East-to-West Revisions.docx

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the birth of the great Italian economic historian, Carlo Cipolla,his books are being published again, including his bestseller Happy but Not Too MuchComment by Matthew Vaughn: Added his name to clarify who the historian wasComment by Matthew Vaughn: Republished is not a word and I clarified that Happy but Not Too Much was his bookComment by Matthew Vaughn: Titles of books should be italicized and capitalized

Carlo Cipolla: the natural science of stupidity

As you have probably heard, people are defined stupid if they cause damage toanother person or group of people without experiencing personal gain. Thisdefinition also deals with the idea that inevitably each of us underestimates thenumber of stupid individuals in circulation. We owe these quotations to a greateconomic historian whose 90th birthday falls this year (born AugustComment by Matthew Vaughn: birthday is a shorter way to put this15,1922, Pavia - died September 5, 2000, Pavia). He worked as a teacher in variousItalian universities (such as CaFoscari of Venice and Normale of Pisa) and at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. We are referring to Carlo M. Cipolla. The initialComment by Matthew Vaughn: Changed this entire sentence, it faltered a bit mechanically. First I changed the colon after Cipolla to a period, otherwise the sentence would be a run-on. Second I changed the phrase "which is always said" to "which is what many people believe" which will help clarify that it is believed. Thirdly I switched the wording about the middle name box to help clarify what was meantM in his name does not necessarily means Maria, which is what many believe, it is only a letter Cipolla used to fill in the middle name section of form for the University ofCalifornia, Berkeley. This anecdote alone is enough to describe the brilliant eccentricity of the man who was able to explain the evolution of economy to generations of academicsComment by Matthew Vaughn: Switched to "this anecdote is enough" the previous sentence was a comparative clausemasterfully. However, he also combined his vast knowledge of macrohistory with detailed studies in microhistory. Moreover, he was able to tell economic history with style, humor and anComment by Matthew Vaughn: Changed to make readability easieradmirable ability to synthesize information. Use his quote the incipit of his bookComment by Matthew Vaughn: Suffice is not typically used while comparing; changed to "testament"Miasmas and Diseases of 1989 as a testament, in this book he reconstructs the everyday life inFlorence in 17th century, describing the cattiva esalatione (pungent exhalations) ofimmondezze et spurcitie (scum and filth). He actually states that the book was notComment by Matthew Vaughn: Moved "actually" to modify the noun instead of the verbwritten by him but by doctors-physicists, the cerusici (from latin chirurgicus,surgeon), the magistrates of the Florence Health Magistracy. Thanks to Il Mulino publishing house, all of Cipollas works are going to be available in all bookshops to celebrate the 90th birthday. A few examples are the fundamental book Le avventure della lira, Literacy and development in the West, which is about the decay of illiteracy in the western world; Il burocrate e il marinaio, which is about the difficulties of cultural differences; The Tasty Pepper Wine (and Wool), in which the author speculates pepper is the most important driving force of the Medieval Economic Development, thanks to its aphrodisiac effects, writing a funny self-parody of economic researches. This was a Christmas booklet written in English and distributed among his friends in 1973, just when the Bolognese publishing house Il Mulino was printing his book An Economic History of Pre-Industrial Europe. Three years later, Cipolla got an encore with Happy but Not Too Much. This collection of essays is once again in English. It includes another interesting essay on human stupidity. This little volume (in a hundred enumerated copies) was sold like hot cakes among his friends. More and more copies were asked for by word of mouth. However, Cipolla was puzzled as to this demand he was also contrary to its translation into Italian, because he was afraid of the loss of its typically British ironic undertones. In a few words Cipollas witty taxonomy of human stupidity is represented with a system of abscissae and ordinates in which he placed four human types: intelligent people, naive people, pillagers and stupid people (the most dangerous type of person there is). Since its publication in 1988 more than 350,000 copies have been sold in Italy. Moreover, it has also become a bestseller in Anglo-saxon countries, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey, etcetera up to Japan and Korea. The new reprints of his books let us rediscover a researcher who knew how to instill a spirit of innovation in the discipline, as he was appreciated by the jury which gave him the prestigious Balzan Prize in 1995 with this citation: Thanks to his intellectual curiosity, dominated by the most rigorous thought and methodology. But he risked that he would be remembered by most readers only for the smiles he was able to bring to our faces, burdening stupids with their (ir-)responsibilities forever.Comment by Matthew Vaughn: Once again birthday is shorter and more conciseComment by Matthew Vaughn: Remember ItalicsComment by Matthew Vaughn: Added which is for clarityComment by Matthew Vaughn: Added which is for clarityComment by Matthew Vaughn: Changed postulate to speculateComment by Matthew Vaughn: Erased pondering, it was a dangling modifierComment by Matthew Vaughn: Italics and capitals

The basic laws of human stupidity:1. Always and inevitably each of us underestimates the number of stupidindividuals in circulation.2. The probability that a given person is stupid is independent of any othercharacteristic possessed by that person.3. A person is stupid if they cause damage to another person or group of peoplewithout experiencing personal gain, or even worse causing damage tothemselves in the process.4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the harmful potential of stupidpeople; they constantly forget that at any time anywhere, and in anycircumstance, dealing with or associating themselves with stupid individualsinvariably constitutes a costly error.5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person there is