On the subject of stupid people

[ThomWV]

You meet someone. You talk to them for a bit. You walk away saying to yourself, well, that was a pretty smart cookie - or - you walk away wondering how that damned fool makes it through a day. What makes the difference in which impression you come away with?

I live in what is arguably the worst county in the United States in which to receive a public education. No kidding. This state ranks last or near last in any measure of its educational system and I live in a County that is so bad that the state took over its system a couple of months ago. It doesn't get any worse than that. The results show too. All of my neighbors grew up here and all went to school here - as far as they went. That, however doesn't mean they are all stupid. A lot of them are, no question about that, but some of them are smart, real smart. They have no education worth mentioning, that's obvious, but something shows through. What is it.

It seems to me that IQ tests measure one's ability to make the link from event a to b and then to c, to predict the next event based on given circumstance. That's not it though. If I meet you for the first time and we chat its not likely that I'll ever hear you make that sort of case about anything. And of course anecdotally we all know someone who is reportedly brilliant but comes across as a dolt. So that's not it.

I have my own thoughts on it but nothing I can really put my finger on. Sometimes I think its something to do with the ability to identify the pertinent facts in a discussion, to have responsive answers, maybe the ability to bring focus to a matter or maybe simply clarity of speech. Sometimes I just can't explain it.

What do you think?

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Many people believe that Emotional Intelligence is far more important than traditional intelligence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

[Deja Q]

6. That can often be reflected in modern day television too...

Not even an iota of logical plot construction. Just inane scribble, which relies more on forced emotional response from the audience, after which point I've frequently noted the audience clapping and claiming that was the best piece of television ever made.

If not the media in general.

There's nothing wrong with emoting. But some logic has a place too.

[arbusto_baboso]

2. Intelligence and education are definitely not the same things.

Don't get me wrong; I believe very strongly in formal, higher education.

It just doesn't help much for some people. I graduated from my class at UCLA with a large proportion of absolute idiots. It was a wonder how some of these folks could find their own mouths with a fork every morning.

On the other hand, my grandfather dropped out of high school during the Depression so he could go to work and help out his family. And he was one of the smartest people I've ever known, and entirely self-educated.

So, I know what you're saying.

[RandomThoughts]

3. That's a good question. You may be discussing difference from intelligence and wisdom

Just finding patterns, many times people think of as intelligence. A person can figure out intrinsic combinations of events or thoughts, and find many different things.

But without a context or clarity they can be really smart and still wrong because of things like perspective.

Wisdom may not find lots of different ways to think about things, but it can cut through the illusions and find what is important. It can find the perspectives that really have some meaning and importance.


Finding series of events from correlations might be smart. Seeing how the stock market might go, or how to make a profit, or even what motivates people, are all things done by smart people.

But I would think being able to know if those things create larger good outcomes, and thinking on what outcomes really are ones that people want and think are best, and what is best, would be wisdom. It is not only tied to the logic of a pattern, but also looks at where and what it means to follow that pattern.

example in economics.
A really smart person found how to create derivatives of derivatives on real estate commodities, possibly even celebrating its complexity as smarts, a really wise person knew it was a bad idea.

example in software.
In software, some people use the most complex sequences of code, many times when looking at that code it is hard to follow and shows the person developing it was pretty smart to hold the multiple threads and code flows in his mind while he wrote the program. But most people can't work on the program because it is too complex just to be complex.

A wise software person makes it more simple so it is updatable and accessible to many people, it does not show smarts, but by keeping it simple it also keeps it transparent, so if there are flaws many can see them and many can work on fixing them. Yet that coder does not look flashy he just uses the code snippets that are already shown to work, and keeps them modulated so each can be looked at or worked on individually without systemic effects.


Intelligence verses Wisdom might be your question.

[ElboRuum]

4. Smart is...

...the ability to get out of your own way.

[NJmaverick]

5. No doubt there are many forms of intelligence

I think you could fill a book on this topic.

[Orsino]

8. Many.

Intelligence runs the gamut from pure abstract mathematical ability, through charisma, to the mental focus that gets you through marine boot camp.

[NJmaverick]

11. Agreed, which really makes it hard to paint with a broad brush and call someone smart or stupid

[trof]

7. My friend Carl is undereducated.

He quit school at 16 to work full time in his dad's logging business.
He'd been working there since he was 12.
By 18 he had 4 tractor-trailer logging trucks of his own and drivers.
He leased them to his dad's business.
He is a self proclaimed redneck, and I wouldn't argue with that.
But when it comes to business, he's about the smartest guy I know.

He's made a fortune in the debris cleanup business. Like natural disasters and such. Now he invests in real estate and condos.

If he had stayed in school I have no doubt that Carl could have been anything in life he wanted to be. But he already knew what he wanted to do and further schooling was of no use to him.

We have interesting conversations about people, politics, and just life.

[Fleshdancer]

9. For me, it's all about one's attitude....

I've met so many undereducated people willing to learn more. On the flip side, my job has me in contact with more than a few privileged assholes with a great amount of education who are so opinionated and stubborn that they refuse to keep learning. Can you guess who I would prefer to spend time with?

At the end of the day, it's not what you know that impresses me, it's the desire to learn more. Refusing to learn looks as ridiculous as those people who, 20 years later, have the same haircut as they did when they graduated from highschool...it's like a mental mullet.

[MajorChode]

10. Here's what George Carlin had to say on the subject

Well I know, some people don't like you to talk about those things.
I know that. Some people don't like you to mention certain things.
Some people don't want you to say this. Some people don't want you to say that.
Some people think if you mention some things they might happen...some people are really fucking stupid!
Did you ever notice that? How many really stupid people you run into during the day?
Goddam there's a lot of stupid bastards walking around.
Carry a little pad and pencil with you. You'll wind up with thirty or forty names by the end of the day.
Look at it this way: Think of how stupid the average person is and then realize that half of them are stupider than that.
And it doesn't take you very long to spot one of them does it? Take you about eight seconds.
You'll be listening to some guy...you say..."this guy is fucking stupid!"
Then...then there are some people, their not stupid...their full of shit. Huh?
That doesn't take very long to spot either, does it? Take you about the same amount of time.
You'll be listening to some guy..and saying, "well, he's fairly intelligent......ahht, he's full of shit!"
Then there are some people, their not stupid, their not full of shit...their fucking nuts!
Dan Quayle is all three! All three! Stupid, full of shit, and fucking nuts!
And where did he get that wife of his? Have you taken a good look at that Marilyn Quayle?
Where did he get her, at a Halloween party or something? She looks like Prince Charles for Christ sake!
Let me ask you something, does he actually have to fuck that women! Huh?
God help him, I wouldn't fuck her with a stolen dick!

[backwoodsbob]

12. which county do you live in?