Recklessness seems like a good case study of misunderstood "stupidity". The fact that younger people tend to be more prone to it is already an important clue.

Recklessness seems like a good case study of misunderstood "stupidity". The fact that younger people tend to be more prone to it is already an important clue. On the one hand their need to stand out in a competitive society creates an internal state that outsiders may not be able to appreciate. On the other hand their ability to assess the actual risk (take a calculated risk) may not be fully developed. E.g. unless trained formally (mock circumstances, games, history lessons, whatever), people will "train" simply through their own lived experience which in most cases is woefully inadequate for the range of situations they might face.