Interesting thoughts, but I would not define this as stupidity. Bonhoeffer himself explains here by what he means by "stupid is the following:

"The process at work here is not that particular human capacities, for instance, the intellect, suddenly atrophy or fail. Instead, it seems that under the overwhelming impact of rising power, humans are deprived of their inner independence and, more or less consciously, give up establishing an autonomous position toward the emerging circumstances."

Giving up autonomy is not "stupidity" It could be a form of laziness. Or maybe it is being defeatist. (If you can't beat them, join them).

My thing is, I would not presume to redefine something by myself. We have seen our fair share of redefining terms like "vaccine," "safe and effective," "protest." and "riot." Webster defines stupid as one of three of the following definitions:

1. Slow to learn or understand; obtuse.

2. Tending to make poor decisions or careless mistakes.

3. Marked by a lack of intelligence or care; foolish or careless.

That is from Webster, the following other definitions are from dictionary.com:

1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull. 2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question. 3. tediously dull, especially due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party. 4. annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio. 5. in a state of stupor; stupefied: stupid from fatigue.

I think stupid more in terms as an incapacity to learn rather than being "slow to learn." However, when you look up obtuse, it speaks of lack of capacity, not being slow to do something, but I suppose like all things in a spectrum, there are people who can't learn and others who are slow to learn.

I think the first definition from dictionary.com and the third Webster definitions are the ones I tend to think of in terms of "stupid." A fictional illustration of this would be "Forrest Gump." As in, he was too stupid to know his chances for failing at something so didn't know NOT to try something.

Webster appears to embrace all these definitions. Being slow to learn could result from other things than being developmentally disabled. Part of it could be laziness, and another could be an almost willful pushback against understanding as such a thing could cause such a change in mindset as to upset the person's worldview. Or it could simply be succumbing to mob mentality. "What is more likely, that everyone around me is in the wrong, or I am?" A narcissist will buy into everyone else being wrong, but most people, facing such pressure, would presume they are the one in the wrong.

I think though, that maybe dictionary.com was on to something when they defined it also as being "stupified." the example given is "fatigue" but it could be also from being overwhelmed by too much. In this case, it could be "too much" of the narrative. All that pressure could coerce a person into submission to the narrative. I think of myself, not willing to fight Uber drivers and doctors and just wear the mask for those small moments in time. That was where I drew the line energy wise.

Another thing I have a hard time with is the use of ad hominem pejoratives on people who bought into the narrative. These are friends and family of mine, and I don't think of them that way. In fact, I always assumed I was the one lacking guile, not them. I have traditionally devised ways in which to shield myself from unsavory people, and I have managed to keep my ideals intact even while knowing that the do not necessarily match with reality.

I can see the different pressure points that had these close people in my life succumbed ot in order to believe the narrative. For a couple of them, they worked in government, so already they were compromised. Compound that with one of these people also is very safety minded. He bought into child seats, seat belts, and everything with safety for a long time, forgetting our days as kids with diving boards, sitting in the front seat of a car with unfastened seatbelts while under ten, and drinking from a garden hose. Was he stupid for buying into the narrative?

Others they used compassion and empathy against them. Of course they love grandma and want grandma to live. Of course they would wear the mask, get the vaccine, shelter in place, and protect them by staying away from them.

I could list other things like fear, orange man bad derangement syndrome, the sunk cost logical fallacy, etc. But stupid doesn't begin to explain it. and although I find Bonhoeffer's analysis spot on, I disagree that it is stupidity he was speaking of. Subservient might be the best term for what happened. And yet that doesn't explain how quick some people were to criticize and berate those who were not "with the narrative."