It's the stupidity, stupid!

It's the stupidity, stupid!

Is there such a thing as a stupidity gene? A stupidity gene! Well, if there were a stupidity gene, I think it would have to be pretty much eradicated by now... unless it keeps springing up with random mutations. Why would that be?

Well, if there were a stupidity gene, the unfortunate owner of the gene would make fatally ignorant decisions more often than average. Therefore, the stupidity gene would be selected against so heavily that it couldn't linger in population for more than a few hundred generations ... unless there was a selective pressure that made it desirable in some circumstances.Like?

Well, one of the positive side-effects of a stupidity gene might be that it would make someone take risks that an average person would not. Maybe that would lead to some new discovery, like cheese. Maybe it was the stupidity gene that made someone eat sour milk. But it led to a whole new food product.

I was thinking about that. A lot of these stories seem to involve some pretty innovative thinking. Oh yeah!Right. If there are multiple stupidity genes, then having one or two might make someone creative, while having a dozen would make her a dangerous idiot.

For example, the fisherman who electrocuted himself ... Yeah. He had a great idea! He connected cables to the main power supply of his house, dropped the other end in the river, waited for a batch of electrocuted fish to float to the surface, and then waded into the water to retrieve his catch.

So what's the difference between the kind of risk-taking that leads to great innovation, and the kind that leads to a humiliating demise? The difference seems to be the decoupling of a new idea from an examination of the risks involved. If the risk-taker neglects to consider the deadly consequences, then only luck can save him from an embarrassing outcome. For example, Benjamin Franklin experimented with lightning using a key tied to a kite. I think that story is apocryphal, but it would be a good example of luck saving an innovator from disaster.

Is there aneurological explanation for the phenomenon that allows us to do something really stupid at the exact same moment we're thinking, ``This is really stupid?''

We can follow several lines of thought in parallel. Once a hypothetical ``great idea'' reaches a critical juncture and begins to trigger a physical response, a parallel cautious line of thought might not be able to interrupt that response before it translates into action. If you've ever done something stupid, and thought a split-second before tragedy befalls that it might not be such a clever plan, then you've experienced the effects of parallel mental processing. It's rare for someone to think, ``I didn't even see the consequences coming.''

This piece by Carina Chocano is excerpted from the online Salon Magazine at www.salon.com