We may be smarter, but we certainly are not wiser.

There are facts, skills, smarts and then there is wisdom. The latter is in short supply and is orthogonal to the other three.

Yeah, COVID showed me more than anything that our core need of belonging and need for conformity (the one that can drive cultist behavior) is not something that everyone can overcome with knowledge and experts and awareness. You truly can't make a horse drink, even if they are dehydrated.