# Carlo Cipolla's Stupidity Principle Humanity's most underestimated force is stupidity—not malice or greed. It's the consistent capacity to harm oneself and others without gain. Most dangerous actors take value down while blundering confidently into ruin. They destroy wealth, relationships, and opportunities yet perceive themselves as shrewd. This differs from rational self-interest or even villainy. Villains at least gain something. Stupid actors lose AND harm others—a double negative that compounds over time. ## Application to Investing Build [[Anti fragility|antifragile]] decision-making systems and heuristics that: - Make seizing positive opportunities easier - Strike against flawed thinking - Favor process over impulse - Favor structure over spasm Minimize both: - Errors of omission (missed opportunities) - Errors of commission (bad positioning/sizing) One partner's impatient instincts should be tempered by another's pragmatic pacing to avoid unforced errors. ## The Four Categories Cipolla identified four types of people: 1. **Helpless** - harm themselves, benefit others 2. **Intelligent** - benefit themselves, benefit others 3. **Bandits** - benefit themselves, harm others 4. **Stupid** - harm themselves, harm others Most underestimate proportion and impact of stupid actors in markets, organizations, and society. Related: [[First Principles and Mental Models MoC]], [[Lux Capital Principles]], [[Investing Learnings]], [[Alpha in Atoms - Reflection on the Physical Inversion]] --- Tags: #firstprinciple #systems