So were they all idiots or is the man machine interface not perfect?
They were neither "idiots", nor was/is the man-machine interface perfect. This is why we are discussing these issues on a Tech Forum and why being knowledgable and correct regarding how these aircraft behave is important. Re the autotrim on the Perpignan accident, please see below.
Capn Bloggs, the point regarding the auto-trim and the absence of stall warning in NCD conditions is not to excuse them but to understand them.
It is not as though the design was without thought, and certification both in Europe and North America.
If I recall, the stall-warning issue is being addressed. The auto-trim appears, to me anyway, more complex because it is part of a FBW system with other performance requirements. That it should cease moving during a stall warning appears on the surface to be obvious, (and I think it should stop), but reversion to manual trimming, (which makes the aircraft an ordinary aircraft), didn't prevent Perpignan, (which had other, serious antecedents as you would know from reading the report). For AF447, there was sufficient elevator authority to get the nose down and unload the wing. The THS would have followed sidestick commands towards the ND position, but the crew also had the option of rolling the trim wheels forward as well, notwithstanding the huge demands being made on these crews by LOC circumstances.