Book Summaries

Chapter 4: The Third (And Golden) Basic Law (The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity)

Human beings fall into four basic categories: the helpless, the intelligent, the bandit and the stupid.

May 6, 2021Book Summaries

Human beings fall into four basic categories: the helpless, the intelligent, the bandit and the stupid.

Law 3: A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring lossesCarlo Cipolla, The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity

The helpless are those who harm themselves and benefit others (lose-win).

The intelligent are those who benefit themselves and benefit others (win-win).

The bandits are those who benefit themselves and harm others (win-lose).

The stupid are those who harm themselves and harm others (lose-lose).

YARPP List

Related posts:

  1. Chapter 8: The Fourth Basic Law (The Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity)
  2. Chapter 9: Macro Analysis and the Fifth Basic Law (The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity)
  3. Chapter 1: The First Basic Law (The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity)
  4. Chapter 2: The Second Basic Law (The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity)