Why do the smartest people say and think so many dumb things?

Question

I could give you a huge list of dumb things that have been said or written by some of the world's brightest folks. What gives? Even I myself (an intelligent male in his own right) tend to say or think dumb things. Think about the dumb and untenable things said by Kant, Hume, Stephen Hawkins, and Arthur Schopenhauer. Some of their thoughts strike a person of moderate intelligence as "dumb" with only a few moments of reflection.

Hume and Kant made some "dumb" statements about non-Caucasian races. Even by the standards of their day, some of their comments regarding anthrpology seem utterly clueless. As for Schopenhauer, his work "Of Women" is full of ridiculous assertions which one could attribute to his cultural context. However, it would not have been that hard for him to find examples of females in both his time and history that falsified many of his ill-founded assertions.

Sophist, I disagree with your assertion. The dumb things that the aforementioned philosophers said have nothing to do with the person hearing them. Intelligent modern-day philosophers of unquestionable intelligence have confirmed that Hume, Kant and Schopenhauer were mistaken in many of their works and that they made many nonsensical assertions. Stephen Hawkins made wild speculative arguments about black holes which he had to retract after he found serious blunders in his work. Why didn't he catch the mistakes earlier?

By "dumb" I am using the common definition for the word, "conspicuously unintelligent or stupid." Blame "dumb" comments on cultural context, if you will, but I don't think this approach explains much of what is truly unintelligent sounding in the thinkers I have mentioned aforetime. At times, folk wisdom or the science of the day had already provided evidence that falsified the statements of Kant, Hume, et al. There is something else at work when smart people make unintelligent or stupid statements.

I would also classify my observation as a posteriori.

I would not say that Kant, Hegel or Heidegger (another smart guy who said dumb and convoluted things) are not great thinkers. That doesn't mean they are immune from saying dumb things. And to give you another example of smart people saying dumb things, consider what Hobbes writes about humans in the state of nature. He maintains that humans are inherently selfish and prone to violence. There are philosophers and psychologists who adhere to this belief today. But Hobbes begs the question when it comes to our nature. Additionally, his position on man in the state of nature is untenable as it stands. How does one go about proving that humans are intrinsically selfish or that all of our actions are motivated by selfishness? Psychology and experience provides damning evidence concerning the Hobbesian theory of human nature. This philosopher failed to exercise necessary rigor in his development of social contract theory.

Answer 1

It's the flaw of humanity.

Inability to properly self-critique.

A person inside his own head has no perspective or point of comparison, and therefore can't judge himself rationally.

In other words, when a person says a stupid thing, he does not realize it is stupid. (Is that stupid? :) )

It's the reason that "two heads are better than one." When there are two people, each has a point of reference.

Nothing is anything without perspective.

Answer 2

Interesting question. As a studier of philosophy yourself, I ask you what is "dumb"? Is your observation a posteriori or apriori? We have so many thoughts a second that it could be said that we all think "dumb" things. It is all in the process of thought and working things out.
It has been my experience that highly intelligent people, or people who test at genius level IQ's, have somewhat limited social skills. They are seen as eccentric for some of what they say. But in general your discussion seems to predicate that intelligent thinkers tend to express in written form thoughts that are "dumb or untenable". Perhaps because they were not well thought out, or to beg the question of their basis in fact. Do not great thinkers propel others to become great thinkers? By reading others such as Kant, Hume, Freud, Aristotle we are able to further thoughts thus move humanity forward.

Answer 3

Statistically you cannot be smart all of the time as "you" are a process. Different brain regions light up at different times trying to model and express whatever it is your thinking about and those configurations are birthed from your life experiences, moment to moment. That being said, many brilliant minds are also social idiots, so in that arena they may say stupid things. Just because they are a genius at physics doesn't mean they can be brilliant at poetry. Howard Gardner goes into this more with his multiple intelligence theories.

Answer 4

There are a few possible explanations. I'll try to get them all:
*EDIT* You added some new information, so I'm going to add to my answer.

