I saw an interesting video on YouTube today concerning what is known as “Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity” (Yes – as much as I despise Google, YouTube is still the preferred distribution venue for too many videos for it to be completely shunned). It makes a rather common-sense deduction: stupid people are more dangerous than evil people. Evil can be resisted and argued against, but stupid – in the words of comedian Ron White: “You can’t fix stupid.”
Unfortunately, stupid people are easily controlled and used by those seeking to do evil. For a modern-day example you need only look at the so-called anti-racist protestors. Is their entire movement not boiled down to slogans wielded as pseudo-facts with which one may not argue, as suggested by Bonhoeffer? But I think we are ignoring the most important question: Who is pulling their strings? Who is actually benefiting – via an accumulation of power or wealth – by the actions of the stupid people they control?
In reality Bonhoeffer goes further in hi analysis by identifying a solution (“…the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom…”), but the video makes no mention of Bonhoeffer’s religious bent. It’s not relevant to his basic theory so I’ll ignore it here, too.
It’s an interesting video if you have a moment. But I’m not interested in promulgating his solution; instead, I’m interested in developing a solution that doesn’t require religion. There must be a way to break the mob mentality and restore independence to the mind without requiring a new dependence on religion.
Any thoughts/suggestions would be welcome. But watch the video first so that we’re all on the same page.