A Treatise on Stuplicity

How Dietrich Bonhoeffer Helped Me Understand the Collision of Stupidity and Deception in the Age of Social Media

If societal pressure serves as the lowest common denominator of stupidity, then social media becomes its primary conduit and path of least resistance. That’s what I got from Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer's big idea, which feels eerily relevant today: societal stupidity is not a lack of intelligence but a moral failing caused by a dangerous susceptibility to external influence.

“Stupidity,” Bonhoeffer wrote, “is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion. Against stupidity, we are defenseless.”

He wasn’t just describing ignorance. Bonhoeffer was getting at something deeper—something I call stuplicity.

Defining Stuplicity

Bonhoeffer witnessed firsthand how societal stupidity enabled the rise of Adolf Hitler. Germany’s economic turmoil created fertile ground for what I call ‘aligned stupidity’—propaganda and fear-driven narratives that took hold of the collective mind. Many Germans surrendered their critical faculties into the warm arms of conformity. In doing so, they forsaken their democratic institutions and empowered a system that led to tyranny.

“Against stupidity,” Bonhoeffer observed, “reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved. Indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions.”

Viewed through the lens of social media, Bonhoeffer’s ideas take on an unsettling modern relevance. Platforms built on anonymity and algorithms foster the very conditions Bonhoeffer warned against: they amplify trends, distort facts, and reward emotional reactions over critical thought. This is how the erosion takes root.

Stuplicity—the fusion of stupidity and duplicity—is more than ignorance. It’s willful blindness combined with deceit, where ignorance becomes a tool to mask ulterior motives. This dangerous blend creates a feedback loop where manipulation and naiveté feed off one another.

And because stuplicity is easier to say—and frankly, more memorable than “aligned stupidity,” so I’ll stick with that term moving forward.

Where Stuplicity Thrives

Stuplicity thrives in spaces where reason falters, and nowhere is that more evident than now.

Imagine the frustration that drove Bonhoeffer to write, “The stupid person becomes critical,” when confronted with facts, twisting them into justifications for their own beliefs. Social media amplifies this tendency, transforming echo chambers into breeding grounds for misinformation. Platforms reward engagement—likes, shares, outrage—over intellectual honesty or moral courage.

Why do logical arguments, no matter how airtight, so often fail to penetrate collective unthinking? Bonhoeffer believed it was because societal stupidity is inherently self-satisfied. People are proud to belong to a tribe. And rather than risk rejection from critical reflection, they’ll keep following the herd.

Beyond laziness and moral failure, the modern mass audience fears missing out on the latest trend. In a perverse way, we’ve added Maslow to our madness: when we like and share, we belong. And now we’re back to 1925 when Bonhoeffer worried that his communities had become addicted to approval instead of truth. 

If we’re going to counteract stuplicity, we need to engage differently. Platforms must shift away from prioritizing outrage. But just as importantly, individuals must learn to resist the pull of conformity. Or maybe stop using media altogether?

The Common Conduit

Social media is the perfect conduit for modern stuplicity. But add the corrosion from propaganda, some folks just wait at the end of the conveyor to drink it all in. Even news organizations seem to be in on the action with bursty—and often incorrect—headlines to bait you into clicking. And everything serves to amplify outrage and tribalism while flattening nuance. Ideas are compressed into soundbites, biases reinforced, and critical thought sidelined.

It’s effortless to share ideas without reflecting on them. We can use our common funnels of communication to launch quick, emotional reactions, which can turn us into both consumers and unwitting amplifiers of misinformation. And once we get into that habit, how easy is it to talk in real-time what you’ve learned about the latest media outrage?

A potential antidote? Digital literacy. Historial perspective. Better understanding of public processes. We could spend a lot of time teaching people to spot manipulation and question narratives might reduce the spread of stuplicity. But let’s not kid ourselves—people will always accept the easier answer.

The Path of Least Resistance

Speaking of ‘easy,’ social media thrives on ease: swipe, like, share, repeat. Clap your hands, you’re done. But frictionless conformity discourages dissent. Complex issues are replaced by simplistic reasons, praised less for their depth than for their popularity. And that’s how truth is outmoded by a click.