Dumb smart people: theory of multiple intelligences

Those whom we consider "bright" or "smart" are usually specialists with their intelligence concentrated in their respective fields of expertise. This doesn't exclude them from being smart in other areas, as intelligence in the form of critical thinking applies in all areas of academia, but it does affect the way they approach the rest of the world.

These people are "book smart" - they know their way around academic subjects, but often have trouble socially because, put simply, that's not their area of expertise. Consequently, they might say something others would consider "dumb" or out of place, not because they themselves are dumb but because their particular form of intelligence (again, "book smarts") doesn't apply in social situations.


Importance of context

True, Kant, Hume, Stephen Hawkins, and Arthur Schopenhauer might have said some dumb things. Though I don't know what specific sayings you're referring to, I'm going to guess that some of those sayings were taken out of context.

For example, Frederich Nietzsche seemed to support Nazi ideals through his admiration for the uber-man. We can all agree, supporting Nazi's is pretty stupid. However, Nietzsche was writing in a purely philosopical context. His uber-man rose above the masses because of his attitudes towards life, not because of his superficial traits (i.e., the whole blonde hair, blue eyes thing). When Hitler misinterpreted Nietzsche's writings, he turned something very intelligent into something very stupid (and horrible).


Your mind isn't always on

Speaking from personal experience (meaning this is anecdotal, not based on research), my head isn't ALWAYS working at full power. Sometimes, during the course of the day, my mind is set on autopilot, and I don't think about a lot of the things I do or say. When I suddenly have to turn my mind back ON, something stupid comes out because I wasn't prepared.


Hume, Kant, and Schopenhauer

Sure, Hume and Kant might have made some "dumb" statements about other races. However, you have to remember that Hume and Kant were philosophers, not anthropologists. Furthermore, they lived in a time when these statements were not out of the norm (as they are today). While this doesn't absolve them of blame, it provides a proper frame for their statements

Regarding Schopenhauer's "Of Women," cultural context does explain some of what he said. But let's go with the simplest explanation - Mr. Schopenhauer wasn't good with women. According to his biography, he didn't have the best relationship with his mother, and he only had one real girlfriend his entire life (I'm simplifying; for the whole story go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schopenhauer). Again, this doesn't excuse his somewhat misogynistic attitude, but it gives us another way to look at it.

Answer 5

No one ever bothered to get quotes from the dumbest people because at best, they get one reasonable idea, the rest are banal or really ignorant. Their ratio of dumb to smart is a lot larger, but, since they weren't important enough to record, no one pays much attention. As for you, maybe you just have a better memory for the dumb stuff.

On tests, smart people remember the hard questions, the ones they aren't sure they got right because they spent more time thinking about those items.

Answer 6

They are probably dumb by the standard they themselves set. I.e. you or anyone else wouldn't know they were dumb if it weren't for the smart people through the ages that have helped humanity progress...by saying and doing smart things.

Answer 7

because for intelligent persons tend to tell things that are somewhat "beyond understanding" and that shouldn't be taken literally. These should be taken in with consideration and a piece of analysis.

Answer 8

Perhaps the "dumb" is associated witht he receptor rather than the reciever. I've never had a problem talking to myself and understand every concept. Is it rounder than orange?

Answer 9

the people you're talking about, were so engrossed in what they were studying,they acquire tunnel vision. they know everything there is to know about the subject they studied,and very little about anything else.i worked for an engineer that could figure out anything,mathematically. but he couldn't tie his own tie. and, he did dumbass things weekly,for people to poke fun at.
he was a genius.

Answer 10

dumb people have the ability to be profound also.take george bush for instance.to the extent that u are intellegent u have the ability to be dumb as with good and evil the knowlege of both go hand in hand. the more knowlege you have the more you are burdened with guilt of a feeling of salvation. depends where your head lies with your heart. sometimes people forget to pause and reflect before opening their mouth.the bible says that god chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.