The first UK and US publication of the classic international bestseller that set out to detect, understand and neutralise the most powerful dark force known to man- stupidity.
Carlo M. Cipolla (1922 - 2000) was an Italian economic historian,
Fulbright Fellow and professor at the University of California,
Berkeley. Cipolla was elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the
British Academy in 1989 and awarded the International Balzan Prize
for Economic History in 1995. He also held honorary degrees in
Italy and Switzerland.
His classic treatise The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity was first
published in 1988 and has sold more than half a million copies
worldwide in over ten languages.
A classic
*Simon Kuper, Financial Times*
Brilliant.
*James O'Brien, author of How to be Right*
A masterly book
*Nassim Nicholas Taleb*
This is a very funny book, but Carlo Cipolla's underlying insight
really matters: there's a lot of stupidity about, including in
society's highest circles – and the stupid wield a surprising
amount of power, because the rest of us can never guess what
idiotic thing they'll do next. We need to get wise to stupidity,
and Cipolla's drily witty rules are a great place to start.
*Oliver Burkeman*
Cipolla’s subtle tongue-in-cheek humour made this book an
underground classic in Italy. Today, under current worldwide
political trends, it reads more like black humour. Keep in mind:
reliable statistical data shows that 98% of the people seriously
believe that they are far less stupid than the average.
*Carlo Rovelli, author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics*
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