Understanding stupidity in others

To resist stupidity, it is first necessary to identify it in others, and perhaps even in oneself. This idea comes from a branch of sociology that emphasizes understanding people's reasoning, even when their conclusions seem flawed.

Roots in sociological tradition

This approach is rooted in the work of Max Weber and what is called comprehensive sociology. It encourages us not to confuse a reasoning error or a practical mistake with stupidity when observing others.

Reconstructing others' mental universe

The goal of comprehensive sociology is to reconstruct the mental universe of others to understand the origin of their errors. This does not mean agreeing with them, but rather trying to grasp their reasoning.

Descriptive superiority of models

There are models that are descriptively superior to others. For example, the Earth, although not perfectly round, is more round than flat. The statement "the Earth is round" is epistemically superior to "the Earth is flat."

Errors in social life

When someone in social life adopts a statement that is not optimal from a descriptive point of view, this does not necessarily mean that they are stupid. We need to look for other explanations for their error.

Sociology of errors

In sociology, we are interested in when people make errors. There is no sociology to be done on completely objective mathematical reasoning, but some errors can have significant social consequences.

Example of gambling behavior

Consider the example of gambling: the mathematical expectation of winning is almost zero, and yet many people play the lottery. This is a social fact, but it does not necessarily mean the players are stupid.

Irrationalist interpretations

When we fail to understand the mental universe of others—due to cultural differences or reasoning errors we cannot analyze—we may fall into an irrationalist interpretation. We may label others as mad or stupid.

Exploring extreme beliefs

The author of Extreme Thought (2009), with the subtitle How Ordinary Men Become Fanatics, tried to apply the comprehensive sociology model to extreme beliefs that lead to murder, terrorism, or moral abominations.

Importance of deciphering logic

Even in extreme cases, the author argues, there are forms of logic that are important to decipher. Understanding these can help us resist the impulse to label others as simply stupid or irrational.