One of my rail crews was telling me about something really stupid that a relative had done, and he said two things that stuck in my mind: “there are degrees of stupidity’ and “some people are chronic idiots”.

I got to thinking about that on the way home, and decided he’s right.

The following is my thinking alone, and many people will disagree. So be it -- it isn't like people haven't disagreed with me before. I’ll start from the top and work my way down. Then let the flaming begin!

DUMB - Everyone is dumb sometimes. It’s like a brief mental short-circuit, where you kind of even surprise yourself. Dumb is when the results affect only yourself, or if in a group it mainly just makes you look foolish – no one is injured or killed. You usually know when you do it because a thought flicks through your mind right afterward: “I can’t believe I did that”, or “That was so dumb I’m glad no one was around to see me do it”. If you’re in a group, you can say “I’m sorry – that was really dumb – I don’t know why I did it”, and everything is usually okay.

This is going three miles to work in winter with no coat or jacket in the car, and the only shoes you’ve got are high heels, and you thought that tire looked a little low the other day. This is not checking the gas gauge before you drive over the sparsely-inhabited mountain pass. This is not learning how to change a tire.

CHRONICALLY DUMB - You’ve known these people. They’re always doing dumb things. They’re frequently relatively intelligent people and they’re nice, but they do one dumb thing after another. You get to expect it. Their mental short circuit has some rust involved and it’s an everyday thing.

I have a friend of 50 years who fits into this category. She has a measured IQ of 162, and a memory for the written word like a steel trap. She forgets to lock the doors and has been burglarized more than once. She drove to the hospital for a procedure and took her dogs. She went to work and left the car running all day. She took Destructo-Dog in her brand-new car and left her alone for over an hour – incredible damage! But she’s never hurt anyone else, or put them in danger.

CONSTANT IDIOCY – Some people say this is always a mix of youth and testosterone, but I’m not sure that I agree… well, totally. Girls with multiple car accidents seem to somehow fit into this category, and so do girls that have unprotected sex. Of course, some people may overlap categories, but that’s for their psychiatrists to figure out. However, this IS the category that is often captured on video because until the person is either unconscious or dead, they’ll do it again.

Those who skateboard down railings and keep landing on their heads, those who jump their bicycles from rooftop to rooftop over railroad tracks with the train coming, those who always think “It wont’ happen to me” are some of the ones I think about here.

STUPID is a big step down. People who do stupid things tend to make poor decisions in many things, and sometimes they put themselves or others in danger. Some people are only occasionally stupid, so it comes as kind of a shock to the people who know them, but who are even more shocked at how the person rationalizes their actions.

People who drive while texting fit here. People who are talking on their cell phone, and juggling a latté and doing their nails fit here. Many/most politicians fit here, as they’re totally divorced from reality and cause-and-effect. People who have wild animals as pets definitely fit here. Guys who pee on electric fences fit here. It’s the “Hey, guys, watch this!” category.

INTENSELY STUPID is the main source of Darwin Award material. These people are either constantly doing incredibly stupid things, or they’re just regularly stupid and then occasionally just surpass all their previous efforts. These are the ones who kill themselves accidentally, almost kill themselves, or injure or kill other people with their unbelievably bad decisions.

It’s driving drunk. It’s driving over the Continental Divide in winter. It’s going into the desert in summer with minimal water. It’s constantly veering off the road to hit animals. It’s making a propane tank bomb for a big family 4th of July party. It’s making a ‘hot wire’ by just sticking a length of bare reel wire into an electrical outlet. It’s robbing a gun shop. It’s digging a basement under your whole house with no supports.

SELF-CENTERED STUPIDITY - Some people skip over all the previous forms of stupid and go directly to this form of it. These are the people who only think about themselves, only consider what they want, and the thought of how their actions will affect others (even those close to them) never crosses their minds. They’re usually quite intelligent, but they’ve got a missing cog on their mental wheel. This form of stupidity can often backfire on them, but in my opinion, it never happens soon enough, hard enough, or in many cases, often enough.

Petty criminals fit here – too dumb, too lazy and too greedy to put all that effort into a legitimate business. Many business people fit here, as their overwhelming greed focuses ONLY on making more money, no matter what; if it’s illegal and they can get away with it, they’ll do it. Someone did a poll (CA, 1980s, I think), asking if people would commit a murder if it would look good on their resumé. Over 50% said they would.

CRIMINAL STUPIDITY – This is just about the end of the list. You don’t get much more stupid than this. This is where considerable technical intelligence meets supreme greed. Not only are these people obsessed with their need for total control, but also they’re completely able to find, support, buy and direct other people who think they are smart, but who are only pawns. They are willing to destroy nearly everything in their quest for Power, and they often succeed.

Unfortunately, not only Big Money supports this concept. Many middle-income people support this, I think mainly because they would do it if they could. They always seem to overlook the big picture, always just seeing as far as the money, what the money will buy, or the control – they NEVER look farther down the road to where their actions will ultimately lead, which is, of course, the ULTIMATE STUPIDITY.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Sue