Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random. Show all posts

Monday, August 27, 2012

PLEASE VIEW THE FASAB BLOG ON WORDPRESS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE


I don't know what has gone wrong with blogger.com but at the moment it is a real pain to try to upload any new information, whether text, pictures, videos or whatever. 

My sincere thanks to everyone who is reading the fasab blog on blogger.com but until they get their web site sorted out anyone wishing to read my current blog posts should go to the following web site instead. 


Sorry for any inconvenience and I hope you continue to read and enjoy my blog. 



Thursday, August 16, 2012

Did You Know That The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity Have Been Documented?


“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Unfortunately stupidity seems to have always been with us. There are countless examples of stupid people making monumentally stupid decisions throughout history.
However it was not until 1976 that the definitive essay on the subject was written. The author was an Italian economist named Professor Carlo M Cipolla and he called his pioneering work “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity”. If fasab had a hall of fame, he’d be in it.


Professor Cipolla taught at several universities in Italy, and for many years at the University of California, Berkeley. He also wrote books and studies about clocks, guns, depressions, faith, reason, monetary policy, and money. In fact I first heard of him at University where some of his books appeared on our reading lists. Sadly his “Basic Laws Of Human Stupidity” was not on our lists, I would have enjoyed it even then!  
His essay about stupidity encompasses all those other topics, and perhaps all of human experience.
Professor Cipolla wrote out the laws in plain language. They are akin to laws of nature – a seemingly basic characteristic of the universe.
Here they are:


1. Always and inevitably, everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.


2. The probability that a certain person be stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.


3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons, while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.


4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. In particular, non-stupid people constantly forget that at all times and places and under any circumstances to deal and/or associate with stupid people always turns out to be a costly mistake.

It has been said that Professor Cipolla's “Basic Laws of Human Stupidity” give an X-ray view of what distinguishes countries on the rise from those that are falling, or failing.
Countries moving uphill have an inevitable percentage of stupid people, yes. But they enjoy "an unusually high fraction of intelligent people" who collectively over compensate for the dumbos.
Declining nations, on the other hand, have instead, an "alarming proliferation" of non-stupid people whose behavior "inevitably strengthens the destructive power" of their persistently stupid fellow citizens. There are two distinct, unhelpful groups: "bandits" who take positions of power which they use for their own gain; and people out of power who sigh through life as if they are helpless.
In 1999 two psychologists at Cornell University wrote a study with the fabulous title, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Leads to Inflated Self-Assessments”. Without mentioning any form of the word "stupidity", it serves as an enlightening and dismaying supplement to the basic laws.
Unfortunately Professor Cipolla died in 2000. But thankfully there are others to take up the mantle.
You could be one of them. Like I say almost every day, “Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”.

==========================


Monday, August 13, 2012

Back To Normal This Monday And That Means More Quiz Show Answers


“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

Yes, it’s time to assess the level of general intelligence of the average contestant on television quiz shows. I suppose as ever this post should come with a severe stupidity warning for those of a nervous disposition.
Here we go.
Enjoy!


Q: Name something a caveman would put on his to-do list         
A: Buy a car


Q: Name a fictional island         
A: Rhode Island


Q: Name a fast food restaurant with somebody's first or last name in the title     
A: Burger King


Q: Name something twins share while growing up          
A: Mother's breast        


Q: Name a man's name beginning with the letter K         
A: Kentucky Fried Chicken        


Q: Name an excuse that a girl gives not to invite you in after a date        
A: Her husband is home


Q: Name a president who served two full terms  
A: Abraham Lincoln


Q: Name a thing or place dogs are known to drink from 
A: A hydrant     


Q: Name an animal with three letters in its name 
A: Frog
A: Alligator       


Q: Name something made of leather that a cowboy uses           
A: Purse          


Q: Name a yellow fruit  
A: Orange        


Q: How often a newlywed couple makes love    
A: Three times a day


Q: Name something you often misplace in your car        
A: Steering wheel          


Q: Name something that works better after it's been broken in    
A: Husband      


Q: Name something everyone knows about Cinderella    
A: She could talk to animals      


Q: Name a way parents reward children 
A: Time out      


Q: Name a sport husbands and wives can play together 
A: Kickball


Q: Name something specific kids leave behind when they move out of the house           
A: Their parents
A: A blender
A: Boyfriend/Girlfriend   


Q: Name something the English are famous for 
A: Driving on the wrong side of the road  


Q: Name something on a chihuahua that's tiny   
A: Its Peter


Q: Name a hobby people take up for the thrills involved 
A: Stamp collecting       


Q: Name something that doesn't work without water       
A: Ice cream cone        


Q: Name something you make out of flowers    
A: Cookies       


Q: Name something people do clothed that others don't
A: Ride a motorcycle     


Q: Name a product that, according to its commercials, will make you more popular         
A: Toilet paper


Q: Besides an airplane, something man-made that flies  
A: A jet


Q: Name a vacation city where you would need a lot of money   
A: Hawaii
A: Europe         


Q: Name something you see along the side of a street   
A: Carnage       


Q: Name something a hostess does to let her guests know it's time to leave       
A: Goes to bed 


Q: Name something of yours that you hit when it's not working properly 
A: Your spouse 


Q: Name one of the seven dwarfs         
A: Snoopy


=================================


Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Silly Name Game, Part Three – Time To Pass On


“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

It has been fun gathering up examples of those who have been lumbered with let’s say, more exotic names than the rest of us.
In this final installment, apart from the first one which I couldn’t resist adding, the afflicted are no longer with us although their contribution to mankind lives on in their memorials. 
If I ever change my name by deed poll I think I’d like to take the name of the last guy on the list.
Enjoy.






































and finally






Friday, August 10, 2012

The Silly Name Game, Part Two - Now It’s Political!


“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

You’d think if you had a daft or embarrassing name the last thing that you would want to do is hang it out in public for everyone to see and ridicule.
But as was noted yesterday people just do not seem to find anything wrong with their own surnames, no matter how funny, absurd or otherwise they appear to the rest of us.
Hence people stand for public office quite oblivious to their odd names.
Does it help or hinder them to get elected? Perhaps sometimes it does, after all some of the names would certainly tend to stick a voter’s mind. Perhaps sometimes it doesn’t, if they are stupid enough not to notice their own names, how fit are they for public office in the first place.
Who knows?
Who cares?
At least they’ve given us some entertainment even if they didn’t mean to.
Enjoy!!!