Characters in fiction regularly behave sub-optimally even if they're set up as geniuses, for the most mundane meta reason: It's a work of entertainment, and the

Characters in fiction regularly behave sub-optimally even if they're set up as geniuses, for the most mundane meta reason: It's a work of entertainment, and the plot wouldn't get interesting otherwise! We should always be very aware that any fiction, even ones that attempt speculative simulations, is always shackled by the need to keep being entertaining and interesting -- there are craptons of concepts and possibilities that _can_ occur or _will_ become deeply relevant to humanity but hardly ever gets explored in fiction because they're boring to read or write about.