Universal History of Stupidity
Original title: Histoire universelle de la connerie
Synopsis
Stupidity: a good thing that we all have and Humanity shares it as a whole. A fun and enlightening reading! – Europe 1, Un livre pour l’été
Stupidity, a mixture of ignorance and arrogance that isn’t opposed to intelligence, but to wisdom. The stupid man believes that he is right, knows everything, and often cultivates cruelty. – Radio-Canada, Dessine-moi un dimanche
The topic of this study may seem absurd, yet it is so obvious that we wonder why no one had thought about it sooner. Studying idiots is the goal set by psychologist Jean-François Marmion in Psychology of Stupidy published in 2018. This year, he was interested in the history of human stupidity, and published Universal History of Stupidity. What if putting the stupidity of yesterday and today into perspective, could help us imagine a less dark future? – Vice
A bad fairy with a thousand faces has looked at the cradle of humanity: bullshit. It walks with us, faithful among the faithful, reinventing itself over the centuries and cultures. It castigates differences, enslaves, stirs up violence, cultivates cruelty, deflects technological advances, betrays political hopes, gangrene ideologies, and destroys the planet. It’ll follow our species to the grave, and maybe dig it. The worst part is that we are more often its accomplices than its victims!
From the Neolithic to the present day, more than thirty historians have told us the naked and mischievous truth about stupidity.
Edited by Jean-François Marmion, Psychologist and editor-in-chief of the journal Le Cercle Psy, editor of The Psychology of Stupidity.
Contributors: Antoine de Baecque, Jean-Patrice Boudet, Vincent Capdepuy, Anne Carol, Elisabeth de Castex, Sylvie Chaperon, Myriam Cottias, Aurélie Damet, Rolf Dobelli, Bruno Dumézil, Jean-Paul Demoule, Jean-François Dortier, Christian Duquennoi, Gilles Ferragu, Marc Ferro, Stéphane Feuillas, Martine Fournier, Anthony Goreau, Martine Groult, Virginie Larousse, Patrick Lemoine, Jean-François Marmion, George Marshall, Florence Maruéjol, Chantal Meyer-Plantureux, Alain Montandon, Marylène Patou-Mathis, Steven Pinker, Émilie Ponceaud, Robert Sutton, Laurent Testot, Marie Treps, Jacques Vauclair, Paul Veyne, Catherine Vidrovitch.
Table of contents
- The prehistory of bullshit, Jean-Paul Demoule
- Is bullshit man’s own business? Jacques Vauclair
- The natural selection of assholes, interview with Steven Pinker
- Have we always been violent? Marylène Patou-Mathis
- Bullshit in Egypt, Florence Maruéjol
- The Greek bullshit, Aurélie Damet
- Seneca versus Twitter, interview with Rolf Dobelli
- Were the barbarians assholes? Bruno Dumézil
- Bullshit and the Middle Ages, interview with Jean-Patrice Boudet
- Bullshit and religion, Virginie Larousse
- Bullshit according to Buddhism, Laurent Testot
- Bullshit in India, Emilie Ponceaud and Anthony Goreau
- Bullshit in China, Stéphane Feuillas
- From the Silk Road to the Information Highways, the import-export of bullshit, Laurent Testot
- Bullshit according to the Enlightenment, Martine Groult
- Bullshit and slavery, Myriam Cottias
- Colonialism, Marc Ferro
- Colonialism: the African case, Catherine Vidrovitch
- History of racist insults, Marie Treps
- Antisemitism and homophobia in the show, Chantal Meyer-Plantureux
- History of sexism, Martine Fournier
- Bullshit about feminine sexuality, interview with Sylvie Chaperon
- The Fear of Cretinism during the 20’s, Antoine de Baecque
- Dandysm, an answer to bullshit, Alain Montandon
- Medical errors, Anne Carol
- Bullshit and madness, Patrick Lemoine
- The bullshit of peoples, from the will of power to the desire for normality, interview with Paul Veyne
- The arms race, Vincent Capdepuy
- Terrorism, Gilles Ferragu
- Globalization, a global bullshit? Vincent Capdepuy
- Bullshit in Silicon Valley, interview with Robert Sutton
- Homo detritus: the long history of our waste, Christian Duquennoi
- Transhumanism: the future of bullshit? Elisabeth de Castex
- Are we too stupid to save the world? Interview with George Marshall
- Bullshit, the engine of history, Jean-François Dortier
Marketing Information
- 24,000 copies sold
- Under option: World English, Portugal, Korea, Poland, the Netherlands, Greece, Lithuania, Brazil, Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, China, World Spanish
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