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C1CultureOct 12, 2026

The 3 elements of stupidity | Jonny Thomson

愚かさの3つの要素 | ジョニー・トムソン

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Transcript

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Translation

So Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a 20th century philosopher and theologian, and he's known for his writings, but also he's known for his resistance to the Nazi system.
ディートリヒ・ボンヘッファーは20世紀の哲学者であり神学者で、その著作で知られていますが、ナチスの体制への抵抗でも知られています。
He was imprisoned in 1943, where he wrote a whole range of letters.
彼は1943年に投獄され、そこで数多くの手紙を書きました。
He makes this slightly bold claim that stupidity is a greater threat to civilization than even evil.
彼は、愚かさは悪よりも文明にとってさらに大きな脅威であるという、やや大胆な主張をしています。
But what is stupidity?
しかし愚かさとは何でしょうか？
Now, again, Bonhoeffer says that stupidity can be defined by three different elements.
さて、繰り返しますが、ボンヘッファーは愚かさは3つの異なる要素で定義できると言っています。
The first is when we outsource our critical thinking to some kind of third party.
1つ目は、私たちが批判的思考を何らかの第三者に委ねるときです。
It might be a teacher, it might be a parent, it might be a social media influencer, or it might be technology.
それは教師かもしれませんし、親かもしれませんし、ソーシャルメディアのインフルエンサーかもしれませんし、テクノロジーかもしれません。
And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to point out the fact that a lot of people use ChatGPT and Claude and AI today to answer these kind of questions for them.
そして、今日多くの人々がChatGPTやClaudeやAIを使ってこうした問いに答えてもらっているという事実を指摘するのに、ロケット科学者である必要はありません。
Is it right to do X?
Xをすることは正しいのか？
Is it right to do Y?
Yをすることは正しいのか？
Should I cheat on my partner?
パートナーを裏切るべきか？
Should I stay with my partner?
パートナーと一緒にいるべきか？
Should I do this job or should I do that job?
この仕事をすべきか、それともあの仕事をすべきか？
We are using AI to do the critical thinking for us, and that's an example of what Bonhoeffer would call.
私たちはAIを使って自分に代わって批判的思考をさせていますが、それはボンヘッファーが言うところの
stupidity.
愚かさの一例です。
Now, the second element of stupidity is when we are willfully ignorant.
さて、愚かさの2つ目の要素は、意図的に無知であることです。
If you are continuously ignorant and you don't take any steps to resolve your ignorance, well, this—that is an example of stupidity.
もしあなたがずっと無知なままで、その無知を解消するために何の手段も講じなければ、それは愚かさの一例です。
There is an example in the ancient Greek world where the Oracle of Delphi was once reputed to say that the wisest man in the ancient world was Socrates.
古代ギリシャ世界には、デルフォイの神託がかつて古代世界で最も賢いのはソクラテスだと言ったという例があります。
Socrates famously said that the only thing I know is that I know nothing at all, which is an example of ignorance.
ソクラテスは有名に「私が知っている唯一のことは、私は何も知らないということだ」と言いましたが、これは無知の一例です。
But the reason why he wasn't stupid was that because he spent his life devoted to trying to resolve that.
しかし彼が愚かではなかった理由は、その解消に人生を捧げて努めたからです。
Now, the third element of stupidity is conformity, and this is what Bonhoeffer saw from his prison cell in 1943.
さて、愚かさの3つ目の要素は同調であり、これはボンヘッファーが1943年に監獄の中から目にしたものです。
He saw people who he grew up with, people who were educated in the same university systems, people who went to the same schools as him, and suddenly they became part of this Nazi operation.
彼は、自分と一緒に育った人々、同じ大学制度で教育を受けた人々、自分と同じ学校に通った人々が、突然このナチスの作戦の一部になっていくのを目にしました。
And so, with conformity, it reminds me of something that Nietzsche says in his work *Beyond Good and Evil*.
そして、同調ということでは、ニーチェがその著作『善悪の彼岸』で述べているあることを思い出します。
In his work *Beyond Good and Evil*, Nietzsche has an entire chapter devoted to truth.
その著作『善悪の彼岸』の中で、ニーチェは一章全体を真理に充てています。
And in the work, Nietzsche argues that philosophers, and academics, and writers often become obsessed with this idea of truth.
そしてその著作の中で、ニーチェは、哲学者や学者、作家たちがしばしばこの真理という考えに取り憑かれるようになると論じています。
That truth has a value in and of itself.
真理そのものに価値があるという考えに。
And he says, if you look at the history of humanity, if you look at where we are today, people don't care about truth as a thing.
そして彼は言います、人類の歴史を見れば、今日の私たちがいる場所を見れば、人々は物としての真理など気にしていない、と。
What matters more is loyalty, and what matters more is identity.
より重要なのは忠誠心であり、より重要なのはアイデンティティである、と。
When we conform to some kind of groupthink, we are surrendering our own ability to do critical thinking, and we are offloading it to somebody else to do for us.
私たちがある種の集団思考に同調するとき、私たちは自分自身で批判的に考える能力を放棄し、それを他の誰かに肩代わりさせているのです。

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