Intellect does not exempt anyone from Nincompoopery.
It is easy to assume that intelligence, success, or intellectual prestige can protect a person from the common errors of human thinking. But this assumption fails under scrutiny. Expertise in one domain does not translate into clear thinking across the board. In most cases, it only sharpens the illusion of certainty.
The reality is straightforward:
Nincompoopery is not a matter of IQ. It is a matter of default mental behaviour.
Einstein as Example
Albert Einstein reshaped physics and transformed scientific understanding. Yet in his personal life, he displayed erratic judgement, emotional detachment, and consistent failures in basic relational responsibility. His theoretical clarity did not extend to domestic life or interpersonal awareness.
Intellectual brilliance in one area can — and often does — coexist with underdeveloped thinking elsewhere.
Modern Figures Are No Exception
High-profile individuals celebrated for innovation and leadership frequently display traits commonly associated with poor thinking:
- Overconfidence
- Emotional impulsiveness
- Poor self-regulation
- Delusion of expertise across unrelated fields
- Resistance to correction
Public influence does not protect from Nincompoopery — in many cases, it amplifies it. Visibility and power feed the illusion of correctness, not the habit of reflection.
The Specialist Illusion
Modern culture rewards narrow expertise. But success in a particular field can mislead individuals into assuming that their thinking is sound in general. This creates the phenomenon of the confident polymath — someone technically skilled but philosophically naive, socially misaligned, or ethically blind.
It is a failure to recognise that thinking well is knowing where one’s own thought ends.
Cognitive Default Remains In Place
Despite education, intellect, or social standing, human minds operate on:
The difference between one individual and another is not the absence of these traits, but the degree to which they are noticed and occasionally interrupted.
No Systemic Exemptions
There are no categories of people — not scholars, leaders, scientists, or philosophers — who naturally rise above the common errors of the human mind. Clarity is possible. Insight is possible. But they are temporary and localised.
The rest of the time is Nincompoopery.
Unnoticed. Unintended. And, more often than not, shared.