Jeff Gentry

Many of us have vague knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, perhaps from Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible. Twenty accused witches died before the frenzy ran its course. A tragedy to be sure but historically, Salem was a brief, one-time hysteria in colonial America.

Humanity has produced a delightful array of good ideas, like representative democracy, internal plumbing, and rocky road ice cream. In a healthy marketplace of ideas, wisdom rises and spreads; bad ideas are quickly discarded. So, it’s unsettling and disappointing when dumb ideas gain traction and linger, like a smelly couch left on the front lawn.

Have you heard of the Darwin Awards? They celebrate people who get killed doing dumb things before their DNA can contaminate the gene pool. A top candidate for a Darwin Award was Richard Fosbury of Medford, Oregon. In the 1960s this gangly high school kid tried the high jump. Badly. With results nothing short of abysmal he started… experimenting. Like your buddy who’s had too much to drink, hands you his beer and says, “Watch this.”

You may have heard of “redlining” in reference to housing discrimination. Good for you. Unbelievably, I only learned about it last year. To make amends, let’s expose this dumb idea and its awful effects.

Tease: Yes, you can say that and get away with it.

Murder does seem like a poor choice.

What’s this new show on KENW-FM?

Barry Marshall, an Australian medical student, claimed that bacteria caused gastritis, peptic ulcers, and stomach cancer. He believed that cheap antibiotics could cure the syndrome, but his research was met with ridicule and disbelief.

Drug lag, a complaint that occurs when the FDA is too slow to approve a life-changing drug, is a common issue. For example, thalidomide, prescribed to alleviate morning sickness, faced resistance from the FDA. Dr. Frances Kelsey, was the FDA reviewer who insisted on clinical safety trials before granting approval. She had her suspicions about thalidomide and her "dumb" idea changed the world.

Anarchy, a worldwide social movement in the 1870s, was sparked by the economic collapse and the Gilded Age, where wealth concentrated among the rich.