THE CONUNDRUM OF SEEMINGLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE FALLING FOR STUPIDITY

Years ago, when Diego was a newborn, Nena and I lived directly across from an Assembly of God church is rural Arkansas.  On Sunday mornings, we could hear weird, unintelligible chanting, accompanied by music.

When the music and talking stopped, I fixed my gaze on the front door, curious as to what kind of crazies would exit the building.  I was stunned that folks normal to that area walked out, not different from people seen at the post office or corner store.

One man lit a cigarette while walking to his Mustang.  A lady and three girls, all in long dresses, chatted with another family.  One man, with a young family, wore bib overalls.  It was all typically Arkansan.  There was nothing to indicate they'd all been either "speaking in tongues" or listening to it only moments before.

Several years later, I was curious as to how the Reverend Jim Jones could lead a cult in Guyana into a mass suicide where 918 killed themselves and their children drinking Kool-Aid laced with cyanide.  Some of those falling prey had been educated in good schools.

My basic question keeps surfacing:  How do intelligent people fall for stupidity?

I've long admired my Uncle Gordon, who reminds me of comedian/talk show host Dick Cavett, with similar intelligence and subtle humor.  An architect and builder, Gordon is also one of Jehovah's Witnesses, believing that the billions of Earth's population, who do not share his religious beliefs, will be executed at the Battle of Armageddon by God Almighty.  Again, intelligence and stupidity coexisting inside one human being.

Currently, about 35% of this country's populace are seemingly true believers in Trumpism, daily imbibing Fox and Breitbart News without a filter. 

Many of these followers are not stupid.  Like the Jehovah's, People's Temple and the Assembly of God, they can argue and defend their point of view to infinity.