I've been dealing with so many Goddamned stupid people lately that I think I'm going to vomit.  And not just peoples' everyday foibles, but people, retards if you will, that should've by all odds been run over by a truck, struck down by lightning or God, or mistakenly shot on a military training range.

So, back to my original question, what do you think?  Are people predetermined/born to be stupid, or do they learn it?  I'm also open the idea that it might be both.  I don't know which one it is, but holy shit, I'm getting tired of absofuckinglutely retarded people.

I'm done

I thank God everyday that he gave me a brain and that I can use it.


----Edited for spelling, which, BTW, falls under everyday foibles, not absolute stupidity----

Yeah, I know what you mean.  Just last month there was some guy bitching here about the kind of birthday present he got from his (long-suffering) mom & dad.

Maybe he came to understand what an a**hole he was being, but if not, he may still be out there somewhere complaining about [u]other[/u] people.

[red][size=4]P.R.K.

I dunno. It seems that a lot of the fools I know aren't stupid as much as they just don't pay attention. Maybe some time in the past they just plain lost interest in...living. Doing dumb things is a form of slow suicide and you do get all kinds of attention in the mean time.
Maybe for them that's enough. Kind of "dinner and a movie" then POW. [BD]

Or they could just be human toadstools. [xx(]

I have worked in Retail for the last 7 years. I still haven't figured out how so many people can be so friggin stupid! Example: There is a wall of displayed Televisions behind the customer asking me..."Do you sell TV's?"

I have actually told people "No Sir, we don't sell TV's sorry" And watched them walk by the TV's and out the friggin door! Hello? Unreal...It happens on a regular basis.
"Why won't this work no matter what I do?"
Sir...Try putting this great invention we have called "Batteries" inside this "Battery" Compartment and see if that helps.....
Unreal......

Morons I tell you! Morons!
I could go on and on.....


John

PRK = ROOFLE OWNED



That is all

Some guy down in the valley actually sent a letter to the editor stating that we had to stop all this safety nazism because it was causing a dilution of the gene pool by permitting otherwise stupid people from doing the things that otherwise would have killed them off.

I know where there is a copy, and I'll post it, but it will take a few days to get hold of it.

Jay
Arizona

Doh!

This here is classic!

The Darwin Awards will be sooooo not funny without stupid people and this guy from the article knows this!

[url]http://www.darwinawards.com[/url]


[rail]Railgun....

I keep saying this, we are outnumbered and surrounded by morons. Our country is a majority of ignorant stupid people, like the saying goes, never underestimate the power of a large group of stupid people. That is why we have this problem of "gun control". Total ignorance, soccer mom mentality. I think I hate people in general because of all the stupidity. That is why I live in the sticks and try to stay to myself. Like Forrest said "stupid is as stupid does".

That's my goal, live somewhere remote and not have to deal with morons. To answer the question, stupid people are stupid by nature. They are born that way. A person born with intelligence will not be shaped by their environment into being a stupid person. They may, however, be shaped into an a**hole, and God knows there are plenty of them out there too. [%|]

Don't get me started on this.  Stupid people have long since stopped being a source of amusement to me.  They cost us all in added insurance premiums, unnecessary safety features on the products we us and in general drag down society to their level of understanding.


My answer to the topic question....it's both.  Although the worst kind is that of nature.

Remenber:  Education can improve ignorance, but it will do nothing for stupidity!

Yeah, I live out in the sticks myself, and have very few friends for the same reason. I've got a very low tolerance for stupid people. As far as whether they're born that way or not, I'd have to say that it's maybe a bit of both, but I think in general people are born that way.
It's just to easy to survive anymoe. Two hundred years ago most of these people just wouldn't have lived that long. May sound mean, but it's true.

As a teacher, i can promise you the hardest thing to do is make students think.  If they can read it, notice "if", or you explain it in great detail, most will be able to recite it back to you.  BUT ask them to assimilate the material and put it into action, now you have a major problem.  We do not teach thinking skills. Our leaders are no help either.  They would prefer thinking for us and the majority of our population are willing to let them because it is easier on them not to have to THINK.

