Abstract

In terms of intellectual development, human behavior may be viewed as adaptive and maladaptive. In the short run, it may be adaptive in that it can help an individual adjust to his own cultural values by leading him/her to accept any blatant contradictions between the real and ideal. As a mechanism for short-term adaptation, stupidity is an example of the “Neurotic Paradox” which encourages behavioral which is subject to immediate positive reinforcement while the long-term impact is likely to be negative. A concomitant drawback is that immediate errors may be difficult to transcend long term if the short-term decision sets one off on a deleterious path which then becomes more difficult to overcome later. Addictions or commitments to “Pleasure” could be examples of this principle of life and learning. Honore de Balzac noted, “Pleasure is like certain drugs, to continue to obtain the same result, one must double the dose, and death or brutalization is contained in the last one”. Deficit spending by the government constitutes a cultural example of this principle.