billswift comments on I'm Not Saying People Are Stupid - Less Wrong

38 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 09 October 2009 04:23PM

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Comment author: billswift 11 October 2009 02:05:55PM *  1 point [-]

http://www.searchlores.org/realicra/basiclawsofhumanstupidity.htm

and comments on it here http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=817703

Among other things the essay has a wonderful definition of stupidity, and related conditions.

Intelligent - benefits others as well as himself

Bandit - benefits himself at the expense of others

Helpless - failure who nevertheless at least benefits others

Stupid - harms others while also harming himself

He places these as quadrants in a plane, with Bandit and Helpless being transitional between Intelligent and Stupid. That is, Bandits can benefit themselves more than they harm others near Intelligent, to harming others substantially more than they benefit, done next to Stupid.

Comment author: wedrifid 15 November 2009 12:51:50AM 3 points [-]

Among other things the essay has a wonderful definition of stupidity, and related conditions.

Intelligent - benefits others as well as himself

The plane thing is a wonderful system but to the extent that it is intended as a definition of intelligent it is just wrong.