You’ve felt it. That soul-crushing moment in the grocery store parking lot when someone parks diagonally across three spaces. Or maybe it’s the guy in the office who can’t seem to figure out how a "Reply All" button works despite having a Master’s degree. It’s an exhausting, persistent nagging in the back of your brain that whispers: the world is full of stupid people.
It’s a popular sentiment. Honestly, it’s practically a personality trait for some. We see it trending on TikTok, we see it in the "Darwin Awards," and we certainly see it in our Twitter feeds. But here’s the thing—it’s actually a much more complex psychological phenomenon than just "everyone else is a moron."
The Psychology Behind Why the World Is Full of Stupid People
We’re all prone to something called the Dunning-Kruger effect. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s that pesky cognitive bias where people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. But what we often miss is the flip side: highly competent people often assume that because a task is easy for them, it must be easy for everyone else. When someone fails at that "easy" task, we immediately label them as stupid.
The reality is that human intelligence isn't a single, monolithic bar. It’s messy.
Take a look at the work of Howard Gardner. He’s the Harvard psychologist who proposed the theory of Multiple Intelligences. He argued that someone could be a literal genius with spatial reasoning—think of a master mechanic who can visualize an engine’s guts—while being absolutely "stupid" when it comes to linguistic or interpersonal cues. We’re all geniuses in a narrow corridor and idiots everywhere else.
Survival of the... Not So Bright?
There is also a weird, uncomfortable truth about evolution. Being "smart" in the traditional, analytical sense isn't always the primary driver for survival. Throughout history, social cohesion—the ability to fit in with the tribe—was often more important than being the person who questioned the status quo with logic. Sometimes, what we perceive as "stupidity" is actually just deep-seated conformity.
If the tribe believes something nonsensical, believing it with them keeps you safe. Being the "smart" one who points out the nonsense gets you kicked out of the cave. We are the descendants of the people who stayed in the cave.
The Cipolla Framework of Human Stupidity
If you want to get clinical about it, look at Carlo M. Cipolla. He was an Italian economic historian at UC Berkeley. In 1976, he wrote an essay called The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. It sounds like a joke, but it’s actually used in sociology circles to explain why things fall apart.
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Cipolla didn't define stupidity by IQ. He defined it by impact.
He created a graph. On one axis, you have the gains or losses to oneself. On the other, you have the gains or losses to others.
- Intelligent people: They do things that benefit themselves and others.
- Bandits: They do things that benefit themselves but hurt others.
- Helpless people: They do things that benefit others but hurt themselves.
- Stupid people: These are the ones who cause losses to another person or group while deriving no gain for themselves—and often even incurring losses.
This is why we feel like the world is full of stupid people. It’s not about their SAT scores. It’s about the fact that we constantly encounter people who make choices that hurt everyone, including themselves, for no discernible reason. It’s the person who cuts you off in traffic only to get stuck at the same red light ten feet ahead. They didn't gain time. They just increased the risk of a wreck. That, by Cipolla’s definition, is the purest form of stupidity.
Why the Internet Makes It Look Worse Than It Is
In the 90s, if someone did something exceptionally dumb, maybe ten people saw it. Now? It’s on the front page of Reddit within the hour.
We are living through a sampling bias nightmare. The algorithms that power our lives thrive on engagement. You know what gets more engagement than a nuanced, intelligent debate? A video of someone trying to eat a Tide Pod or arguing that the Earth is a hollow taco.
Because we see these instances repeatedly, our brains use the Availability Heuristic. This is a mental shortcut where we judge the probability or frequency of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. Since "stupid" behavior is loud, colorful, and highly shareable, it’s always at the top of our mental folder. Consequently, we conclude that the world is overflowing with it.
The Death of Expertise
Tom Nichols wrote a great book called The Death of Expertise. He argues that we’ve reached a point where everyone thinks they know as much as the experts because they have access to Google.
