81. Did Trump voters already exist in the XIII century?

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A tweet just reminded me of a great quote: ‘You can beat 40 scholars with 1 fact, but you cannot beat 1 idiot with 40 facts’. It is attributed to Mevlana Rumi, the XIII century Persian poet and Islamic scholar. It seems the problem that so much preoccupies us today, the fact that many in the voting ranks choose to ignore fact and base opinions and votes on unsubstantiated slogans, was already an issue 800 years ago. Despite this persistent malaise, we are still here and generally making progress. This is a hopeful thought. The concerning flipside of the coin is that nowadays idiots can have much graver impact. The denial of fact, be it creationism, climate change denial, ignoring pandemic threats or fostering unregulated markets despite ample evidence that they don’t work for most citizens are not new. The consequences, given our population growth and the evolution of our technologies, may be. The more powerful we become, the more important facts are and the more expensive idiots can be

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