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BONHOEFFER: On How Dummheit (Stupidity/Folly) on a Large Scale Can Be Dangerous to a Society

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran minister and theologian who worked with the German resistance during WWII and who was killed by the Nazis in1945 for his association with persons involved in the July 20,1944 Hitler assassination plot.

Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity discusses how Dummheit* (a “moral” rather than “intellectual defect,” which can be translated as either “stupidity” or “folly”) “is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice.”

Bonhoeffer certainly thought that Dummheit was a major reason for why so many Germans came to embrace Nazism.

Sadly, there seem to be parallels happening in the U.S. today with the rise of Trumpism and large groups of people who believe the Big Lie and who seem to embrace Trump’s authoritarian, racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic messages. Consequently, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to watch the above video.

Below is a an excerpt from Bonhoeffer’s theory, written in 1942.

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