Why do stupid people exist?
February 10, 2026
For anyone who has ever tried to talk to a liberal and asked themself,
“Is this person just stupid?”, or,
“How can anyone be this stupid?”, or,
“Does this person know how stupid they sound?”, or,
“Why do people do stupid things?”
Perhaps there is actually a sensible answer to these age-old questions, questions about some people who are seemingly without common sense, people who seem to have lost all sense, or people with so little sense they can spout only the nonsense of a stupid person, but why?
Why do stupid people exist? (according to Schopenhauer)
The video explains, based on Schopenhauer’s philosophy, why “stupid” people exist and persist in society (0:25). It argues that stupidity isn’t an accident but serves several functions that benefit social systems (0:36).
Here are the seven reasons discussed in the video:
1 – Stupidity requires less energy than intelligence (1:45):
Thinking is biologically expensive, and most people avoid it by accepting what they’re told.
This “energy conservation” was favored by natural selection, as seen in Socrates’ time, where challenging beliefs led to punishment (2:40).2 – Stupidity enables obedience (5:00):
Intelligent people question authority, making them difficult to control.
“Stupid” people, conversely, follow orders without questioning, making them ideal for hierarchical systems, as Hannah Arendt’s study of the Holocaust’s “banality of evil” demonstrated (5:09).3 – Stupidity creates social cohesion (8:08):
Groups need conformity, and individual thought threatens this. “Stupid” people naturally conform to group beliefs, leading to social rewards, while questioners are punished. Nietzsche’s “herd mentality” and Gustav Le Bon’s crowd psychology illustrate how collective intelligence drops in groups (8:45).4 – Stupidity is immune to self-doubt (11:55):
Intelligent people experience doubt, which can cause hesitation. “Stupid” people, lacking this doubt, project absolute certainty and confidence, making them appear strong and often leading them to leadership positions, as described by the Dunning-Kruger effect (12:10).5 – Stupidity is easier to manipulate (15:01):
“Stupid” people accept information without critical analysis, making them susceptible to propaganda and emotional appeals. Authoritarian regimes and manipulators have an incentive to maintain stupidity in populations (15:07).6 – Intelligence is punished, stupidity is rewarded (18:50):
In many social contexts, expressing uncomfortable truths or independent thought is punished, while conforming to comfortable lies is rewarded. This creates a “triumph of mediocrity,” where average people suppress excellence for their own self-protection (19:02).7 – Stupidity reproduces faster than intelligence (22:13):
Intelligent people tend to overthink reproduction, delaying or preventing it, while “stupid” people reproduce impulsively. This demographic reality, combined with cultural inheritance of thought patterns, ensures the persistence and potential increase of stupidity in the population (22:30).The video concludes that understanding these mechanisms helps in accepting that stupidity will always exist (27:48). It urges viewers to protect their own capacity for critical thought and to not succumb to conformity in a world that often rewards the opposite (28:22).
Mark Twain once said, “Never argue with stupid people because they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”
Conversely, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, getting the same results but expecting a different one” – Author Unknown
Whether it be stupidity or insanity, I, for one, am constantly trying to reason with some people, usually liberals, expecting them to be reasonable, but the result seems to always be the same, with me wondering why there doesn’t seem to be any good reason.
Listening to this video has both resulted in helping to provide a reasonable answer for me, but also raised some doubt in me and causing me to ask myself – which of us is really the stupid person, them for being unreasonable or me for constantly expecting them to be?
Talking on social media at night
Being told I’m wrong when I thought I was right
It’s always the same, it’s just a shame, that’s all
It seems to always be the same results
We’re talking, then they start the insults
It’s always the same, it’s just a shame, that’s all
Well, I can say day, they’d say night
Tell me it’s black when I know that it’s white
It’s always the same, it’s just a shame, that’s all
Why does it always seem to me
That they’re the stupid one, or maybe it’s me
It’s always the same, it’s just a shame, that’s all – Phil Collins (Paraphrased)
