A common theme of the majority of the articles I’ve written concern events and activities that are preposterous or incredulous to any rational person. There is never a shortage of topics to discuss because there is apparently an endless supply of stupidity from which to draw.
We know from both personal and anecdotal experience that there will always be those that will take advantage of others, simply because they can. On the other side, there are infinite numbers of people naïve enough to fall for whatever new snake oil is being sold. These two different factions may have something to do with IQ, but not entirely. We know that highly ‘educated’ people are just as susceptible to ridiculous ruses as those less schooled. We know that even low intelligence people can take advantage of those higher up in the food chain. But it’s the intelligent stupids that are the most dangerous, because they generally hold more influence in a society. They set the tone for fashion, for beliefs and values. They hold influence over media and governments. Think Al Gore and Global Warming.
It never ceases to amaze me the extent of the buy-ins to massive institutional hoaxes and fibs on the part of the public. They can’t all be stupid. Or can they? Sure, there are views drawn from deep rooted values or principles whether by upbringing or by faith. That’s understandable. What is inexplicable are the outright denials of reality by such large swaths of the population. How does anyone deny the simple duality of gender? Or even the existence of gender? How are people supporting the self admitted murderer of her own three children?
How do people continue to deny the extensive fraud that was perpetrated by the grotesque Covid era panics? Why are there such things as flat earthers? Why do people still think melting ice is a real horror? Why do people still buy Range Rovers?
The fact that people, both intelligent and not, can be manipulated has always been known to those savvy enough to take advantage of them. In fact this is the very foundation of religions and nation states. If there’s such a thing as human nature, this is it. You would think with the advancements in education and knowledge that critical thinkers would dominate in societies. You’d be wrong. A video I came across recently tries to explain the apparent rise in stupidity from their psychological background. The site is Psych Signal and their YouTube site is https://www.youtube.com/@PsychSignalHQ
The particular video which addresses our discussion is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT3AipiG_v0
Enjoy.
