Gut instinct vs real-world wisdom

I was intrigued by a letter to the editor I read recently in the Washington Post (I know, that East Coast liberal rag…). In it, the author, a Republican who did not vote for Trump, confesses he believes he made a mistake, and that Trump has done more than he expected.

“I am a registered Republican. And like many others, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump. His tone and rhetoric alarmed me. But in hindsight, much of what Trump has done, particularly in his foreign policy, has turned out to be effective.”

He goes on: “My definition of intelligence has evolved with my age. In high school and college, I thought it meant getting good grades. Later, it became about making money. Now, in my 70s, I question those ideas. I’ve come to believe that intelligence is not about credentials or conventional success.