Idiots, or Not Idiots -- That is the Question - Comments
Posted by
Mike from Dallas on April 2, 2007:
I wonder if the writers of "Men In Black" ever realized just how profound that line was: "A PERSON is smart; PEOPLE are stupid."
Posted by
Denise, NC on April 4, 2007:
A suggestion for Brian: Forget philosophy: take a statistics class.
Not only will you feel like an idiot when you start, you'll feel like a genius when you complete it!
In the process you'll also realize that within one deviation of the mean intelligence of the population (which can be pretty deviant and mean, even on a good day) is where the majority of us are. But by actually exercising our brains with intellectual debates and philosophical discussions, we on the higher end of the scale help to bring up the average, so the fact that he has a dilemma at all is a good thing. Some of the most important questions about human nature have been raised by people who became uncomfortable with the opinions of the masses.
Besides, as I tell my children, rest on your ass, not your assumptions.
Posted by
Grahame, Australia on June 4, 2010:
There you go Randy - your readers are not only intelligent, but funny too!
Posted by
Feryl, NC on June 5, 2010:
Just as we each have the potential for good or evil, we have the potential for genius and idiocy. While I can be very smart, I have more often than I like to admit asked myself "What were you thinking?" over some stupid thing I did. We have some control over our status. People are marvelous creations. We have opposite qualities within ourselves, and can do amazing things, both good or bad.
Posted by
Matt, Boulevard, CA on June 6, 2010:
I think the main point here is to keep in mind that the world is full of all kinds. I like the idea of the statistics class. The bell curve shows us that most fall in the middle. Fortunately, those who make the dumbest mistakes fall at the thin end of the curve. UNFORTUNATELY, the smartest, most mature, and creative of us (like Randy) also fall at the thin end of the bell curve (the other end). So, I suppose, to generalize, go easy on the generalizations. But, at times, I can still hear my late father grumbling "People are no damn good".
Posted by
Art - Whiting New Jersey on June 7, 2010:
Wherever you land on the bell curve, You're going to have "one of those days" one of these days. I consider myself to be somewhere off the center of the bell curve - in a good way, that is - but every once in a while I do something totally boneheaded and spend the next day or so wondering if maybe I'm losing some marbles. Hey, but I'm not alone. I'm sure Albert Einstein had his bonehead moments, and Helen Thomas, and ... well, need I go on.
We all make mistakes, and sometimes compound a first mistake with a second mistake whilst trying to compensate. I did that yesterday while driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood - wound up driving on the wrong side of a divided roadway for a short distance - fortunately with no traffic coming - no harm done. Now imagine if there were traffic coming! I could have made the pages of "This is True".
So yes, some people are habitually boneheaded, and some only rarely. Shtuff happens. We all suffer from the same condition - we're humans. The brightest of us can be a jackass now and again - without budging one bit on the bell curve.
---
Exactly right. If we're "smart" we learn from our mistakes. If we're really smart, we learn from other people's mistakes. -rc
Posted by
Nick - Melbourne on June 8, 2010:
Hey I don't mind being glib; I think perhaps that the well known maxim, "The reason that you can never make anything idiot proof is because idiots are so ingenious" applies here or perhaps my own corollary to that "Human beings are infinitely perverse".
More seriously I think that given that human beings distribute themselves normally for just about any ability/proclivity you care to name, evil we hope will be balanced by good and stupidity by insightfulness. One thing is guaranteed though - Variety! Which is great for readers of "This Is True". I love the fact that amongst all the heart breaking foolishness are the wonderful unsubcribes to remind us of those extraordinary individuals who make a difference in a positive way. Thanks Randy.
Idiots, or Not Idiots -- That is the Question - Comments
Posted by Mike from Dallas on April 2, 2007:
I wonder if the writers of "Men In Black" ever realized just how profound that line was: "A PERSON is smart; PEOPLE are stupid."
Posted by Denise, NC on April 4, 2007:
A suggestion for Brian: Forget philosophy: take a statistics class.
Not only will you feel like an idiot when you start, you'll feel like a genius when you complete it!
In the process you'll also realize that within one deviation of the mean intelligence of the population (which can be pretty deviant and mean, even on a good day) is where the majority of us are. But by actually exercising our brains with intellectual debates and philosophical discussions, we on the higher end of the scale help to bring up the average, so the fact that he has a dilemma at all is a good thing. Some of the most important questions about human nature have been raised by people who became uncomfortable with the opinions of the masses.
Besides, as I tell my children, rest on your ass, not your assumptions.
Posted by Grahame, Australia on June 4, 2010:
There you go Randy - your readers are not only intelligent, but funny too!
Posted by Feryl, NC on June 5, 2010:
Just as we each have the potential for good or evil, we have the potential for genius and idiocy. While I can be very smart, I have more often than I like to admit asked myself "What were you thinking?" over some stupid thing I did. We have some control over our status. People are marvelous creations. We have opposite qualities within ourselves, and can do amazing things, both good or bad.
Posted by Matt, Boulevard, CA on June 6, 2010:
I think the main point here is to keep in mind that the world is full of all kinds. I like the idea of the statistics class. The bell curve shows us that most fall in the middle. Fortunately, those who make the dumbest mistakes fall at the thin end of the curve. UNFORTUNATELY, the smartest, most mature, and creative of us (like Randy) also fall at the thin end of the bell curve (the other end). So, I suppose, to generalize, go easy on the generalizations. But, at times, I can still hear my late father grumbling "People are no damn good".
Posted by Art - Whiting New Jersey on June 7, 2010:
Wherever you land on the bell curve, You're going to have "one of those days" one of these days. I consider myself to be somewhere off the center of the bell curve - in a good way, that is - but every once in a while I do something totally boneheaded and spend the next day or so wondering if maybe I'm losing some marbles. Hey, but I'm not alone. I'm sure Albert Einstein had his bonehead moments, and Helen Thomas, and ... well, need I go on.
We all make mistakes, and sometimes compound a first mistake with a second mistake whilst trying to compensate. I did that yesterday while driving in an unfamiliar neighborhood - wound up driving on the wrong side of a divided roadway for a short distance - fortunately with no traffic coming - no harm done. Now imagine if there were traffic coming! I could have made the pages of "This is True".
So yes, some people are habitually boneheaded, and some only rarely. Shtuff happens. We all suffer from the same condition - we're humans. The brightest of us can be a jackass now and again - without budging one bit on the bell curve.
---
Exactly right. If we're "smart" we learn from our mistakes. If we're really smart, we learn from other people's mistakes. -rc
Posted by Nick - Melbourne on June 8, 2010:
Hey I don't mind being glib; I think perhaps that the well known maxim, "The reason that you can never make anything idiot proof is because idiots are so ingenious" applies here or perhaps my own corollary to that "Human beings are infinitely perverse".
More seriously I think that given that human beings distribute themselves normally for just about any ability/proclivity you care to name, evil we hope will be balanced by good and stupidity by insightfulness. One thing is guaranteed though - Variety! Which is great for readers of "This Is True". I love the fact that amongst all the heart breaking foolishness are the wonderful unsubcribes to remind us of those extraordinary individuals who make a difference in a positive way. Thanks Randy.
Read the article that everyone's commenting on, or post a comment about it.