I don’t think people are dumb by nature but they sure do tend to act dumb. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is an important thing to understand and when you allow fear to drive you, you tend to say and do stupid things.
It’s natural to get stuck on the path to emotional maturity but a rule of thumb is to understand your fears as much as you can and don’t let them cloud your judgement.
Yeah, people aren’t dumb, but fear really does make them do some stuff. It’s like their brain just shuts off. Ever seen someone try to argue while panicking?