Member-only story
Human nature and sustainability
There are patterns in nature: fractals, cycles, systems of poetic complexity.
Terrible forces that wreak havoc through vast populations. Dynamic equilibria in constant change. We are always in a new normal.
Interdependence means we are only as good as our weakest links.
“Human history of stupidity”
Carlo Cipolla’s Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley, 2011) are as follows:
1. Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
2. The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
3. A stupid person is one who causes losses to another person (or to a group of people) while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget at all times and places, and under any circumstances, to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person. There are four types of people: the helpless, the intelligent, the bandit and the stupid. A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit.
