Wit & Attitude Quote by Brian Herbert

Group stupidity isn’t a punchline here; it’s a warning about how easily adulthood reverts to childhood once a leader starts handing out certainty. Brian Herbert’s line lands because it refuses to blame “human nature” in the abstract and instead points to a specific social technology: unexamined obedience. The word “astonishing” matters. It signals that the danger isn’t merely predictable, it’s repeatedly shocking in its scale - as if we keep learning the lesson and then unlearning it the moment a crowd forms.

The subtext is less “people are dumb” than “systems of belonging incentivize dumbness.” In groups, we outsource judgment to preserve membership, and the leader becomes a convenient conscience: if they’re right, we’re safe; if they’re wrong, at least we’re not alone. “Without question” is the real indictment. Herbert isn’t attacking leadership as such; he’s targeting the emotional bargain where followers trade skepticism for relief. That’s how otherwise competent individuals end up defending contradictions, normalizing cruelty, or treating doubt as betrayal.

Contextually, Herbert writes in the long shadow of Dune’s central anxiety: charismatic authority and mass politics don’t just corrupt; they recruit. Whether the “leader” is a politician, CEO, influencer, or movement figure, the mechanics stay the same: simplified narratives, moral shortcuts, and the quiet thrill of being part of something bigger than your own uncertain mind. The line works because it’s not cynical for sport. It’s a sobriety test for any crowd that thinks it’s immune.