Bonhoeffer saw the same thing happen, although they didn’t need viral memes. People simply abandoned personal responsibility for what they supported. Today, we see a similar trend: the mass audience often adopts ideas out of convenience rather than verifying facts or evaluating conclusions. 

By contrast, in Germany, the erosion took years. Propaganda reduced complex issues to binary choices: loyalty or betrayal, patriotism or treason. Today, social media algorithms replicate this dynamic, reducing nuanced discussions into hashtags and soundbites. The tools have evolved, but the moral failures remain the same.

Stuplicity makes it so easy for people to absolve themselves of effort. Don’t blame the propagandist for being effective. 

The Feedback Loop

The cycle is not static and it accelerates with every interaction. Algorithms thrive on engagement by reinforcing reactive messages. The more activity, the deeper the messages embed into the collective mind, thus propelling stuplicity into a self-perpetuating cycle.

It’s a spinning wheel; a perpetual engine of human activity fed by algorithms. There’s always more fuel. The more we spread ideas, the greater the effect of fear, hate and rage. Soon, the collective doesn’t need new input—it creates its own derivative stories. That’s how conspiracy stories are legitimized and embedded deeper into the collective mind. 

Note that we’re still hearing about “Pizzagate.” Some people still question birth certificates. And alarmingly, there are people who still believe that COVID was caused by cell phone towers. Have you seen Elvis?

The loop is how we become perfect little mass consumers—and, apparently, how we vote.

The Danger of Stuplicity

Bonhoeffer’s warnings resonate deeply today. Stuplicity is not just ignorance; it’s ignorance weaponized by duplicity. It has the power to shape public opinion, stifle diversity of thought, and erode accountability.

“In conversation with one so affected,” Bonhoeffer wrote, “one feels as though dealing not with a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him.”

And for all our technological prowess, we’ve only amplified this failure. Human behavior transforms tools for connection into devices of division. The stakes could not be higher: whether this technology leads to enlightenment or collapse depends on our ability to resist stuplicity’s pull.

Reclaiming Higher Ideals

What’s the solution? Start with critical engagement. Critical engagement means more than questioning a headline or fact-checking a meme. We have to re-acquire the discipline to examine our own biases, challenge headlines, and, YES, seek opposing perspectives—not to argue, but to understand the full picture.

Bonhoeffer believed societal decline begins with spiritual apathy—when people settle for ease over effort. Resisting this requires both individual action and systemic change. Individually, we must fact-check, challenge assumptions, and engage in good faith. Systemically, platforms must prioritize intellectual diversity and empathy over outrage—though corporate incentives often pull in the opposite direction. Outrage drives profits, and platforms have little incentive to sacrifice engagement metrics for the sake of intellectual diversity or societal good which is a pressure felt all around the information funnel.

That’s why public pressure and digital literacy are essential. If we want change, it starts with us.

The Choice

The convergence of stupidity and duplicity is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Social media has weaponized societal stupidity, making it more dangerous and pervasive than ever.

Stuplicity thrives because it is aided by a frictionless route for gross acceptance of our worst impulses. But as Bonhoeffer reminded us, silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Resisting stuplicity demands courage, reflection, and accountability. To emphasize the intellectual and moral stakes, consider this quote from Bonhoeffer’s Letters and Papers from Prison, “Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.”

The choice is ours.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945): A German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident known for his deeply reflective works on ethics, faith, and the role of Christianity in society. He was a vocal critic of Adolf Hitler’s regime and a founding member of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazification of Christianity. Bonhoeffer authored The Cost of Discipleship (1931) and Letters and Papers from Prison (1951), and his life has inspired numerous other works. He was executed by hanging on April 9, 1945, just weeks before the end of World War II. His legacy symbolizes courage and conviction in the face of tyranny.

References:

Bonhoeffer, D. (1959). The Cost of Discipleship.

Bonhoeffer, D. (1997). Letters and Papers from Prison (vol. 8)

For more, read:

Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity Explained

Who was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) — Mercy Upon All

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Guardian Angel of Persecuted Christians