In the late 13th century, the Scotsman John Duns Scotus was a theologian, philosopher, and educator in France. He grew famous for his brilliance and nuance, crafting arguments on free will, semantics and linguistics, the existence of God, cognition, and more (via the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy). One of his most prominent arguments defended the Immaculate Conception — the idea that the virgin Mary was born unaffected by the original sin of Adam, according to Britannica. As a priest, he focused heavily on matters of the divine.
Scotus soon had a following. His students were called “Dunsmen,” and, according to Slate, they adorned tall pointy hats. Scotus and his disciples saw the caps as symbolizing wisdom and knowledge, as well as signaling allegiance to the new philosophy of Scotism. It has even been suggested Scotus thought the shape of the cap would somehow help funnel outside knowledge into the head (via All That’s Interesting). That’s right, the dunce cap was first a mark of high intelligence, the complete opposite of its modern connotation. So how did it undergo such a dramatic reversal?
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