A. Immune I. nomination B. Perpetually J. independent C. Challenge K. damaging D. Acknowledge L. commemorate E. Recipient M. reminder F. Deliberation N. rash G. Aspire O. negligible H. logically When studying human talent, the temptation is usually to concentrate on the upper reaches. Understandably so: we admire the Einstein and Mozarts of this world and 1 to imitate them. In comparison, studying the opposite end of the spectrum might seem pointless, patronizing ( 摆出恩赐态度的 ) or downright tasteless. Lack of intelligence is shameful enough without treating people like lab rats. Yet it often takes a different viewpoint to find new insights into an old problem. Stupidity is too important and interesting to ignore. The science of stupidity is producing results that 2 our concepts of intelligence and that should be humbling for many of the smart people who run the world. It turns out that a tendency for entertaining 3 , foolish or illogical ideas is not necessarily the result of a low IQ. This measure of intelligence is largely 4 of rationality. Just because you score on the high end of one scale doesn’t mean that you won’t fall at the bottom of the other. Importantly, no one is 5 to the biases that lead to stupid decisions. Yet our respect for IQ and education means that it is easy to rest on the laurels ( 桂冠 ) of our qualifications and assume that we are, by definition, not stupid. That can be 6 on a personal level: regardless of IQ, people who score badly on rationality tests are more likely to have unplanned pregnancies ( 怀孕 ) fall into serious debt. Large-scale stupidity is even more damaging. Business cultures that inadvertently encourage it, for example, may have contributed to the economic crisis. Indeed, the effects may have been so damaging precisely because banks assumed that intelligent people act 7 while at the same time rewarding rash behavior based on intuition rather than 8 . As one researcher puts it: “The more intelligent someone is, the more disastrous the results of their stupidity.” The same surely applies to politicians: the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq serves as a 9 that clever people can do monumentally stupid things. If we want to avoid making similar mistakes in the future, everybody – especially the most intelligent and powerful – would do well to humbly 10 their own weaknesses. To quote Oscar Wilde: “There is no sin except stupidity.”