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Social upheaval in early 20th-century Europe is the historical setting for this seminal study by the Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset. Continuously in print since 1932, Ortega's vision of Western culture as sinking to its lowest common denominator and
...(more) drifting toward chaos brought its author international fame and has remained one of the influential books of the 20th century.(less)
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In a footnote to The Revolt of the Masses (1930), Ortega y Gasset asked why no one had, to his knowledge, written an essay on stupidity (tonteria; p. 106).
STPIDITY: Stupidity is the quality or condition of being stupid, or lacking intelligence, as opposed to being merely ignorant or uneducated. This quality can be attributed to both an individual (e.g. Penny Person is stupid) or a person’s actions, words or beliefs (e.g., Penny Person’s policies are stupid). The term can thus also refer to poor use of judgement, or insensitivity to nuances in a person who is otherwise intelligent. The determination of who is stupid is relatively difficult, despite attempts to measure intelligence (and thus stupidity) such as IQ tests. The adjective is also used as a general pejorative (e.g. I didn’t borrow your stupid cap - go look for it yourself).