When Smart People Get It Wrong

Article : This Is Something Interesting

I came across an article recently that was a bit more aggressive than I usually lean toward—but the core idea stuck with me.

The author argues that even highly intelligent people can become trapped by their own understanding of the world. When reality begins to shift, instead of adjusting, they often double down on what they already believe.

That may be overstated in places, but the underlying point is worth considering.

It connects to something I’ve been writing about recently: how large changes tend to unfold gradually—and how we often don’t recognize their implications until they reach us personally.

In many cases, it’s not that we don’t see change.

It’s that we interpret it through what we already believe to be true.

And as long as that belief continues to “work” for us, we have very little incentive to update it.

The article uses a number of historical and modern examples—some more convincing than others—but the central idea is simple:

We build models of how the world works.

And sometimes we trust those models longer than we should.

That doesn’t just apply to academics or “intellectuals.”

It applies to all of us.

Especially when change is still unfolding and hasn’t reached us directly.

👉https://markmanson.substack.com/p/intellectuals-are-fcking-idiots

As usual, I don’t agree with everything here, but it’s an interesting perspective—and one that fits with a broader pattern we’ve seen before.