May i add two examples to point this out?  I was teaching about the period of British control and mentioned both the British and the Redcoats.  After concluding a week of work, a young lady batted her eyes and asked, "Are the British and Redcoats the same thing?"  Next, we were having a Veterans Day assembly and our principal asked all vets to stand and be recognized.  Upon returning to class on of my student's stated, "Gee, Mr.---, I didn't know you were in the Civil War."

NUTURE

If you understand the first thing about genetics, none of this should cause any perplexity.  In an unregulated environment, nature maintains the intelligence level of a species by culling the stupid, so that they won't breed.  The deer who isn't smart enough to stay away from the water when the lion is drinking will father no fawns.

For the last hundred years or more we have sytematically worked toward a world in which the stuipd are carefully preserved and encouraged to breed.  The stupid mother who lets her kids stand up in the front seat of the car isn't allowed to do so anymore, so those kids will live to breed.  Think of all the laws designed to keep people from hurting thmselves. AS A GENERAL RULE...we're talking statistical probabilities in genetics, after all... stupid people will have lesser paying jobs, and less access to health care.  We pass laws to give them access to it.  And on and on.

It is in the best interests of the governing class to have subjects of limited intelligence.  Makes absolutely perfect sense.

If you want anecdotal proof, try to imagine the people of 1700 buying into the arguements of the anitgun crowd....now realize that at least half the people today think their train of thought is just fine.  

It's not your imagination.  The AVERAGE IQ of the human race has been purposely reduced...and continues to be so.

TC,

Nurture.

People are not born stupid, they are taught.  People are born racist, thay are taught, etc...

Folks, the exponential increase in stupidity will only continue.  It will never reverse.  A few reasons for this direction are the advance in technology (which makes people able to survive without basic knowledge and skills) and just as important, the public school system which teaches all children to be good little obedient drones.

Occasionally I hear some folks say that "things will change" and "things will get better" but I [i]know[/i] for sure that this will not happen.  Society is a huge beast that cannot be stopped.  At best it can be nudged in a [i]slightly[/i] different direction.

Even worse, because more and more people are becoming ignorant, society actually is encouraging this as these same people don't want to be alone in the world.  In fact, they prefer to among great numbers like themselves.

They're winning.

CMOS

Doof bleibt doof, da helfen keine pillen.
(Stupid stays stupid, no pill can help)

-German proverb

Sad thing is, they're allowed to breed.



OlDad

Get this...this ones a winner.

Some punk sent a letter to the editor to my local newspaper.  The punk said he heard of a man being wrongfully imprisoned for like 20 years...and he just got out.  He goes on to say this show how we need to ban cops.  Yes...cops.  Corrupt cops are baaad, and need to be fired.  

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with that satement?

MAYBE ITS THE HEAT--OR THE NON ENGLISH SPEAKING

I agree 100% with Celt.

Society has removed the things nature uses to eliminate the stupid of our species.

We have caused our own problem.

I actually had a woman stop in the middle of my street one day...............as I was sitting on my obviously new and very large John Deere mower (I was mowing the lawn) and ask me if I needed anyone to cut my grass for me.

I sat there for a moment thinking which to say of the several thoughts that had immediately come to mind and replied "No thanks........I kinda think I've got that covered right now as I looked down at my mower and then back at her."

Funny thing is she acted offended that I wanted to do it my self.

Idiot.

It is and will continue to get worse though.

OK.... I am sensing...mmm... some hostility here.  I think we need to start working on some anger management right away....

In the immortal words of Forrest Gump "Stupid is as stupid does..."

Stupidity is aquired.  Some people are born with a limited capacity to learn but that doesn't make them stupid.

A good lack of common sense = stupidity

[sniper]
[b]The Sniper

>>I thank God everyday that he gave me a brain and that I can use it.<<

You should thank him, it's a true blessing, but the best way to thank him is to use it to make the world a better place, and yourself a better person. Rather than JUDGE those who disagree with you, or see things from another viewpoint, as being stupid. Try putting yourself in their place, and applying the golden rule. Who knows, they may not be that stupid after all, and if they are, then you have a chance to do your part to enlighen this world of stupid people, one idiot at a time. If you fail to avail yourself of the opportunities you are presented with, then I guess that brain wasn't that great of a gift after all! Just a thought!

