Do you hate stupid people??

[drake]

Intelligence is primarily determined by genetics. Hating someone that is naturally stupid is akin to hating someone of a different race. Or height or weight. Or sexual orientation. Or athletic ability.

Its quite disgusting in fact. Starting a thread called " I hate niggers" would be almost the equivalent to this thread.

Intelligence is a horrible measure of the value of a life. Its whats in the heart that counts, and the actions that a people make.

Also, those that are standing on the pedastal, don't flatter yourself. You're not as smart as you think you are.

 

[Jimcat]

I like to throw around the word "idiots", but if I really think about it, it's not so much a question of mental capacity as it is of bad judgment. Some people simply cannot be trusted to make the right decision about anything more complex than what to eat for breakfast. And the rest of us end up paying for it.

Some examples off the top of my head:

* Lawyers who put up ads that say "Injured? Call us, we'll help you sue someone!"

* Customers of these lawyers.

* People who smoke.

* Anyone who thinks that a particular racial or ethnic group is inferior.

* People who buy big, expensive things for no other reason than to show off.

* Professional basketball players.

* Ariel Sharon.

* People who don't think that protecting the environment is worthwhile.

People like this drive me nuts because they make the world a worse place, and there is nothing I can do to stop them.

 

[nixon]

I agree with all of the points, except, of course, Ariel Sharon. But that's a completely different discussion. You're one of the victims of the smear campaign against Israel and Sharon in particular.

 

[drake]

Jim, sounds like you're talking about whats referred to as common sense.....and yes I agree, thats an entirely different ball game than intelligence.

Some of the most intelligent people (book smart), have no common sense whatsoever. High school dropouts in many case have more practical sense then some who have masters degrees.

 

[Hamlet]

Originally posted by Jimcat
* Lawyers who put up ads that say "Injured? Call us, we'll help you sue someone!"

I'd say they were very intelligent - playing upon people's greed to sate their own.

Personally, very dumb people really anger me.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Originally posted by KaeptnOvi

No the other way around: stupid people make great fanatical followers, whereas intelligent ones tend to ask annoying questions

Not quite. One chooses followers based upon...other qualities...

One does not call for the destruction of stupid people, but rather for efforts to be initiated to change their condition.

 

[Ozz]

Stupidity is relative to your own intelligence.
One person's moron is another person's genius.

It takes a real moron to screw up the genius's
donkey proof computer system. Course, if the
genius is so smart why didn't he see what the
moron might do. And how come the moron found
the flaw that the genius missed?

 

[Jimcat]

Originally posted by Ozz
It takes a real moron to screw up the genius's
donkey proof computer system. Course, if the
genius is so smart why didn't he see what the
moron might do. And how come the moron found
the flaw that the genius missed?

Quite true, hence the classic saying in engineering circles:

"If you devise an idiot-proof system, Nature will come up with a better idiot."

 

[Switch625]

I like to say that humanity is fundamentally stupid. That might sound elitist, but if you think about it, it really isn't. I'm saying that we are all stupid to one degree or another. I'm not talking about the uneducated; they aren't stupid, but rather are ignorant. I'm talking about people who should know better, but do stupid things anyway. We all have the capacity for stupidity. Whoever you are, whatever you may think of yourself, you are not immune.

 

[Ozz]

Being Stupid is more fun than smart.

All Stupid

Drinkin' Beer
Chasin' Women
Smokin'
Most sports
Politics

Even Einstein smoked.
He was intelligent not wise.

Lincoln was right, all men are created equal.

We're just not smart enough to figure out
what the morons are good at. And the morons
can't figure out what the genius's are good for.

Moron accomplishments - Nil
Genuis accomplishments - Thermonuclear bombs

 

[Jimcat]

Originally posted by nixon
You're one of the victims of the smear campaign against Israel and Sharon in particular.

Yes, this is off the thread topic, but I'll thank you not to call me a "victim of a smear campaign" when you don't know my positions or how I derived them. I have taken a keen interest in the Middle Eastern news since 1980, and I have always supported the right of Israel to exist in peace. I think that prime ministers like Begin, Rabin (before his assassination), and Barak were doing an excellent job of advancing the cause of peace.

If I go too deeply into my opinions of Ariel Sharon then I tend to rant and foam at the mouth, so let's just say I believe that the Israeli people deserve better than him.

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by Ozz
Even Einstein smoked.
He was intelligent not wise.

Who says smoking is stupid?
Smoking damages your health, okay, but why is that stupid? Is surviving intelligent or wise? Why? Can you give me a (secular) reason for it, other that pure ideology?

 

[ComradeDavo]

If someone is being stupid I try and corect them. If they continue being stupid I argue with them. If they contine even more I shout at them. But I do not blame them. I blame society.

I will go for the 'Leave them alone its not their fault!' option.

 

[drake]

Hitro


intelligence : capacity to perceive and comprehend meaning.

One can't perceive or comprehend anything when they're dead. A dead person has less intelligence than the flies that feed upon it.

Therefore, life preserves intelligence and death destroys it.

SO:
Preventing death = intelligent
Aiding death = stupid

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by drake
Hitro


intelligence : capacity to perceive and comprehend meaning.

One can't perceive or comprehend anything when they're dead. A dead person has less intelligence than the flies that feed upon it.

Therefore, life preserves intelligence and death destroys it.

SO:
Preventing death = intelligent
Aiding death = stupid

That's a weird kind of logic (no offense intended).
I questioned if it was intelligent to survive, or in your words, to prevent death. You think so because "dead persons are not intelligent".
Which means you imply it is intelligent to be (or stay) intelligent. Now that is in no way proven, at least not in your argumentation.
That then means the basic assumption of your proof is unproven which makes the whole thing worthless.

 

[drake]

I'm going by what the definition of intelligence is. Not trying to make up a new one as you seem to be

 

[Hitro]

The definition of intelligence is not that important for this matter, you gave a good one.
As you said, it is the "capacity to percieve and comprehend meaning".
What's the meaning of surviving? What's the meaning of life? What's the meaning to stay alive at any cost?

So to go back to the original question, why is it not wise to smoke? Or to do other pleasureable things that (possibly) shorten your life?

You said "life preserves intelligence", well yes it does, but why is it intelligent or wise to preserve it?

 

[floppa21]

I think people being stupid is more a matter of them being LAZY. Aside from brain damage and the aforementioned airhead on Big Brother, people can show some initiative and change their "stupidity"... Uneducated is not the same as stupid. So the whole problem lies in motivation.

Then I must agree with Switch. No one is immune to a bout of stupidity.

 

[Ozz]

Originally posted by Hitro

Who says smoking is stupid?
Smoking damages your health, okay, but why is that stupid? Is surviving intelligent or wise? Why? Can you give me a (secular) reason for it, other that pure ideology?

I think stupid is more lack of wisdom than lack of intelligence.

Smoking is unwise because you/I make the choice to smoke
because we enjoy it so much. (I smoke and am not addicted).
It is expensive, dirty, smelly, and a fire hazard.

A non-smoker would call us stupid, That's ok, they go
away when you keep blowin' smoke rings in their face.

 

[Hitro]

Hehe, I am a non-smoker and I don't call you stupid for it.

Someone is stupid if he smokes and thinks it couldn't harm him.
But if someone takes the risk according to what is important to him that is not stupid in my opinion as it would be stupid not to follow your own ideas about life.