What must be understood is that, in the age of stupidity, it’s not about stupid people doing stupid things; rather, it’s about those perceived to be clever doing incredibly foolish things. After all, one encounters so much over the course of a career, and it’s astonishing how stupidity spreads so freely.

I am reminded of Carlo Cipolla’s book, The Basic Laws of Stupidity. In the first law, he states: “Everyone underestimates the number of stupid people in circulation.” His real gem, though, is that “the probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person”. Even better: “A stupid person is more dangerous than a bandit.”

Having a high intelligence quotient (IQ) is not a sign that a person is not stupid.

The famous Lewis Termin (1877–1956), hoping to fix learning disabilities, came up with the IQ test, confidently asserting that there was nothing more important than that test. Termin associated a high IQ with a set of deterministic outcomes – a good moral character, a high income, wellbeing, career success and the emergence of new genius.

It will be interesting to see how Elon Musk’s son X, whom US President Donald Trump called a “high IQ individual’’ when he visited the Oval Office, turns out. Much like Termin’s ‘termites’, it will be fascinating to see what becomes of him.

The history of Termin and the IQ test is explored in David Robson’s excellent book, The Intelligence Trap, which delves into the distinction between intelligence and wisdom, as well as the existence of multiple forms of intelligence. The book is a worthwhile read, as Robinson argues that while the IQ test may offer useful insights into a person’s potential intelligence in specific domains, it tells us little about the person’s capacity for wisdom and good judgement in more complex and varied domains.

In general, IQ tests should not be dismissed – they are useful – but they have a notorious history of being racialised. Today, they are also fuelling renewed interest in sociobiology and confidence in eugenics.

There is also a real form of stupidity, where overconfidence and arrogance lead to what has been described as the Dunning-Kruger syndrome – which means people with limited competence overestimate their abilities. When selecting your next staff member, be wary of falling into the overconfidence trap, where confidence is mistaken to be a sign of competence.

The age of stupidity is also shaped by ideology. When ideology takes a muscular form, it undoubtedly sets back the US, weakening its capacity to navigate a rapidly evolving multipolar world. Bullying your way out of situations will, over time, quietly or loudly, mobilise a sufficient number of opponents and enemies against you.

On the question of ideology and stupidity, one need look no further than the historical example of the effects of the Trofim Lysenko era. Lysenko, a Soviet agronomist and scientist, was a proponent of Lamarckism and rejected the work of geneticist Gregor Mendel, the founder of modern genetics. He was enamoured with pseudoscientific ideas and led a purge when he took over the Institute of Genetics, targeting those who defied his worldview. Lysenko’s beliefs were enabled by former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Does that sound familiar? The effects of Lysenko’s actions are still felt in Russia today, and the episode cost countless lives and inflicted misery on scores of people.

The decision in certain parts of the world to pair assumed intelligence with muscular power is redefining existing national and global rule systems. This is playing out as a radical conservative and nationalist movement in the US, one that has led to the dismantling of existing structures and the removal of thousands of federal employees. This resembles a cleansing effect, where efficiency is merely a guise for an ideological and cultural purge of the US Federal State.

This is perhaps a form of totalitarianism that is undefined in its limits and the extent of its scope. Will it cause any damage? It already has.

Ideology has two features that, if not checked, can lead to judgement calls that produce poor outcomes. The first is that ideology can be fuelled by disinformation. Disinformation is weaponised in both democracies and autocracies, and is aimed at creating disquiet by intensifying polarisation – much like what Musk does through X (formerly Twitter) posts about South Africa or misinformation campaigns in the UK. The goal of disinformation is to blur the lines between fact and fiction, thereby causing disruption and confusion.

The second feature of ideology is that it can shape group-think, activating a form of collective reasoning that can foster often unwise, stupid or irrational decisions and actions. Group-think has been extensively studied by psychologists such as Wilfred Bion, who developed what is known as the basic assumption theory. The first assumption of this theory is that a great leader or external force will meet the group’s needs. This leader or force is seen as having a magical solution, and group-think relies on the idea of an external threat or force that needs to be fought and escaped. The power of group-think lies in its ability to simplify the world, imposing order on what seem like chaotic processes and changes.

The challenge with group-think (although acting in groups can be a powerful tool) is that, without a devil’s advocate, the group’s collective intelligence could be determined by the least intelligent person in the room and the loudest voice. A low bar leads to low outcomes. When it has no internal checks, group-think can result in the least optimal outcomes, as the group views the world from a narrow, subjective perspective and habitually ignores all other evidence that contradicts the group’s beliefs.

As stupidity rises as a growing force, don’t be surprised if the chorus of stupidity soon drowns out other voices, gaining undefined, yet grave, influence.