Stupidity - It's Apparently Contagious

I used to believe that human stupidity is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder. It's been my admittedly casual and purely anecdotal observaton about one out of every 4 people is too damned stupid to survive to adulthood without the finely coordinated assistance of diligent parents, siblings and benevolent spiritual beings such as gods, godesses or at least an angel or two.

Recently, however, I've seen evidence that leads me to believe that the disease of stupidity is actually an infectious disease, most likely viral and rapidly approaching pandemic propoportions.

Here are just 2 examples that I noticed just today - and I'm at work, over 100 miles from the nearest thing resembling a collective human habitation.

First, from a story in the Anchorage Daily News we have the case of the rocket surgeon who decided it was a good idea to take a selfie with a half-dozen grizzly bears. Don't believe it? Well, here is videographic evidence.

Then there was the case I witnessed, and videographed, this afternoon. I was returning to my station from a patrol when I encountered a pickup truck parked on one side of the road, directly opposite 2 motorcycles on the other and leaving very little room for a semi to fly between. That's stupid enough on the Haul Road, but it gets even better.

As I approached, I saw five people all gathered around at the edge of the road, staring into the brush. I knew long before I saw that they were watching a pair of muskoxen, which were feeding only about 15 feet away. Now, standing around 15 feet away from a wild prey animal that survives by fending off grizzly bears and wolves is stupid enough, but it got even better.

When I stopped to talk to these brain scientists, ALL 5 OF THEM TURNED THEIR BACKS TO THE ANIMALS.

Don't believe it? Well, here is the video-taped evidence. I must apologize for the quality - my dash cam doesn't perform well in gloomy weather conditions, so I had to enhance exposure and brightness, and this is the best I could do with the equipment I have available.

Could it get any worse? Don't ask - these people seem to the question as a challenge.