Most people are morons by nature. Try working in any retail establishment for as little as a week and you'll see what I mean. I work in a computer store and see and listen to more people that shouldn't be allowed to breed than I'd wish on my worst enemy (even AlGore or Rotund Rosie). I've been at it for 8 years and am just about ready to commit myself.  [:X*]

I can't begin to count the times I've had to walk through some moron on the phone by having them read me the prompts on the screen and saying, "and what is it that you want to do?" "Ok then, hit the 'YES' button." I've only had one guy from the minions catch on and actually say, "I guess I should read the screen, huh?"   [spank]

There are more stupid people out there than you can shake a stick at.

But I have to stop and wonder sometimes, are they really that stupid or smart enough to be stupid because they are really lazy?

How many companies don't assign work to the people that they feel aren't capable to doing the work and pass it on to the company mules.  

I just believe alot of people have found that less is expected of them the less they do.  And for them life is so much easier having other people think for them and carry their fair share of the load. Self esteem and pride have little to do with this equation.

And society in some ways is set up to cater's to these people.

Set in divorce court sometime and see if the majority of the time the person that didn't contribute their fair share ends up hauling in their fair share.

So I wonder if these people aren't  really smarter than us hard working pride filled smucks and just don't care if world looks upon them as being stupid as long as they can get someone else to think for them and do their work.

Ya gotta remember, half the people in this country are below average in intelligence.

Norm

CMOS, you just might want to edit your first couple sentences.  I have a feeling there might be a missing negative.

N

I go along with the both groups of thought actually. There are a lot of people (this group calls them stupid) who in the past would no longer be with us. Society/life was harder and they would have died off, either in the normal course of life, which was harder and more dangerous, or they would have killed themselves off with drink, drugs, or stupidity. We do tend to protect them from themselves.
This first group doesn't really bother me, as it is in their wiring and their isn't much that can be done unless you are a Nazi. I Admit that it does seem like there are more people around who lacks what used to be called common sense.

The one's that do bother me are  the willfully stupid. I do think that it is the most obvious sign of extreme laziness,  and our culture seems to outright promote this behaviour.
The kids today embrace this behaviour and glorify it, which worries me greatly.
Look at the movies that they like.
Dumb and Dumber. All of Adam Sandlers flick's etc. I am around kids (My lady has 3 teens.) and I don't believe that they understand that this is  not behaviour that is wrong. They state "I'm lazy" like it is a source of pride.

We are not doing right by our youth, and it is our doing. It s nothing new, it seems to be an outcome of the 60's (and I loved that time period so I hate to admit it.) and we don't seem to be able to overcome it.
It shouldn't really shock anyone, it is the natural outcome of today's society. Accept the fact that these people will be a burden to all of those that don't embrace that lifestyle and instead choose to be a part of the system that provides for those who choose to not provide for themselves. You can't do much about it and you will only make yourself "nuts" if you dwell on it.
Until people with common sense are allowed control, we will continue to see the Klinton/Gore types and all the madness that they bring with them.

Sorry for the delay; here it is:

[b]The following missive by Lawrence A. Bullis of Phoenix was originaly sent to the Arizona Republic.

It was reprinted in Harper's:

"Every day, some new do-gooder is trying to save us from ourselves.

"We have so many laws and safety commissions to ensure our safety that it seems nearly impossible to have an accident.

"The problem is we need accidents, and lot's of them.

"Danger is nature's way of eliminating stupid people. Without safety, stupid people die in accidents.....

With safety, however well intentioned it may be, we are devolving into half-witted mutants, because idiots, who by all rights should be dead, are spared from their rightful early graves and are free to breed even more imbeciles.

"Let's do away with safety and inprove our species.

"Take up smoking, jaywalk, play with blasting caps, swim right after a big meal, stick something small in your ear.

"Take your choice of dangerous activity and do it with gusto.

"Future generations will thank you".[/b]

Jay
Arizona