When people are fearful of something unknown, like this virus, they Do get stupider because they want so badly to have answers....remember Chicken Little & his mob?

I think more increased communication (internet, etc) has just lifted the veil on the gullibility that has likely always been present, but is now more exposed. I really thought we were smarter than this, and less intellectually lazy. The current situation is pretty depressing.

The grammatical rule is ‘more stupid’ as a comparative, in most cases, does not have more than two syllables

The stupidity is just out in the open now that we have a moron as president...

In the USA at least, everything has been politicized, and it appears people merely pick a side … then repeat the talking points from the ‘news source’ of their choice. I suppose their opinions become their identities. So, oatmeal?