Don't Be Stupid
We all know stupid people. We encounter them at work, in politics, on social media, and sometimes across the dinner table. Occasionally, we even encounter one in the mirror.
But what exactly is stupidity? We tend to associate stupidity with a lack of intelligence, education, or common sense. I think that definition misses the mark. Some remarkably intelligent and educated people do remarkably stupid things. The problem isn’t necessarily what they know. It’s their unwillingness to consider that what they believe might be wrong.
Here’s how I distinguish three very different behaviors:
- Ignorance is not knowing.
- Stupidity is refusing to reconsider.
- Dishonesty is knowing better and pretending otherwise.
These distinctions matter.
When Belief Becomes Fact
Imagine two people witnessing an automobile accident at an intersection. One stands on the north side, the other on the south. Both witness the same collision but describe it differently. Neither is necessarily lying or stupid. They simply saw the event from different perspectives. The problem begins when one insists that their account is the absolute truth and dismisses the other’s observations. Their personal experience has become an unquestionable fact.
We do this more often than we care to admit. We read something, hear a story, watch a video, or experience something firsthand. We form a conclusion. Sometimes that conclusion is reinforced through repeated experiences or information from people we trust. Eventually, what we believe becomes what we know. And once we become convinced that we know something, we may stop questioning it.
Psychologists call our tendency to seek information that supports existing beliefs confirmation bias. Social media makes this worse by surrounding us with opinions that reinforce our own. The result? We can become increasingly confident without becoming better informed.
Ignorant, Stupid, or Dishonest?
I believe ignorance deserves some sympathy. Nobody knows everything. We all have gaps in our knowledge, and ignorance can be corrected through learning.
Stupidity is more troublesome. A stupid person, by my definition, may have plenty of intelligence and experience. What they lack is the willingness to challenge their own conclusions. They reject contradictory evidence, dismiss alternative perspectives, and confuse confidence with correctness. Sometimes this is a matter of pride, fear, or denial. Admitting an error can be uncomfortable, especially when a belief has become part of someone’s identity.
But what about the person who recognizes the truth and deliberately misrepresents it? That’s not stupidity. That’s dishonesty. And when that dishonesty is intentional and harmful, we enter the territory of moral responsibility, perhaps even evil. Of course, we cannot always know what’s going on inside another person’s head. Someone who appears stupid may simply be uninformed. Someone who seems dishonest may genuinely believe what they’re saying. That’s why understanding the difference matters more than simply labeling people.
Don’t Be That Person
Throughout my career as an entrepreneur, teacher, and investor, I’ve encountered plenty of people with strong opinions. Some were right. Others were spectacularly wrong. I’ve been both.
The people I’ve admired most weren’t necessarily the smartest or most educated. They were the ones willing to listen, question their assumptions, and change their minds when presented with better evidence. In entrepreneurship, we teach people to test assumptions before investing their money. Yet in everyday life, we often defend our beliefs without ever testing them.
Perhaps the best defense against stupidity is intellectual humility. Ask yourself three simple questions:
- What evidence supports my belief?
- What evidence might contradict it?
- What would convince me to change my mind?
If the answer to the last question is “nothing,” you may have a problem. Being wrong doesn’t make you stupid. Refusing to consider that you might be wrong just might.
Don’t be stupid.
John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2026. All rights reserved.
P.S. The reason I wrote this blog is because of a few of my very smart friends who say or write or do some really stupid things, or so it seems to me. Or, am I wrong?