The Plague of Stupid People

           I have a friend, who, when someone gets themselves killed because of stupidity, likes to say, ‘Natural Selection at work.’ The trouble is; I have come to agree with him.

          In the past, we have had to fight off various plagues, Small pocks, Polio, Scarlet fever, Yellow fever, the black plague and we have had plagues of locust, plagues of flies, mosquitoes so on and so forth. All of which raise havoc among those affected.

Let us first deal with the word stupid: Stupidity does not lend itself to a physical deficiency, (Idiot) or a lack of education or information, (ignorance), but instead describes a person who is dull, senseless, and makes poor decisions even though there is nothing physically wrong with them, and has the proper information and/or education.

          I believe we are a mist a plague of stupid people, we don’t see it, because we don’t tend to think that way. I mean, they’re people. Are they not due respect, aren’t we told that all people are alike, somehow equal, somehow deserving.

          Well, a little over a hundred years ago, mankind entered into the industrial revolution, and with it came many wonders. Ain’t life good? I have to say, yes it is. But along with the industrial revolution came a quieter revolution, one whose impact we may just now be feeling. The Safety Revolution.

          In the old days, if you were stupid, you didn’t really last very long. Something got you. You would do something stupid, and wa-la, you were dead. Stupid people didn’t live long, and those who did, were few in number. As a result, stupid people didn’t reproduce much, because they didn’t really live long enough.  The laws of evolution, or natural selection, only the best and brightest survived to reproduce, thus a positive DNA trend…

          So you have to ask yourself, ‘what has the safety revolution done for me?’ Well, it has made the work place safer, recreational facilities safer, and consumer products much safer (sometimes to the point of being useless). It has made our coffee cooler, and automobiles complicated beyond belief.

          Unintended consequences; perhaps we are unintentionally preserving the fate of stupid people, and thus have increased their number, and if they aren’t being killed off due to interference (safety revolution) with natural selection, then they live long enough to reproduce, and what is it that stupid people teach their children? Do I dare go there?

          Now, don’t misinterpret what I’m saying, because I indeed, am just making an observation based on the information at hand. I don’t think it can be fixed, because it is something only nature can deal with. But let us suppose I’m right, would there not be a downward or negative DNA trend, according the laws of evolution? ©

George Henry Nichols