TIL dunce caps were originally a sign of high intelligence and wisdom. Philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus was a proponent of pointy hats as a way to funnel knowledge to the mind and his followers, called Dunsmen, wore them. By the 1500s the Dunsmen fell out of favor as “behind the times”.
atlasobscura.comSubmitted by Aequitas05 t3_yhe7qd in todayilearned
Gemmabeta t1_iudd5hq wrote
The earliest origin of this idea traces back to this 2000 Straight Dope article, which cites no sources.
https://www.straightdope.com/21342933/what-s-the-origin-of-the-dunce-cap
In fact, the pointy hat has a long history of being used as a symbol of shame, for example the Capirote, which was a mark of humiliation worn by heretics undergoing the auto-da-fe.