Can’t Blame The Elk For A Dumb Human Getting Hurt In Yellowstone
Time and time again the story comes out that some "poor visitor" of Yellowstone gets hurt by the wildlife and we all know that it isn't true. Their "poor decision making" gets them hurt!
If you've lived in Wyoming for very long, you get that people sometimes save their entire life to be able to save enough money to visit Wyoming and all the Cowboy State has to offer. When they finally get here and have the chance to see a bear, bison, wolf, moose, elk or other species they haven't ever seen before...they immediately start acting a fool. Trying to get the picture they'll never see again or to get close enough to have that special intimate experience with the majestic creature.
We're not saying these people aren't intelligent, we're just saying that they don't make smart decisions and get labeled dumb. Forbes magazine highlights research that has proven that rational thinking and intelligence don't go hand in hand. Researchers found that in simple logic tests, smart people were more likely to blurt out the wrong answers because of "blind spots" in how they use logic. Those "blind spots" cause smart people to be a little too overconfident in their ability to use reason and make more mental mistakes when problem-solving, making them look pretty bad in many situations.
This makes lots of sense! How many times have you said that a person is VERY book smart, but couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag? I think if we chalk this up to the reason SO MANY people have to wear the "Touron" badge, we can finally understand.
Excitement is an emotional stimulant that can affect a person's rational thinking, causing them to blunder and have a horribly embarrassing moment. If you've looked at the Facebook Page Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of the idiots! it's more common than common sense.
NOW...an "intelligent" person has a moment of lost rationale!