I would direct you to the disclaimer on my comment regarding relative intelligence, which is “given accurate data”.

There are two problems with obtaining accurate data from the sources that most people use. The first is that much of it is “spun” to meet the objectives of the writer.

But the second is, and to your point, that even given good data, many people don’t know what to do with it. What surprises ME from time to time is how many otherwise intelligent people simply cannot comprehend a data-based or statistically based point; they believe that if they find a single “exception to the rule”, then entire opuses of research should be thrown out, OR they have no comprehension of what data really means.

A great example was the election of 2016. I saw tons of articles written by authors that I had thought were intelligent claiming that the “polls were wrong.” Nate Silver ended up writing an extensive article which was by itself a primer on statistics explaining how and why if polls said “Clinton over Trump, 51% to 49%, plus or minus 3%” that means that the poll was RIGHT, not WRONG, if Trump wins.

So, regarding people ….. people aren’t stupid. They’re undereducated and underinformed, and because of this, often misled. In my view, that’s what gets picked up.