The New Official Unit of Stupidity, Explained

You may recall that last Thursday I introduced my proposal for an official unit of stupidity, which I named the Gohmert (abbreviated ghm) in honor of the proudly intellectually challenged representative from Texas. Since then, rainy weather which kept me out of my garden has allowed me time to give the issue some additional thought, and I am ready to present my formal initial concept for what I have named the Gohmert Stupidity Scale.

One problem with establishing a scale of stupidity, as my friend and fellow blogger John has pointed out, is deciding what constitutes the baseline level of stupidity. I have tried to address this problem by relating stupidity to ignorance (which may be unintentional and correctable) and the degree of willingness to change one's opinion in response to facts and evidence. Thus, a lower Gohmert rating would represent honest error and the willingness to correct it, while a higher score would reflect stubborn resistance to changing one's mind in the face of updated information. 

John also suggested modeling the system on the Richter Scale, which measures the strength of earthquakes and uses a logarithmic scale in which each increasing level reflects a tenfold (or more) increase in power. This idea had considerable merit, as it allowed for the measurement of the rapidly-increasing levels of current stupidity. In a subsequent comment, John also suggested that the scale allow for negative values, which would represent good ideas and lack of stupidity. That's a good idea, but I need to think about it some more, and will address it in a future modification of the Gohmert Stupidity Scale.

My original idea visualized a simple one-to-ten scale, but I soon realized that this lacked the flexibility to account for the broad range of stupidity plaguing the nation. I moved on to a concept similar to the Scoville Scale which measures the degree of heat in chili peppers, although fellow blogger Mike has noted that the Scoville Scale currently has an upper measurement of more than 2.5 million units, which may not be high enough to account for the present need. 

After much thought and doodling and consideration of the inputs from Mike and John, here's my concept. As I noted above, it is based on a combination of the Scoville Scale, which is open-ended and allows for a wide gradation in values, and the Richter Scale, which allows for huge increases in value at higher levels. It is designed to measure the stupidity of individuals, rather than of specific ideas or actions, although it can be modified to address the latter ... it's easy enough to come up with ideas. Your comments and suggestions are welcome ... 

The Gohmert Stupidity Scale, v.1

(Measurements expressed in ghm, followed by a General Description)

0 -100: Normal behavior. Able to recognize, admit, and self-correct occasional errors without harm to self or others.

100-1,000: Silly, but harmless. Able to admit error and self-correct once action has been recognized as dumb.

1,000-2,500: Ignorant. Commits dumb acts out of non-malicious ignorance, and can self-correct when stupid action is pointed out.

2,500-10,000: Really Ignorant. Commits dumb acts out of ignorance and resists changing mind when faced with proof of error.

10,000-25,000: Extremely Ignorant. Commits dumb acts out of ignorance and refuses to change mind when faced with proof of error.

25,000-50,000: Stupid. Views own opinions and those of persons with similar beliefs as gospel and rejects contrary information. This is the level at which stupidity begins to have harmful consequences.

50,000-100,000: Really Stupid. Doubles down on stupid actions and beliefs when confronted with evidence; believes persons with contrary positions are obviously wrong.

100,000-350,000: Extremely Stupid. Easily swayed by individuals or groups that reinforce personal beliefs. Believes individuals or groups holding contrary points of view are not only wrong, but deliberately malicious.

350,000-750,000: Amazingly Stupid. Utterly devoid of self-doubt. Refuses to listen to other points of view and is totally convinced of the infallibility of deeply-held personal positions. Potential for danger to self and others.

750,000-1,500,000: Dangerously stupid. Aggressively rejects any other point of view and refuses to acknowledge any possibility of personal error or responsibility. May be dangerous to self and others when contradicted.

1,500,000-3,000,000: Normal extreme upper limit of stupidity. Refuses to accept validity of any contradictory point of view and rejects all contrary information and evidence as “fake news.” Believes  aggressive and confrontational response to opposing views, up to and including physical violence, is justified. Clearly dangerous to self and others.

> 3,000,000: Level of stupidity is no longer measurable by rational standards. Individual should not be allowed to breed.

So, Dear Readers, what do you think? Leave a comment with any suggestions for improvement ... we're filling a need, here.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming. 

Bilbo