Stupid? Or Different?

I thought this was self-evident, but apparently it’s not. The fact that someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t make them stupid. This can be illustrated with two brief examples:

  1. Someone voted for the other candidate. Contrary to what many people on both sides of this issue would like you to believe, this doesn’t mean they’re less intelligent than you, it just means they have a different point of view.

    In this example, the person is not (necessarily*) stupid.

  2. Overheard in a bakery, two high school upperclassmen have a conversation:

    HIM: I can’t believe how stupid Kelly is.
    HER: What do you mean?
    HIM: We asked her where the Empire State Building was and she thought it was in Paris.
    HER: You’re kidding!! God, she’s an idiot. The one in Paris is that big one… (she begins making sweeping steeple-like gestures with her hands). You know, that one… what’s it called?
    HIM: I don’t know.

    In this example, everyone was stupid, regardless of their point of view.

*They might actually be stupid, but there isn’t enough information to be certain.

10 Comments

  1. LOL – everyone knows the Empire State building is in the state of Empire.Nice template btw :)http://cryptojoe.blogspot.com/

  2. From my window... November 21, 2004 at 7:05 am

    i am in absolute agreement with you on this…especially when it comes to the election. i was just about ready to scream with all of the bush/kerry talk. thank god it’s over for a while. i don’t think i could handle democracy in action once again…for at least three more years.

  3. Hey, nice post. Great minds think alike, eh? :-)http://www.buzzstuff.net

  4. Too fricken funny.

  5. From my experience, it can be noticed that most people are in fact stupid. Whether they demonstrate it or not in front of you at that particular moment is beside the fact. Sooner or later, their ignorance and severe lack of good judgement will get the better of them, and they demean themselves to nothing more than a babbling fool.-Matthttp://www.thecorrectness.blogspot.com

  6. LOL! this has made my monday morning!

  7. ignorance=stupidity?go through the library of congress systemand check out 100 subjects that you are absolutelyignorant on :i.e. geocentrism, semiotics, effects of partial blockingof your nicotine acetylcholine (nACh) receptor etc.we can argue then that with the increase of knowledgethat we cannot even begin to start reading on, our stupidity increases?

  8. Brian and Rachel November 22, 2004 at 5:10 pm

    Surfed in from BE! This was good.

  9. It’s called the Eiffel Tower. DUH! There was a funny email I got about the stupidity of people…and then they vote.”The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” — Winston ChurchillLike these:While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn’t want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, “Does the sun rise in the North?” When another person jumped in and explained that the sun rises in the east (and has for some time), she shook her head and said, “Oh, I don’t keep up with that stuff.”I used to work in technical support for a 24×7 call center. One day I got a call from an Individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, “The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” He responded, “Is that Eastern or Pacific time?” Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, “Uh … Pacific.”There are more, but you get the point.

  10. I cringe at our youth today and the stupid things they say. Was I that dumb at that age?

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