{
  "id": 10651564,
  "title": "Why even the smartest people on the planet can think really dumb things",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/why-even-the-smartest-people-on-the-planet-can-think-really-dumb",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-29T08:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91611128/smartest-people-think-really-dumb-things"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a recent episode of a podcast, tech investor Jason Calacanis made a series of bold assertions, such as suggesting that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could be resolved through land swaps and questioning the necessity of the U.S. government regulating mergers and acquisitions due to its inability to predict the future. These assertions seemed to come from an individual who lacks deep expertise in Eastern Europe and antitrust law. This reminded me of the classic book \"The Smartest Guys in the Room,\" which detailed the rise and fall of Enron. Initially, Enron was considered the smartest guys in the room, but their success ultimately led to arrogance and big bets on areas they barely understood. This hubris was evident in Silicon Valley as well, where success has bred overconfidence. Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Meta executive, described Silicon Valley executives as wealthy and powerful, leading them to become out of touch with many world realities. In \"The Careless People,\" she detailed how a senior leader expressed surprise at the realization that refugees in camps do not have jobs. This reflects a similar hubris seen in Calacanis's comments on Ukraine, which is not a subject that a tech investor typically needs to understand. However, if Calacanis wanted to grasp the Russian leader's justification for the invasion, he could have read a 6,000-word essay he published months earlier, discussing historical precedents. Similarly, the conflict's roots can be traced back to historical events like the Rus empire, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, but understanding these would require knowledge of Eastern European history. Calacanis's mistake mirrors Enron's, where competence in one area did not translate to other areas. The \"culture of genius\" at Enron, which recruited from elite universities and expected exceptional performance, ultimately undermined the organization's ability to learn and adapt. This culture of genius can create perverse incentives, discouraging questioning and learning, much like what is happening in Silicon Valley today. The belief that exceptional people are exempt from normal constraints is not new, as seen in Dostoevsky's \"Crime and Punishment.\" This mindset allows individuals like Calacanis to disregard important historical and legal context, leading to misguided assertions and poor decision-making.",
  "summary": "Not too long ago, I listened to tech investor Jason Calacanis on a podcast. He confidently made a number of strange assertions, including that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could easily be resolved with some land swaps and that the U.S. government had no business regulating mergers and acquisitions because it can’t predict the future. Nobody with deep expertise in Eastern Europe or antitrust law…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}