Unconventional might be the word you want, more than "dumb". In a way, despite our general tolerance and diversity of thought, I've come to believe we're an ex

Unconventional might be the word you want, more than "dumb". In a way, despite our general tolerance and diversity of thought, I've come to believe we're an extremely orthodox culture. As a general rule, there is a right way to do something, someone has almost certainly already discovered it, and your job as an artisan, engineer, or anyone else, is to look that correct way up in a book, and do it that way. Just inventing your own take on something considered settled is thought to be extremely eccentric, possibly even a sign of madness.