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Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was executed in Germany in 1945. 1 Bonhoeffer’s ideas and beliefs have continued to resonate long after his death, particularly his theory of stupidity. Bonhoeffer argued that it was not evil people who were the greatest danger to society- it was stupid people.
Bonhoeffer’s theory of stupidity is rooted in his belief that there are two types of people in the world: those who think and those who don't. 2 According to Bonhoeffer, the latter is far more dangerous than the former. Evil people, he argued, are often intelligent and motivated by a clear goal. They know what they want and are willing to go to great lengths to achieve it. Stupid people, on the other hand, are often driven by a mix of selfishness, laziness, and ignorance. Stupid people lack the ability to
Bonhoeffer believed that the proliferation of stupid people in society posed the greatest threat to democracy and freedom. He argued that stupid people were easily manipulated and could be used by those in power to achieve their goals. 3 They were the foot soldiers of authoritarian regimes, blindly following orders without question.