Recreational Whinge: When you hear stories of stupidity in action, such as when Rep. Hank Johnson stated in a US congressional hearing that he thought the island of Guam would capsize if too many people went there, it makes you wonder if stupidity is a virus that has swept around the world infecting countless millions of people in all stations in life.

Here’s Hank showing us how serious this affliction can be:

There’s no end to the evidence of stupidity on the planet.  Just check out the Darwin Awards or This is Just Stupid and you’ll find some hilarious stories.

Of course, these stories also make me experience some strange combination of angry and sad.

There is a difference between someone not having the relevant education or experience for the situation they’re in and someone JUST NOT THINKING!

You’ve seen my previous Recreational Whinges about people relinquishing their rights to independent thought to others because they don’t want to take responsibility for thinking for themselves.  In those cases they’re just being lazy.

But stupidity is far more likely that people don’t know HOW to think.  Maybe no one ever taught them.  Maybe they missed that day in school.

We all can have stupid moments – doing stupid things from time to time.

But there are serial idiots out there.  Worse yet, we sometimes elect them into government positions where they’re supposed to be representing the public interests.

Now, who’s being stupid?

The Positive Spin: Fortunately, many who are made aware of their moments of stupidity learn from the experience and start to further develop their critical thinking skills.

Also, I’m quite grateful that sites like the Darwin Awards or This is Just Stupid exist and are incredibly popular because in their own way, they are helping viewers/readers recognise our own moments of stupidity and/or our opportunities to be stupid in any given situation, so that we can also take advantage of the opportunities to actually think for a change and see what might happen if we put in some effort and consider the consequences of what we think, say and do.