In: Psychology
Psychology subject
Question: Even highly intelligent people sometimes behave in
foolish ways. Locate an example of a famous person - a political
figure, athlete, scientist, or artist - who is clearly intelligent
but who engaged in spectacularly unintelligent actions. What
potential scientific explanations might you offer for the causes of
her or his behavior?
Many a times even intelligent people and famous personalities have been explicitly observed as engaging in irrational and stupid decisions. PM Tony Blair and his partner took a rebirthing ceremony in Mexicowherein they shouted and smeared mud and ripe pulp on each other. These are famous personalities known for their smart choices. This can be related to the fact that each individual has very many sides to themselves. In fact the word persona (out of personality) comes from a Latin, meaning mask. Each individual therefore tends to have very many sides to themselves which they expose in different situations. Irrational behavior and impulses are a part of the deep seated personality of each person (encompassing the id). This aspect is controlled by other parts of the personality such as the ego and superego. Since this is an essential aspect of the core being, each person tends to operate on their irrational impulses at some point in their journey. This seems like a logical and scientific explanation behind the foolish and irrational choices that the so called 'intelligent' individuals often tend to make.