Principles 1.People are stupid! Think about that for a moment. What was your reaction to those three little words? Did you say to yourself âits true of most other people, but it doesn't include meâ, or perhaps your reaction was â how can you say that! Thats so offensive, there are no stupid people, just stupid behaviorâ, or some other snap judgment? Don't worry if you did,its nature at work. People are stupid. They will believe a lie because they want it to be true, or because they are afraid its true. Here I've added âpeople will believe a lieâ, and given the reasons for believing. If you all take the time to consider this first principle, you may begin to understand how the principle is exploited to separate you from your money Consider also how you might protect yourself from believing lies.
The FED has existed for 93 years now without hardly any resistance or legal inquiries from the public. Of course most people are stupid, this is nothing new.
The masses have never thirsted after truth...Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim." - Gustave Le Bon, "The Crowd" 1896
Some just have not enough information/knowledge/skills to see things as they are. Or don't want to dig deep. But sooner or later they will be able to tell a lier: this is not my cup of tea.
When a person comes to understand the nature of the decision making process in mankind,(the wants and fears), you start to see the difference between reality and perception, and the strength and weakness of each. Without the strength of perception, we would have no stock market bubbles, no housing bubbles, and no preempted wars. The voice of truth cannot hold back the winds of perception. At least not until the truth becomes more frightening, or more desirable than the lies. âPeople are stupid. They will believe a lie because they want it to be true, or because they are afraid its true.â So how do you protect yourself from the influence of untruths and false perceptions? Vigilance! We are all vulnerable. Never let our own arrogance lead us to believe we are immune from being influenced to act against our own best interest.
You're talking about ignorance and fear, both used by the powers that be to manipulate the masses. Stupidity is a whole different catagory. Actually, the truely stupid are much more difficult to control.
The important insight is when you realise that the more intelligent someone is, generally the more stupid they are also. Because they not only think they aren't stupid, but think that they are intelligent and clever, they are much more dangerous. Also, their intelligence gives them the ability to rationalise total nonsensical bullsh*t in a much more plausible and convincing way. A thick underachiever knows he is dumb, so he doesn't step outside his circle of competence. He doesn't try to tell you how you should live your life, or try to draw up a grand strategic plan for invading and reforming the Middle East. No, only the smartest people get to fuck up like that. Look back in history at the pronouncements and beliefs of the world's most intelligent and influential people. Almost every single one of them believed (not just suspected, or hypothesised - but actually *believed*) things that we now know to be complete and utter nonsense. What's more, even the *evidence available at the time* was sufficient for them not to reach these moronic conclusions. Therefore most of the smartest and most powerful people in the history of the world were, in fact, totally fucking stupid. That's a pretty powerful conclusion. You can look through history, and struggle to find a handful of people who did not hold some moronic belief or other. The only ones I can think of are Socrates, who correctly viewed himself as rather dim and lacking in knowledge, and therefore held views tentatively; and David Hume, who was a hardcore sceptic and therefore realised anything he believed was susceptible to error. Basically it was only by realising their stupidity that they could climb slightly above it. One day I will write a book, called "Why you are so stupid", that will try to explain some of this kind of thing to people. And yes, I think I'm quite stupid also. Each year I believe less and less, and I think this lowers my stupidity somewhat, hopefully to acceptable levels.
The greatest harm can result from the best intentions No matter what your intentions are in the beginning of a decision to act, disaster awaits the hastily developed and shallow plan of action. Even a large amount of forethought and preparation can lead to harm or worse, disaster. With this principle you lean to take into account of possible consequences resulting from your actions. In trader speak, this is R/R. The counter to this principle is to use Knowledge, Wisdom, forethought, and understanding of the first principle.