The Shocking Truth About "Idiots"
In ancient Greece, an "idios" wasn't someone who was stupid. It was a private citizen—someone who chose to avoid the civic duties of their community.
To the Greeks, the real "idiot" was the person who thought they were above the responsibilities of citizenship. They didn't hate the ignorant; they hated the disengaged.
Modern society has forgotten this. We use the word as a generic insult, while we collectively become exactly what the Greeks feared: a population of disengaged "idiots".