Critical Thinking

12 Steps for Stupidity

How to be an ally to Aristotle

We’ve all done it. We’ve tried to sound smarter than we are and even as we speak the words we feel like we are reading aloud from the pages of Modern Jackass. Spoken like an authority, using volume, speed, and just enough jargon to sound credible. At least to the lay masses.

Sooner or later the jackass meets his match, touting the facts and figures to the person who literally wrote the first-authored paper on the subject. This type of embarrassment may act as a wake-up call and hopefully lead to self-intervention.

Friends and family may also suggest seeking treatment for being a complete jackass or even enroll them in an online critical thinking class. Many of these classes are both entertaining and free.

Step 1

We admitted we were stupid — that our loved ones could see our stupidity.

The hardest step of any journey is the first step and the step here is getting past the Dunning Kruger Effect. For our self-esteem, we give ourselves a bump in scores about what we know. When it gets dangerous is when the ego is overfed. The head of a jackass is stuffed to bursting with misinformation, urban myths, conspiracy theories, and just plain lies. Ten pounds of bullshit in a five-pound bag.

Time to empty the bag.

Step 2

Came to believe that the scientific method and critical thinking could restore us to sanity.

To believe falsehoods are true is a form of insanity. At the far end is the clinical diagnosis 2022 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code F22 with a padded cell and a straitjacket but that continuum can start with the padded shoulders of an Armani suit on a first date.

Step 3

Made a decision to manage our will and our lives to be the best critical thinker possible.

A willingness to use critical thinking at all times is a challenge. It is not something sluffed like a snake’s skin at the door to the pub or before posting online.

Step 4

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our knowledge limits.

Knowing what you don’t know and admitting it to yourself. This article started as a comic bit but took a more serious tone once I started to think about the subject and how important it is to civilization. There is far too much harm in stupidity to brush it off as a joke. However, humor is can make the medicine go down. Am I even a little bit the expert here? Most emphatically not, but I am willing to take the steps and even be a sponsor.

Step 5

Admitted to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our stupidity.

Folks, the ego is not going to give up its appetite until you can process those mistakes with another person. Most of the time these are pretty small things once exposed to the light but if you are still hesitant, seek counsel via therapist or attorney as both are sworn to secrecy.

Step 6

Were entirely ready to use provable facts to remove our stupidity.

Buckle up buttercup, when the facts come in you will have to let go of your beliefs. Mostly the belief that you already know. Here was thinking Edison screwed Tesla like a lightbulb when the truth is they were simply both inventors, took an interest in each other’s work, and only had a business relationship for six months. It’s one of the biggest internet myths there is and I not only fell for it but also helped perpetuate it.

Step 7

Humbly sought critical thinking to remove our stupidity.

An easy start is with this Youtube series on critical thinking.

To go deeper there free online classes from many universities and organizations. The most popular is Coursera with over 400 courses created by 85 universities.

My personal favorite is a class from Future Learn presented by the University of Aukland.

A good reference library specific to critical thinking can be found at Rational Wiki and a fully searchable list of online classes is available at mooc-list.com.

Step 8

Made a list of all persons we had misled, and became willing to correct our statements to them all.

This introspection makes keeps away the argument of what does it matter? Lies and misinformation have consequences. “It’s fine, I park there all the time”, it’s not your car that got towed, is it? Same for giving directions, giving advice, and all the other B.S. spewed as a jackass.

Step 9

Made direct corrections to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Tough one in setting that line where harm would come to another. It can too easy to say it would hurt my ex to hear the truth. Maybe yes, maybe no. Only objective self-reflection will tell.

Step 10

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Don’t backslide now. Especially with friends where the urge to fit in can be overwhelming. There is no vacation from the truth.

Step 11

Sought through primary sources and deductive reasoning to improve our knowledge, seeking only for truth and the power to not be stupid.

Keep up the reading and practice. Facebook postings are a good exercise book with every post a possible untruth but remain kind and remember step 9.

Step 12

Having had a logical awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other stupid people and to practice critical thinking in all our affairs.

Here you have it all in front of you. You are witnessing my efforts and you are free to take my words and make them your own. We may not all be smart but we can all not be stupid.