DUMBCON 1 - The Sequel

Last July, I proposed a set of national standards for stupidity that I called the DUMBCON. It was based on the range of military "conditions" that specify actions to be taken at various times for various reasons: there's the Defense Condition (DEFCON), the Force Protection Condition (FPCON), and the Information Condition (INFOCON), among many others...not to mention the color-coded, silly, and utterly meaningless Terror Threat Condition.

That turned out to be a popular post, and I still use the DUMBCON to refer to current degrees of dumbness (although most days I think we need a DUMBCON level higher than 1 to account for radical Islamists, people who text while driving, members of Congress, and anyone with a degree in economics).

Others have taken up my idea, too. Yesterday, one of my co-workers passed me a clever PowerPoint file which introduced a related concept called the STUPICON. This proved two things:

1. People other than I recognize the need to identify discrete levels of stupidity; and,

2. Someone, somewhere, has way too much time on his/her hands.

I've modified the slides a little bit to take out Air Force-specific terms and make them more general, but the basic idea and work is that of an unknown - but very disturbed - person. Here you go...

The lowest level is STUPICON A...day-to-day stupidity...

When we get to STUPICON B, you need to start worrying...

STUPICON C is getting serious...

And if we get to STUPICON D (the equivalent of my DUMBCON 1), it's time to head for the hills..

You'll use these every day. Don't thank me - it's all part of helping you cope with the world as it is. You have to wonder whether, if the Bible were being written today, the Book of Exodus would have reflected an eleventh plague visited on the Egyptians - stupidity.

But then, Egypt is part of the Middle East. Never mind.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo