Dumb or not knowledgeable on the subject? I feel like back in the day it was easier to sound intelligent. You could read a thing, or look it up and you'd have some interesting facts that others may not know, which could make you sound intelligent. But now, anyone can access any information and fact-check any dumbass comment. It's really difficult for me to say anything with certainty anymore because there's a good chance I could be wrong and anyone can confirm for themselves.
Discussion
On the other half of the scale, hardly anyone reads, so you can still look clever with little effort. Arguably easier.
Anyone could have access the same information, but hardly anyone actually does access it. And you still have the advantage of being able to understand what you read.
also there are often plausible reasonings for oposing views, or even untrue data / analyses. so you might even be proven wrong by someone based on data neither of you can even properly validate