My response to a friend asking me about 2024

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

29. Carlo Cipolla can answer most of your questions

He wrote a book called The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, but knowing its key points will answer everything you're wondering about pretty well:

1. Everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals among us.
2. The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person.
3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person while deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses themselves.
4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals.
5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Most of your questions revolve around point #2, which is basically saying that even supposedly sensible people can be stupid. Linus Pauling is my favorite example of how it works. He was utterly brilliant...except about Vitamin C, and with that, he was a complete and total moron.

If you keep those 5 laws above in mind, you'll never be surprised at how even supposedly smart people can be stupid. And you'll be prepared for the sh*t show that all stupid people inevitably bring in their wake.