Somehow I feel that on average people are either dumb or ignorant.
I remember when I was a kid in primary school, we had a partial solar eclipse about an hour before dinner time. In all their wisdom, the teachers sent us all home early telling us to go home and "but don't look at the sun, eclipses are dangerous". Like expected, there were a few who stared at the sun who got permanent eye damage.... But keeping us inside the school like usual would have prevented this....