England is the country of Shakespeare, but today our media and politics has become something that celebrates the stupid, boring and obsession with money (think of silly quiz shows that are stupid, boring to everyone apart from those winning a house, and screaming into the screen about the big prizes to be won).
It’s lazy cheap TV for the masses, only 20 years or so after we would all sit down to a quality episode of Inspector Morse or Miss Marple. Intelligent comedy (Dave Allen, Les Dawson) has been replaced by nasty talentless stand-ups, and in-depth interviews (Parkinson, Walden) has been replaced by news that tells us what Trump has last said on his social media feed.
A Short History of Stupidity is not a stupid book at all. In fact, sadly, it’s a book whose time has come. The author (like many of us) are wondering how we got into this parlous state, and wonders if stupidity (like Japanese knotweed) is difficult to root out.
Years ago, we had some of the greatest minds – Socrates, Buddha, Voltaire, Arendt. Now we are reduced to our BBC News spending most of its time repeating what President Trump has said on his social media platform.
And people who believe politicians in both the US and UK that climate change is not real, when evidently it is, and all the unbiased climate scientists in the world, confirm that it’s mostly caused by humans.
We have reality TV shows and bullying quiz shows, in the land of Shakespeare and nature poets. And an increasingly zombied-out nation of people who think that being utterly stupid, is something to be proud of, or follow along with.
In this book that takes from ancient Greece to artificial intelligence (which can often be used for good like humane medical research, but should never be used to write poetry!), the author casts a sceptical eye on attempts to root out stupidity by means of things like IQ tests.
Finding each attempt to be more stupid, than the stupidity it was devised to eradicate! In today’s ‘fool’s paradise’ where the stupid are worshipped, has our species now become too dim, to learn anything from its rich history?
Before, we had Shakespeare. Now we have (according to Stuart) a world entranced by the ‘five horsemen of the stupid apocalypse’:
- Donald Trump
- Elon Musk
- Vladimir Putin
- Nigel Farage
- Boris Johnson
Replacing truth with post-truth, enthroning lies and deposing scientific reason. If we are to fight back against stupidity (and I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that would be a good idea), we need to know first the nature of our enemy.
This book is hilariously funny at times, sounding out how modern life has replaced old-fashioned intellect. One example is quiz shows (one contestant when asked the first name of Gandhi, replied ‘Goosey’). Another when asked the Charlotte Brontë character that several actors had played, replied ‘Inspector Clouseau‘.
The author is very careful not to confuse ignorance with stupidity. He does not for instance think that Jade Goody (the late Big Brother star who died tragically young) was stupid. In fact, she used her remaining months to talk of her illness, which led to a huge uptake in young women going for cervical cancer screening.
Both a deeply serious book (but also with a smart dry wit), this is not a book to sneer at stupid people. But simply a view from someone who (like many of us) is aghast at how we got here, and how to get out of it. The fight back against stupid media and politics begins with this ‘fiercely intelligent book’.
Stuart has written the clever funny book that takes us on a fascinating, illuminating drive into ancient stupidity, modern stupidity, structural stupidity, mass stupidity and digital stupidity. You get the idea. Unless of course, you’re stupid. Irish Examiner
Stuart Jeffries is a writer and journalist, who for many years worked for the Guardian newspaper as its Friday Review editor and Paris correspondent. He now works freelance for this and other publications (including the Financial Times and London Review of Books).
Mindless Media Crowds Out Real Talent
When TV shows and news programs bring us stupidity, it stops the real talent getting through. Many talented actors and writers go to college sometimes for years, and end up working in other jobs, because there is no-one in the media to showcase their talents.
Proper musicians go to school for years to learn their musical instruments, but never get a look-in, due to our airwaves being crowded out by reality programs, where the judges are deemed more important than the contestants.
We have umpteen TV channels and rolling news, yet proper journalists have to go to citizen-funded channels, due to their investigative interviews again never being able to compete with bankrolled massive news channels, funded by ads that encourage bias and propoganda.
Endless Quiz Shows Bore us
TV schedules are packed with cheap quiz shows and endless discussions about money. They scrape the bottom of the barrel for ideas, letting trivia and get-rich-quick schemes fill our screens. These shows rarely offer deep knowledge or spark curiosity.
There’s room for something better: stories about creative people, scientists, writers, and skilled workers who do amazing things every day.
Real stupid answers given in quiz shows
Peter Schmeichel was goalkeeper for which English football club?
Answer: Germany
Who was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas?
Answer: JR Ewing
Where do you think Cambridge University is? There’s a clue in the title.
Answer: Leicester?
Name a wild animal that’s native to Britain.
Answer: A bear.
Name a seaside resort on the south coast.
Answer: Rio de Janeiro
Stupid Celebrities Become Role Models
They are likely nice people, but we don’t need loud and clueless figures in showbiz and politics, who seem to delight sometimes in being stupid. While quiet experts are ignored, even when their work helps people. Idolising these empty voices shapes what we talk about in schools and at home.
Think of a climate scientist who attends a prestigious university, and conducts years of research in order to save us all. Yet he or she is ignored, instead of a soundbite by a climate sceptical MP, who knows nothing of the subject they preach. Such actions by the media are dangerous, climate change is real and is affecting not just us, but all creatures on our beautiful planet.
Smart People Get Ignored for Being Quiet
The media loves a person who shouts and makes noise, even if they’ve got nothing to say. It misses those who work in the background, solve difficult problems, and never brag about themselves.
Supporting talent and knowledge, even if it isn’t loud, makes life richer and far more interesting. Let’s put thoughtful people in the spotlight, instead of the ones who grab attention for the wrong reasons.
Losing Out (when intelligence is sidelined)
When public debate leans on silly catchphrases and bad ideas, everyone suffers. Sound policies and smart planning get replaced by empty talk and stunts.
If voters and viewers only see shallow interviews and silly soundbites, they can’t make smart choices. We deserve honest debate that respects our intelligence, not endless rounds of name-calling or nonsense.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people, in large groups. George Carlin
When you are dead, you do not know you are dead. The same is true when you are stupid. Anon
