Why Do Highly Intelligent People Have Such Strange Lapses in Common Sense?

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Because intellectuals often value IDEAS more than PEOPLE.

The concepts and ideologies spinning around in their heads essentially cover their eyes, so that they’re unable to see and hear and feel the emotions of the real human being in front of them. That’s one short answer.

Another short answer is that often, highly intelligent people reach such heights of personal power or influence that they start to believe that they can get away with anything, even things which, in hindsight, they had almost a 100% chance of getting caught doing!

It can — and does — happen to anyone, but of course the question here is whether highly intelligent people should just know better.

One person who’s given this question much serious thought is the award-winning historian Paul Johnson, author of the book Intellectuals. He’s examined the personal lives of people like Hemingway, Tolstoy, Rousseau, Marx, Brecht, Sartre, and a whole host of others in order to determine in their private actions held up to what they’ve espoused publicly and professionally. You can probably see where I’m going with this: all these supposedly brilliant people made ridiculously short-sighted mistakes and experienced lapses in common sense that seriously boggle the mind!