By DONALD DeMARCO
I believe it was Albert Einstein who said that the universe is filled with neutrons, protons, electrons, and morons. Perhaps I have slightly misquoted him. I am firmer ground, however, when I quote him as saying, “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure of the former.” Frank Zappa may not have read Einstein, but he did state that “there is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.”
Stupidity is pandemic, systemic, and endemic. That is to say, it is universal, cultural, and personal. It is a malady that afflicts all of us. Is there a ready cure available? Probably not. We stumble and fumble through life hoping that this pernicious infirmity does not embarrass or ruin us. We appeal to reason, but wonder if an element of foolishness persists in clinging to that noble capacity. Nonetheless, stupidity must be avoided whenever possible, not permitted to continue on its merry way. It can never be a stepping stone to success on any level.
Two unpretentious propositions offer a key to distinguishing what is sensible from what is silly. We are foolish when we separate our will from our reason. Then, we do things “willy-nilly,” an expression which indicates that we are going nowhere and getting nothing accomplished. On the other hand, we are wise when we seek our rightful path through reason. Reason illuminates; foolishness confuses.
This leads to the question, “how can we be wise enough to keep our will tethered to reason?” I will cite St. Augustine who said that the basis of a good life is “humility, humility, and humility.” The author of the Confessions was advising us to keep our eye on humility, less it slip away. Humility needs more humility to ensure that humility remains humility.
Humility will not eliminate stupidity, but it can provide significant help in reducing it. Any reduction in stupidity is more than welcomed. The antithesis of humility is pride. The proud person thinks he is more important than he really is and can do things that are beyond his powers. Therefore, pride is essentially unrealistic. The proud person inhabits an alien universe. As G.K. Chesterton once remarked, “Pride is the falsification of fact by the introduction of self.” Humility grounds us in reality.
Given the shenanigans that are transpiring before our very eyes in today’s world, there is no need to provided examples of stupidity. If I were to provide examples, humility would oblige me to begin with myself.
Humility grounds us in reality and keeps pride at bay. It also confers peace to the soul. We find endless frustration in attempting to do things we cannot do and convincing people that we are better than we are. There is no peace for the proud. In Matt. 11:29, Christ advises us to “Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” It is truly amazing what can be accomplished through humility. Yet, of all the virtues, humility is most reliant on God’s grace.
Socrates, from all accounts, was a man of exceptional humility. Therefore, he was a man of wisdom. He was sufficiently wise to interpret properly the oracle’s statement, “No man is wiser than Socrates.” The gadfly of Athens took the message to mean, “No man is wise.” He did not allow pride to interpret the words for him. It is most appropriate, then, that Socrates is regarded as the “Father of Moral Philosophy.” We need enough humility not to allow ourselves to be seduced by pride. Pride is a deadly sin, whereas humility is a fundamental virtue. Moral philosophy begins with humility allowing one to see himself as well as the world the way God create them.
“Humility,” as St. John Henry Newman explained, “is one of the most difficult of all virtues to attain and to ascertain. It lies close upon the heart itself, and its tests are exceedingly delicate and subtle.” We seek virtue and after some testing think we have found it. And then comes the temptation to relapse into pride because we congratulate ourselves in possessing this elusive virtue. As a consequence, we find ourselves continuing chasing humility but never fully attaining it.
In his classic The Idea of a University, St. Newman eloquently expresses the futility of pride.
“Quarry the granite rock with razors,” he write, “or moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then may you hope with such keen and delicate instruments as human knowledge and human reason to contend against those giants, the passion and pride of man.”
Nonetheless, in today’s turmoil, we witness people running around trying to remove mountains with rhetoric and attempting to banish tradition with slogans. In their utter desperation, some are trying to cancel culture and out of its ashes bring about a better world. Delusion is a close companion of stupidity. Martin Luther King, Jr. was on the mark when he said: “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Let us end where we began, with Professor Einstein. Much of what he accomplished may be attributed to his humility. It was a source of embarrassment for him to be credited with superhuman powers. “This has been my fate,” he said, “and the contrast between the popular estimate of my powers and achievements and the reality is simply grotesque.” It may well be that Einstein’s humility made it easier for him to notice the foolishness of others.
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