various points in our lives, persist with things that do not serve our best interests. At times, this may result from ignorance, while in other instances, it could be attributed to our level of maturity.

However, there comes a time when it's appropriate to make a change. Clinging to a detrimental relationship for an extended duration, even when it's glaringly evident that it no longer aligns with your well-being, can be regarded as a display of foolishness.

7. Talk too much.

As the bible rightly puts it, 

“Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.” — Proverbs 17:28 

Renowned author Robert Greene expressed a similar sentiment in his best-seller, "The 48 Laws of Power," by remarking, "the more you speak, the higher the likelihood of uttering something unwise."

While there are individuals of intelligence and sociability who enjoy engaging in conversation, the distinguishing factor between them and those who lack wisdom is that the former speak because they have something of substance to convey.

Conversely, someone who is unwise merely speaks for the sake of speaking, driven by the desire to say anything, regardless of its significance. Their belief in their own omniscience motivates them to vie for the center of attention, craving to be the focus of everyone's regard.