Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid

This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Why smart people can be so stupid / edited by Robert J. Sternberg. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. List of Contributors 243 Index 245 vii preface Those who have wondered if smart people can be stupid do not have to look very far, nor do they have to look through the lenses of any particular ideology. ∞ A president of the United States, graduate of Yale Law School, and Rhodes Scholar showed behavior so ''stupid'' that few people can understand why he did what he did. Beyond any hormonally motivated behavior on his part, the whole world wondered how a trained lawyer could have allowed himself to become entangled in such a legal nightmare. ∞ A seasoned prosecutor and judge with a reputation for some brilliance damaged his good name among much of the U.S. population with his apparent vendetta against a president. His campaign left many people convinced that the prosecutor was more interested in ''winning'' than in pursuing any reasonable legal case. ∞ A U.S. congressman known for being ideological but balanced and wise left the fray with his reputation in tatters when he and his fellow House ''managers'' pursued a case they could not win. ∞ A former prosecutor and state's attorney general in Delaware was sentenced to death for murdering a girlfriend who jilted him. ∞ A world-renowned geologist, while being investigated for and charged with storing child pornography, involved himself with a boy whom he was later accused of molesting. Whether one believes in a single intelligence (g or IQ) or multiple intel-ligences or anything in between, the behavior of the individuals mentioned above (and, indeed, at times, our own behavior) seems inexplicable in terms of what we know about intelligence. Why do people think and behave in such stupid ways that they end up destroying their livelihood or even their lives? This book is devoted to addressing these questions, which the vast majority of theories in psychology, including theories of intelligence, seem to neglect. The world supports a multi-million-dollar industry in …