I have a new mantra.
We are not smart.
I use it whenever I do something strikingly stupid. I say it to myself, out loud but quietly.
We are not smart.
It comes up often. I want to say surprisingly often but maybe the frequency of me doing stupid things is not surprising to anyone. Anyway I say it multiple times every day.
It comes from an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Enterprise encounters this spacefaring race, and they seem quaintly dopey at first. They are like a childrace and no one can even understand how they achieved space travel - but then they abduct Geordie Laforge and they keep demanding technology in exchange for not hurting him. Turns out that kind of extortion is the basis for all technological progress of their whole society.
Every time they get some new thing, they say, "We are strong!" Or, "We are smart!"
Of course in the end, Picard and the gang turn the tables on them and they are left dejected, saying, "We are not smart."
Lo and behold, it was rather easy to find supporting materials for this on the web. The alien race is called the Pakleds. This is what they look like:
And that is my new mantra. Like the Pakleds.
We are not smart.
