Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force.

Against stupidity we are defenseless; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed, and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one.

It seems obvious that stupidity is less a psychological than a sociological problem. It is a particular form of the impact of historical circumstances on human beings, a psychological concomitant of certain external conditions.

The fact that the stupid person is often stubborn must not blind us to the fact that he speaks on behalf of an empowered group. In conversation with him, one feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans and catchwords that have taken possession of him.

The stupid man is under a spell…[And] having become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A 30-year-old Texas man who attended a “Covid party” died after being infected with the virus. Just before he died, he told his nurse: “I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it’s not.”

which is how I judge things, not the humidity or the ‘feels like’ crap, but the dew point, is almost 80. We just had a quick little shower, too, which didn’t help. Not to say it hasn’t been, but I don’t remember it ever being this high in the past.

Four months of self-isolation.  Today we had a fire alarm.  Down the stairs with lots of other people, none wearing masks including me, cause that was the last thing on my mind.  No distancing as we’re standing outside, although I did manage to move upwind from everybody.  Back up in the elevator with other people, because no way could I climb the stairs in this much pain.  So if anybody is infected, I am screwed.  Gertrude was terrified and hid before I could grab her, so I was freaking out about having to leave her.  Fortunately, it was over quickly, false alarm I guess, but very upsetting.  Mostly about Miss G, but also, all that isolation, and for what?