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This creates a "flat" information landscape. When a doctor spent twelve years learning about virology and a guy on Facebook spent twelve minutes reading a blog post, and they both have an equal platform to speak, the resulting noise makes the world seem much "stupider" than it actually is. It’s not that people are getting dumber; it’s that the barriers to broadcasting ignorance have vanished.
Is Our Attention Span Actually Shrinking?
You've probably heard the stat that humans now have an attention span shorter than a goldfish. That’s actually a bit of a myth—goldfish have pretty decent memories, actually—but the sentiment holds some water.
A 2019 study from the Technical University of Denmark found that the "collective attention span" is indeed narrowing. We consume content faster, we tire of topics more quickly, and we move on. This rapid-fire consumption prevents deep thinking.
When you don’t think deeply, you make shallow decisions. Shallow decisions look like stupid decisions to an outside observer.
The Biology of Making Bad Choices
We also have to talk about the prefrontal cortex. That’s the "adult" part of the brain responsible for executive function and impulse control. It doesn't fully develop until your mid-20s.
Beyond that, the brain is an energy hog. It accounts for about 20% of your body's energy consumption. To save energy, the brain loves "heuristics"—systematic shortcuts. We go on autopilot. We stop questioning things. We follow the car in front of us even if it’s going the wrong way. Most of the time, what we call stupidity is just a brain trying to save a few calories by not thinking.
Navigating a World That Feels This Way
If you’re convinced the world is full of stupid people, you’re likely suffering from "cynical hostility." It’s a real psychological state, and it’s actually linked to higher rates of heart disease. Staying angry at the perceived incompetence of the masses is literally bad for your health.
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So, how do you handle it?
First, apply Hanlon’s Razor. It’s a philosophical mental model that states: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." I’d take it a step further: Never attribute to stupidity that which is adequately explained by stress, distraction, or a bad day.
Maybe that person who forgot their PIN at the checkout isn't "stupid." Maybe they just got a call that a family member is in the hospital. Giving people the benefit of the doubt isn't just being nice; it’s a way to keep your own blood pressure down.
Real-World Steps to Protect Your Sanity
Instead of lamenting the state of the world, focus on the variables you can actually control.
- Curate your inputs. If your "Discover" feed is nothing but "People Doing Dumb Things," change it. Stop clicking. The algorithm will eventually learn you want more than just rage-bait.
- Practice Intellectual Humility. Acknowledge that you are someone else's "stupid person" at least once a week. Remember that time you couldn't find your glasses when they were on your head? Yeah. That.
- Seek out "Slow" Information. Read books instead of threads. Long-form content forces your brain out of the shallow-thinking mode that leads to impulsive judgments.
- Define your own metrics. Stop judging the world by Cipolla's "Bandits" and "Stupid People." Look for the "Intelligent" ones—those working quietly to fix things. They don't make as much noise, but they are there.
The world isn't necessarily getting dumber. It’s just getting louder, faster, and more connected. When you see everyone as "stupid," you miss the nuance of the human experience. You miss the fact that we are all just monkeys with smartphones, trying to navigate a world our biology never prepared us for.
Instead of getting frustrated, try to find the humor in it. Or better yet, find the people who are actually trying to solve the problems. They are rarer, sure, but they’re the ones who keep the lights on while everyone else is busy arguing in the comments section.
The next time you feel like the world is full of stupid people, take a breath. Turn off the screen. Realize that your perception is being filtered through a lens designed to make you feel exactly this way. The reality is usually much more boring—and much more hopeful—than the chaos would have you believe.
Next Steps for Action:
- Identify three "rage-bait" sources in your social media feed and unfollow them today to reduce your perception of collective incompetence.
- The next time someone does something "stupid" in public, consciously invent a sympathetic reason for their behavior (e.g., "They must be having a very stressful morning") to break the cycle of cynical hostility.
- Read one long-form article or book chapter this week on a complex topic to re-engage your brain’s "slow thinking" muscles.