In 1919, psychologist Charles Richet had L'homme stupide published. He dodged the issue of defining or classifying stupidity but dealt with the idiocies of drugs, wealth, feudalism, slavery, war, fashion, semantics, superstitions, etc., etc. This is more a witty compilation of thoughts and examples than a scientific treatment of the phenomenon and ranged so far afield that some subjects bear only a tenuous connection with the topic.

Dr. István Ráth-Végh, a retired Hungarian judge, contributed three books to the shelves. Like most other contributions, they are neither comprehensive nor analytical but do comprise 800 pages of source material for any reader of Hungarian in need of examples of idiocy grouped under convenient headings. Originally published at the rate of one per year from 1938 through 1940, only the first found its way into English: From the History of Human Folly (1963).

The first book in English on the topic was A Short Introduction to the History of Human Stupidity (1932), by Walter Pitkin. Like many books, it was misnamed, being really a breezy essay on human folly, and failed, unfortunately, to generate any general interest in the topic. Then in 1959 came Paul Tabori's The Natural Science of Stupidity—a superficial if entertaining collection of anecdotes culled from history—and in 1970 John Fischer's general cultural review The Stupidity Problem, and Other Harassments.

Although the term "Stupidity" does not appear in the title, Groupthink (1982), by Irving L. Janis, belongs on the shelves next to the volumes just cited. It is concerned with a specific cause of stupidity but has some general value to anyone interested in the topic and provides a number of good case studies of how leaders make both faulty and sound decisions.

Finally, Barbara Tuchman's book The March of Folly (1984) rates a place with the others. Although she honors the taboo against the word "Stupidity", preferring the cumbersome "Woodenheadedness" and newspeakish "Unwisdom", her book provides more case studies of leaders caught up in themselves. (Much of the material presented in Chapter VI is derived from examples analyzed by Mr. Janis and Mrs. Tuchman.)

When considering "Stupidity", it is important to distinguish between the term and the phenomenon. The term may be used to designate a mentality which is considered to be informed, deliberate and maladaptive. However, because of the existing taboo, this is seldom done. Usually, the term is used like an extreme swear word—a put-down for those deemed intellectually inferior, although this tactic normally reveals more about the attitude of the user than the cognitive abilities of the designate(s).

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