I think this is more than simply stupidity. I think I put it best by saying that this is problem of valuing particulars over universals. This is a cultural problem of valuing the result and not the idea. This can be seen far outside of just Thomas Jefferson.
I use the word problem here loosely.
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Milton produced Paradise Lost for the same reason as a silkworm produces silk. It was an expression of his own nature. - Karl Marx
