When you see this trait, it\u2019s time to rethink your relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Individuals and groups have used scapegoating to blame their problems on others since the term was first coined in The Old Testament and probably long before. We see it all the time in politics, where leaders blame specific groups or ideologies for their country\u2019s failures. We also see it in personal relationships where families blame one person for everyone\u2019s problems or workplaces make an employee the fall guy for a failed project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a viral TikTok video, philosopher Julian de Medeiros explains why scapegoating is a sign that someone is unintelligent. He begins by quoting one of the most powerful British union leaders in the first half of the 20th century, Ernest Bevin, who once said: \u201cAn unintelligent person is always looking for a scapegoat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat he meant is that a sign that somebody is not very intelligent is that they always have to blame their problems on other people. Like, it\u2019s never something they\u2019ve done; it\u2019s always somebody else\u2019s fault,\u201d de Medeiros says in a video with over 230,000 views. \u201cThey can avoid accountability; they can avoid introspection and self-reflection, which means that they can avoid growth because it\u2019s always somebody else\u2019s fault. A\u00a0smart person is introspective, self-critical, and wants to grow, but an unintelligent person blames other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nWhy we look for someone to blame<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It can be hard to come to grips with our failures in life, whether they are financial problems, relationship issues or fear of losing control. \u201cThere are things that we cannot bear to see about ourselves. \u2018I really don\u2019t want to be seen as vulnerable or stupid or weak or greedy,\u2019\u201d Deborah Stewart, a Jungian psychoanalyst, told The Washington Post. \u201cI don\u2019t have to deal with myself if I scapegoat if I blame. That\u2019s the part that most people don\u2019t really know, that they are trying to expel some of their very own feelings by putting them on others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People and groups that are made into scapegoats can be put into incredible danger or subject to public disgrace, whether it is the Jewish people during the Holocaust or Anne Boleyn during the reign of King Henry VIII, or Yoko Ono for the breakup of The Beatles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those who scapegoat others for their failures can be seen as unintelligent because they refuse to take responsibility for their actions or even recognize where they may have been wrong. When people point their fingers at others, they also ensure that they never learn from their problems and are bound to repeat them. Intelligent people have a growth mindset, and scapegoating is the exact opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further, when societies refuse to look at the real causes of their problems and instead blame them on scapegoats, they will fail to progress. However, it\u2019s very easy for leaders to fall into the scapegoat trap because it prevents them from being responsible and appears to solve problems when they are actually taking the easy way out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The choice really comes down to this<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, it comes down to a core question: do you want to deflect blame for your problems by scapegoating someone else, or do you want to accept responsibility and grow from your difficulties? Ironically, those who scapegoat may think it makes their lives easier. However, living a life making the same mistakes repeatedly is a lot harder than accepting responsibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you see this trait, it\u2019s time to rethink your relationship. Individuals and groups have used scapegoating to blame their problems on others since the term was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/769222498_1585826383070690_5884426973811008866_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11193,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11191\/revisions\/11193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}