Book Notes of C.Cipolla's Book by Vignesh Swaminathan.

1. BOOK NOTES #BetterMatters
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2. The Five Laws
• Law #01: Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates
the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
• Law #02: The probability that a certain person can be
stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that
person.
• Law #03: A stupid person is someone who causes
losses to another person or to a group of people while
themselves deriving no gain and possibly incurring
losses.
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3. The Five Laws
• Law #04: Non-stupid people always underestimate the
damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-
stupid people forget that at all times and places and
under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with
stupid people infallibly turns out to be a costly mistake.
• Law #05: A stupid person is the most dangerous type of
person. A stupid person is more dangerous than a
bandit.
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4. Key Takeaways
• Stupidity is one of the most powerful, dark forces, which
hinders the growth of human welfare and happiness.
• Regardless of our estimates of stupidity, we are repeatedly
and recurrently startled by the fact that:
• People whom we gad once judged rational and intelligent
turn out to be unashamedly stupid.
• Day after day, with unceasing monotony, we are harassed
in our activities by stupid individuals who appear suddenly
and unexpectedly in the most inconvenient places and at
the most improbable moments.
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5. Key Takeaways
• The 2nd Law implies that whether you move in distinguished circles or not, you
always have to face the same percentage of stupid people.
• All human beings fall into 4 Categories:
• The Helpless: A fellow who takes an action resulting in their loss and our gain.
• The Intelligent: A fellow who takes an action resulting in gains for both parties.
• The Bandit: A fellow who takes an action resulting in their gain and our loss.
• The Stupid: A fellow who takes an action causing us loss of money and/or
time and/or energy and/or cheerfulness and/or good health where they have
nothing to gain and gain nothing from causing us embarrassment, difficulties,
or harm.
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6. Key Takeaways
• A stupid person will harass for no reason, for no
advantage, without any plan, or scheme, and at the most
improbable times and places.
• Because a stupid person’s actions do not conform to the
rules of rationality, it follows that:
• One is generally caught by surprise by the attack.
• Even when one is aware of the attack, one cannot
organise a rational defence, because the attack itself
lacks any rational structure.
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7. Prof. Cipollo’s Graph
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This graph represents the benefits and losses
that an individual causes to him or herself
and causes to others.

8. This is a Vigipedia Initiative.
“Better Matters.”
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