[dimquest]

Third (and Golden) Law " --- A stupid person is someone who causes damage to another person, or a group of people, without any advantage accruing to himself (or herself) -- or even with some resultant self-damage. (We shall come back to this, because it is the pivotal concept of the Cipolla Theory.) -- "

The author ignores the fact that some groups of stupid people are so dangerous that they must be damaged, even if the immediate [or long term] result is self damage at no gain.

the author doesn't ignore that, necessarily. long-term profit IS still profit.

IMHO, dying for the liberty of your 'tribe' isn't stupid, but it sure isn't very profitable either, in an individual sense. -- Which is the subject of this paper. True?

not sure it is all that simple.
individuals might consider they profit by dying for a cause or purpose they consider more important than their own lives - if they value their family or nation more than they value themselves, dying for the preservation of these higher-value entities constitutes profit.

Thanks, -- in essence, you've agreed with my original point. Looks like it was that simple.

[King Prout]

that we agree on the point in question has been clear form the outset