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I’ll apologize up front for labeling some people as stupid. Normally that’s not a word I deploy in my every day vocabulary. But it fits for this conversation.
The main difference between smart people and stupid people that I see boils down to temperament and curiosity. I’ve noticed the people in my life who know the least are the ones who do and learn the bare minimum to get by. They hate asking questions, they get flustered and upset easily when something goes wrong or doesn’t work, and they’re fairly stubborn and stuck in their ways. Generally the most open-minded and open-hearted people I know tend to be the smartest and wisest.
Anybody else feel this way?
Smart people study and learn as much as possible.
That is really the bottom line.
Whether that is cultural, genetic, environmental or any combination thereof is anyone's guess.
I doubt less intelligent people realize they are in fact, less intelligent. This does NOT mean that less intelligent people are unable. Far from it. They may learn differently...
Hmmm. I think people can sense when other people are more intelligent than they are. They might not know at first exactly what makes these people different, but eventually they can figure out it is intelligence.
I know that I can tell when people are smarter than I am. Here is one example:
One day a distinguished professor came to visit us. (My husband is a professor and this professor was on his doctoral committee, and also happened to win the equivalent of the Nobel prize in her field.) I remember sensing from the very first moment that she was way more intelligent than I was by the way she spoke. Everything she said appeared both completely spontaneous and beautifully crafted. Every word was precisely the right word. The sentences flowed together into lovely cohesive, clear paragraphs. Just like that. No hemming or hawing or filler words or extraneous bits. It was just so impressive and so obviously the reflection of a supremely ordered, powerful mind.
This is really domain dependent. Smart people in a completely new field often overestimate their abilities just like everyone else. In fields in which they specialize, and tangential fields, they are much more aware of what they do and don’t know.
In business people rise to the level of their incompetence.
I think some people view "smart" as situational and "stupid" as a catch-all, but I'm actually the opposite. "Stupid" doesn't mean you don't know anything; to me it means you have a hard time learning new things. Or maybe I'm saying that backwards .
My thing is, the ability to learn to learn something new very often comes down to temperament and curiosity.
I'll give you a fairly innocuous example. Relative to the rest of the world, I was a fairly late adopter of smart phones. In fact, I went basically the entire 2000s without a cell phone, my first phone was a Motorola Razr that I had for years. I'd gotten a raise at work and I decided on a whim to buy a smart phone (I'd been getting suggested to do so by ex-wife for years). I had no idea how to use it (I bought an iPhone) or anything about the Apple interface. But I spent time seeing what it could do, when I needed to figure something out, I Google'd and did my research and figured out how to use it.
I know some older people who still don't know how to use a smart phone because they don't want to take the time (lack of patience) to sit down and learn how to use it. It's not the most difficult thing in the world, but it may take a little time to get used to it. Many of them don't, so they stick to the flip phones of yester-year.
I sort of think of people as being like different kinds of knives and their minds can be likened to the cutting edges of knives. Some knives are very sharp and some knives are very dull but most knives fall somewhere in between being sharp and dull, they're average but are basically functional. Smart people are sharp minded and stupid people are dull minded and those who fall in between are average. The one thing that all people have in common is the cutting edges of their minds can be honed or blunted even further than what they were born with.
Less bright people may be dull, they are less likely to harm anyone.
Those who imagine themselves as smart, have cunning streaks and will use every opportunity to prove it even if they have to lie, steal, sabotage or through any other means.
The really smart ones are less conspicuous, hardly noticeable.
I believe that I am not too smart on some topics but very intelligent on other topics. I think there are several variables that determine intelligence not just DNA. Furthermore, you can become intelligent.
I’ll apologize up front for labeling some people as stupid. Normally that’s not a word I deploy in my every day vocabulary. But it fits for this conversation.
The main difference between smart people and stupid people that I see boils down to temperament and curiosity. I’ve noticed the people in my life who know the least are the ones who do and learn the bare minimum to get by. They hate asking questions, they get flustered and upset easily when something goes wrong or doesn’t work, and they’re fairly stubborn and stuck in their ways. Generally the most open-minded and open-hearted people I know tend to be the smartest and wisest.
Anybody else feel this way?
There is no objective criteria that defines who is "smart" and who is "stupid." Intelligence is a complex concept and can be difficult to measure. In general, intelligence is thought to include a range of cognitive abilities, such as the ability to learn and retain new information, solve problems, think logically, and adapt to new situations. However, these abilities can vary greatly from person to person and can be influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, environment, and individual experiences. That being said, it is not fair or accurate to label someone as "smart" or "stupid" based on their intelligence or any other personal characteristic.
Also, you are not necessarily "stupid" if you are not curious. Not everyone is equally curious, and some people may be less inclined to seek out new information or experiences than others. Or you can be curious, but at the same time be an introvert, and that being said, you'll not show curiosity openly as most people do. That doesn't make you stupid. In fact, I would go further and say that it's not even necessary to show your curiosity to others to prove the opposite. IMO it's best to keep being yourself at all costs, no matter what people say.
Though I do agree with the importance of being open-minded and open-hearted as human values, just I don't see them as the only parameters when classifying someone as smart or stupid. This is a wide topic for discussion, so I would just say that I don't agree with classifying people as smart or stupid at all.
I’ll apologize up front for labeling some people as stupid. Normally that’s not a word I deploy in my every day vocabulary. But it fits for this conversation.
The main difference between smart people and stupid people that I see boils down to temperament and curiosity. I’ve noticed the people in my life who know the least are the ones who do and learn the bare minimum to get by. They hate asking questions, they get flustered and upset easily when something goes wrong or doesn’t work, and they’re fairly stubborn and stuck in their ways. Generally the most open-minded and open-hearted people I know tend to be the smartest and wisest.
Anybody else feel this way?
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO
well you have "street smarts" (common sense) and book smarts. oftentimes, its the common sense that is most valuable. …
a person is really stupid when they think they are so smart…
… I think there might be more stupid people than smart people come to think of it.
I share the same sentiment as Chicago.
And I have read somewhere that the average person is not that smart - half of the population is allegedly stupid- doctors, lawyers, politicians- they all think they are very smart - but we see the examples of the opposite is true
The difference is that smart people ask themselves if something is a stupid thing to do or if they are not that smart in some circumstances
The stupid people think that they are smart without any doubt
Or is this description a stupid idea?
Btw, thank you for using the word “stupid “ - it is refreshing and truly descriptive.
If even 25% of people started thinking of themselves as stupid - our society would be so much better off.
As an example
Look at all the scientists - who as a group as well as the society in general think of themselves/them as “smart” - and look what they got us into.
Have they had their doubts of not being that smart - they could have been more thorough in their research, more cautious, more cooperative with others in theirs and the related fields and perhaps abandoned some concepts before it is too late.. and the damage bthey done is irreversible
Last edited by L00k4ward; 12-02-2022 at 10:38 AM..
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