'stupid' by default?

"some people are just stupid"

I guided a group of tourists on our "Beer Challenge" through Munich last night. I am not very keen on these tours as normally you have your bog-standard tourist (I know this is very much stereotyping) who have not really had that much contact with alcohol (especially German beer) and the tour leaves them either drunk though yet funny (childish in a way) or drunk and really obnoxious.

There were 8 in my group last night. From all walks of life and from across the globe (Ukraine, Spain, US, Australia, Mexico). Small groups are normally nice as I get to tell a lot about beer - the history, the culture of Bavaria/Germany, etc etc. I started off with giving them a download on that knowledge but after the first round of facts our conversations went into a different direction and soon we found ourselves discussing and debating social injustices, politics, history, immigration, mass media & alternative sources of information etc etc throughout the evening.

Basically discussing things we talk about here on Evolver as well. Parts of it at least. It was refreshing and very "comforting" if that makes any sense? No matter where from, no matter what one does, there is an underlying understanding out there. And it gets more and more of us. This I find a very enlightening and wonderful experience.

However, at one point one of the girls stated that it is such a shame that not everyone "got it" and that there are so many "stupid people" out there. Which made me counter that it may just not be that the people are inherently stupid but that the surroundings they find themselves in (school/education, media etc) make them stupid. Creating these masses of sheep. This did not lead to an exchange on whether there might be a pinch of truth in it, but rather a re-instatement that some people are just stupid. Fullstop.

I had to leave the conversation at that point as I needed to settle the bill, but could hear someone else trying to take up that point again with saying that it may well be that some people just never had the chance, were given the chance or did so far not consider to go out and find another way of looking at things. To get themselves educated. Not sure how the conversation developed after this.

But I would like to throw this out to the community here.

I think that everyone is clever - no one is by default stupid. It's "society" and the tools we are provided with that determine one's "intelligence" or rather being knowledgeable of what's going on around. And if it is society that makes people stupid - we need to change the underlying structures.

What do you reckon? Are some stupid by default or just because of the circumstances that surround them? And either way, what to do?