Something as ubiquitous and eternal as stupidity has naturally received formal considerations by the philosophers. This discussion course will ask whether chatbots, primed with formal theories of stupidity, can help a person avoid leading an unexamined life and falling into regret over their decisions. With the participants setting the pace, we’ll consider such notions as cognitive biases, moral disagreements masquerading as intellectual inadequacies, lying versus bullshitting in public discourse, plus how overconfidence, self-deception, and groupthink lead to personal and organizational failures. Throughout the course, we’ll explore how to adapt AI tools to learn this material and step people through better decisions. We'll use those apps to spot propaganda in historical texts, distinguish between spin and lies in media, and find self-deceptive patterns in our own narratives. We might even have time to configure AI to speak as each thinker we’ve studied, diagnosing real-world failures while participants consider AI's analytical accuracy and its own biases.

Some of the formal frameworks re: irrational decisions we’ll be exploring (Use links to open course materials)

1. Aristotle's Intellectual Virtues: A Baseline for “What is Intelligence?” Introduction

2. Bonhoeffer's Theory of Stupidity: The anti-intellectual effects of power Introduction

3. Munger's Psychology of Misjudgment: Mental models and decision errors Introduction

4. Kahneman's Cognitive Biases: Thinking fast & slow Introduction

5. Haidt's Moral Foundations: Emotions drive post-hoc rationalization Introduction

6. Cipolla's Laws of Stupidity: A taxonomy of harmful behavior Introduction

7. Frankfurt's On Bullshit: Indifference to truth Introduction

8. QAnon & Dunning-Kruger: Dangerous Overconfidence Among the Masses Introduction

9. Trivers' Self-Deception: Evolutionary basis of pretending it’s not so Introduction

10. Janis's Groupthink: Spontaneous collective irrationality Introduction

11. Spengler’s Impact of Civilizational Decline: Senescent cultures override individual agency Introduction

The facilitator’s main role will be to identify topics of common interest, guide discussions of the issues, and foster a respectful exchange of opinions so that everyone enjoys the conversation.