Terminal Stupidity - The combination of three factors: Lack of knowledge, lack of wisdom, and lack of concern, that endangers the lives of individuals afflicted with the condition, or those around them.
All three factors must continue for a substantial period of time for an individual to be considered "
terminally stupid." The condition is often characterized by the attitude contained in this phrase: "I don't know, it don't matter, and I don't have to care."
Terminal stupidity is NOT a natural condition. It is a condition chosen by an individual, group, or corporation - but it is not a permanent flaw.
If the afflicted person or group can be educated with facts; OR,
If the afflicted person or group can be informed by wisdom and experience; OR,
If the afflicted person or group can be made to understand how a specific situation or decision does, in fact, concern them;
THEN... They are not
terminally stupid.
Simply being ignorant, inexperienced/unwise, or arrogant/hubristic (uneducated/uninformed, unwise, or uncaring) does not make someone
terminally stupid.
All three conditions MUST be met.
"Those corporate fuckers are
terminally stupid! Someone's gonna die thanks to their terminal stupidity!"
"That crazy hippie wannabe is
terminally stupid, tying himself to the top of that tree. He's gonna end up dead that way."
"Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and
George W. Bush were terminally stupid in deciding to go to war in Iraq."