How to be less stupid

(This is from Edition 70 of The Upleveler, our weekly smartletter)

What is stupidity and what causes it?

We have all had the unfortunate experience of being stupid (and more than once). We do something, look back, and realise we should have done something else. The hand slaps the head as we soon realise there were even big hints that our decision was going to be wrong.

Why does this happen?

Author Adam Robinson, in this conversation, says that 'stupidity' is "overlooking conspicuously crucial information". That is, there was important information that could have prevented a poor decision, but we, for some reason, did not spot it.

He says there are seven reasons why this happens:

The next time you do something stupid, take a deep breath. Once the immediate emotions of anger and embarrassment have passed, see which of these seven reasons caused it this time. Then consider what you would do differently next time.

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