Trump: the Stupidity Paradox

I know a lot about being stupid, having made almost every mistake known to mankind. So I feel qualified to opine on this subject.

First of all, being stupid sometimes is not all that bad,

“Being stupid has its upsides.”
― Mats Alvesson, The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work

Alvesson’s book, written with Andre Spicer came out in 2016, which is when I read it -- but it is only now getting the attention it deserves, primarily in business circles. The concepts however have ramifications beyond business to all areas of life including the study of human nature and geopolitics.

How to explain it?

Alvesson and Spicer see organizational stupidity as a paradox – ummm….That is to say, not entirely stupid, but at some level rational! Maybe even useful,

First of all, you have to understand what an “organization” is.

Alvesson and Spicer were, of course, referencing business organizations and bureaucracies but an “organization” is just a group of people with a shared purpose, and some kind of division of labor, structure.

In our society we usually take that to mean any institution or group with a hierarchy and power structure.

The idea is that to get things done you need everyone following the same script. You don’t want people who challenge the status quo or ask too many questions about the bigger picture. You want flow and efficiency. You want harmony. Regimentation. Yes sir, no sir!

Human beings are social and collaborative animals and we avoid conflict. We are also lazy, which is why most people default to heuristic thinking, When we join an organization, we suspend critical thought. We “think inside the box”—which is efficient – but inevitably stupid, leading to rigidity where flexibility and innovation are required.

Hierarchy might seem demeaning but it makes things easy. Just do your job. And obey the boss—who obeys his boss, who obeys his boss and up the line. Conformity = obedience.

In some ways, it is like elementary school, Your fellows in your organization are your school mates. Your boss is your teacher, His boss is the Principal. The Principal has his boss who….

Do what Teacher says, copy someone else’s homework, cheat on the tests, and play when you can. At some level we are all children repeating this stuff until we die.

So, stupidity has functionality and often it is just funny, even cute, especially in kids and kittens.

Stupidity, like evil, is no threat as long as it hasn’t got power. We laugh at things when they are harmless Jonny Thomson . Mini Philosophy.

Americans worship “stupid”….

At least when it naive and innocent.

But how many Forest Gumps are there?

The trouble is that “thinking inside the box” is often neither naive nor innocent — but calculated —a requirement for success and amoral.

Take a look at all the American Presidents in recent memory, a few of them even intelligent and well-educated. Take a look at Congress. At the leaders of Europe. Practiced stupidity. Sometimes amoral is worse than immoral.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed, stupidity can be worse than evil. These politicians are mostly not stupid people nor strictly speaking “immoral”, but they do stupid things, follow, amoral irrational policies, and have caused endless suffering.

And smile stupidly about it,

What about Donald Trump, who is monumentally stupid? So stupid, that people think he couldn’t really be that dumb and has some method to his moronity, despite every indication to the contrary.

He does not have the excuse of being an “organization man” , not in Alvesson’s sense. He was born rich—he owns organizations. He is a Boss.

A man like this creates boxes for others to live and work and think in. They are his boxes, so he lives in one too – and he questions it even less— because it’s his.

Not that it is it original to him—just something that others seem to like, which is important since his aim is self-aggrandizement.

His wealth and the power that comes from it exacerbates the Dunning Kruger Effect.

That makes him stupider than stupid: his stupidity feeds off power and arrogance. The ultimate Boss is omniscient. Contradictions mean nothing for Trump. Like God, his meaning is not available to ordinary mortals only to Destiny.

You will notice that Putin, who is not stupid and thinks outside the box, and was once just a street kid, as he says himself, “a hooligan”, handles Trump with extreme care. Not because he respects him or fears him but knows that the Donald is stupid and capable of the evil that comes when stupid people have power. As Putin has said, Trump is “unpredictable”,

On the other hand, the Donald’s dumbness is matched by that of the rest of Western establishment.

They are dinosaurs and their time has passed.

All Putin has to do is give them time for them to die out. The rest of the world is evolving.

Putin 4 — the new Special Article.

As you can guess, this article was inspired by my research into Putin’s biography, his mentality and personality and the reaction of the West to him.

Yes, I studied philosophy. Yes, I studied social psychology. No, I don’t think “in the box”, although I can pretend for 30 minutes at a time.

I am going to celebrate Chappy and Ichi’s birthday’s this week. They get tuna and I get chocolate cake.

Please buy us coffee on the www.buymeacoffee site, which gets you access to this new special article - definitely outside the box

Click here..

Some of you may disagree with me…..