The Talent for Stupidity: The Psychology of the Bungler, the Incompetent, and the Ineffectual

by Edmund Bergler

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823663450
• ISBN13: 9780823663453
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: International Universities Press
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

The Talent for Stupidity : The Psychology of the Bungler,

I am a great fan of Edmund Bergler. I consider him to be not only as the greatest psychoanalyst, but also the greatest thinker of the modern times. It is a pity that the prodigious works of this unique author are not as popular as they deserve. To me works of Bergler were always tremendously important. The particular book on stupidity is as ingenious as the previous works; it is educational and entertaining at the same time. Read it. This book will teach you about the mainsprings of the human behavior.

essential for understanding the human condition

This is a technical work, and assumes at least a passing familiarity with Freud and Psychoanalysis. However, it is one of the most important missing pieces in understanding motivation and interpersonal dynamics. As most psychiatry has been reduced to a moronized adjunct to the pharmaceutical industry, we begin to appreciate the necessity of Bergler's contributions. In this book, Bergler explores the possibility of incompetence as a strategic choice. The incompetent, or as we ought to distinguish, the pseudo-incompetent (as opposed to the ignorant, uninformed, or confused) uses his or her intelligence to sabotage the flow of events. Bergler sees this sabotage as a form of self abnegation via masochistic need for failure and shame. Others may feel that incompetence may serve as a conciously chosen pseudo-identity in order to escape responsibility. After all, one cannot ask much of one of whom little is expected. Bergler's theories are thus useful and necessary, but incomplete. Both the intrapsychic dynamics of the punitive super-ego and the masochistic, shriveled, insect-self (see Kafka, Metamorphosis) AND the real world environment of power dynamics must be taken into account to develop a well formed understanding of a person's true life situation. Nonetheless, anyone with pretensions or intentions of being well informed in this field must read Bergler thoroughly.