I'm not saying we don't have wise people today but as to the Forefathers--just one...
Benjamin Franklin leading author, printer,
political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
Knew 6 languages
As a scientist, he was a major figure in the
American Enlightenment and the
history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the
lightning rod,
bifocals, and the
Franklin stove, among other inventions.
He founded many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and the
University of Pennsylvania.
United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation.
Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the
Enlightenment.
Franklin became a successful newspaper editor and printer in
Philadelphia, the leading city in the colonies, publishing the
Pennsylvania Gazette at the age of 23.He became wealthy publishing this and
Poor Richard's Almanack, which he authored under the
pseudonym "Richard Saunders". After 1767, he was associated with the
Pennsylvania Chronicle, a newspaper that was known for its revolutionary sentiments and criticisms of British policies.
He pioneered and was first president of
Academy and College of Philadelphia which opened in 1751 and later became the
University of Pennsylvania. He organized and was the first secretary of the
American Philosophical Society and was elected president in 1769.
Franklin briefly investigated
electrotherapy, including the use of the
electric bath. This work led to the field becoming widely known.
Franklin was, along with his contemporary
Leonhard Euler, the only major scientist who supported
Christiaan Huygens's
wave theory of light, which was basically ignored by the rest of the
scientific community. In the 18th century
Newton's corpuscular theory was held to be true; only after
Young's well-known
slit experiment in 1803 were most scientists persuaded to believe Huygens's theory.
Wikipedia.
I think they were a lot smarter than what kudos are given them today