I wouldn’t say that staying calm makes you smarter - rather, getting caught up in emotions makes you dumber. When you’re calm, you have access to your highest reasoning abilities, whereas when you’re emotionally charged, those capabilities are diminished. That’s one of the main reasons I spend so much time criticizing reactivity and hostility online, even when it’s directed at causes I also oppose. It doesn’t matter whether the anger is justified or not - you quite literally can’t think straight when you’re angry. And we need you all to think straight.