Bonhoeffer's Theory of Stupidity - 5 minute video that explains why you can't wake people up by using facts on them. Also, stupid people are worse than evil people.
(www.youtube.com)
🧠 These people are STUPID!
I can see why our pair of five-point lists have pretty direct mappings. Bonhoeffer is using the term stupid less so in the academic sense of one lacking in abstract capacity or capacity for managing complexity, but rather susceptibility to being suckered.
In the early months of the Covid attack on the citizenry one person I held in high esteem was Dr. Simone Gold. She is an MD and as well holds a law degree. In a later interview she explained that in medical training students are taught that there is one answer to every question, and one course of action: follow the protocol.
By contrast, in training to be a lawyer or judge one is taught to develop and hone both sides of the argument between prosecution and defense. She said her training in law allowed her to think outside the tight constraints of medical training. This was an "aha" moment for me. It helps explain why doctors so readily fell in line, too, like a platoon operating under a military chain of command.
Hmm, I like the "stupid" idea; similar to "gullible" which dovetails nicely with your SQ assertion which also works nicely when thinking about sociopaths, psychopaths, and such which there are more of them in society than people would suspect. They view people as puppets to be manipulated to their delight. Well, these "stupid" (gullible) people would be much easier to manipulate than people that are suspicious.
I worked in medicine. Protocols are important for a number of reasons, but I can see that it would cause tunnel vision in healthcare providers. Also, doctors don't have the freedom to do as they please. Half of them are straight up employees. They may be fired if they don't follow the protocols. The remaining ones are subject to restrictions imposed by insurance companies. Still further, if they fail to follow a protocol and get sued then they may have no recourse.
Bonhoeffer used the word "Dummheit" (in German). There is a short discussion here with one being a German.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28888996
… you just reminded me of all the crazy 90’s and 00’s ridiculous medical litigation that was all over the news.
Fear porn. I remember thinking even at the time that there was some reason that they kept pushing those stories, but I had no idea what it was.
To create the LEGAL defense walls to keep doctors locked into their system.