Smart people think they have a right to be mean

[American]

And angry, and condescending, and to make fun of people. More than mere righteousness, they think their frustration with stupid people allows them to lash out like the big babies that they really are.

Proves to me that they're not so mature and bright afterall. As I've said, a little bit of education is dangerous. Any small bit of it makes someone an expert, or at least a hobbiest on some subject.

I'm amused watching those people fall flat on their faces when they try to apply that knowledge. Can't tell you how many computer, physics, political, and social "experts" there are who really like the sound of their own voices. I see it in a lot of college kids, but really it applies to anyone you meet on the street, your own friends and family too. So I sit there and chuckle while they talk. (No, I don't know any more than they do, usually, but I don't pretend to either.)

Compensation for behavior and personality problems is fun to watch! :)

[TylerD]

What is the point of this thread, to try and make all intelligent and educated people out to be bigots?

[Yahzi]

We're only mean to stupid people who deserve it.

Which, in case you missed it, means you.

[thaiboxerken]

"Smart pepole think they have a right to be mean and angry, and condescending, and to make fun of people."

No, I know I have a right to be mean and it's protected by the 1st ammendment in the USA. Stupid people can be mean as well, but they're not quite as adept.


"More than mere righteousness, they think their frustration with stupid people allows them to lash out like the big babies that they really are."

Who's guilty of ad-homimen here? This simple appeal to emotion really does nothing for the board.

"Proves to me that they're not so mature and bright afterall."

Yea, but coming from a person that "gets" jokes no other person gets.. what you believe really means nothing.

"As I've said, a little bit of education is dangerous. Any small bit of it makes someone an expert, or at least a hobbiest on some subject."

I agree, education is what drives people to becoming more knowledgable.

"I'm amused watching those people fall flat on their faces when they try to apply that knowledge. Can't tell you how many computer, physics, political, and social "experts" there are who really like the sound of their own voices."

Those people you refer to are the ones I would categorize as "stupid". I thought your beef was with smart people.

" I see it in a lot of college kids, but really it applies to anyone you meet on the street, your own friends and family too. So I sit there and chuckle while they talk. "

Yes, but you also chuckle at jokes that aren't there.

"Compensation for behavior and personality problems is fun to watch! "

You seem to believe that you are somehow superior to most "smart" people in the same way you accuse "smart" people of doing. You're weird.

[BobK]

This topic doesn't sound like religion or philosophy to me.

Might someone have a behavior problem?:D

[evildave]

Stupid people simply misinterpret every correction of absurd/stupid assertions as "being mean".

[Man of jade]

Its very interesting to see who actually posts in defense of those described at the start of the thread.
EDIT: I interpret being "mean" as when people insult me or be overly sarcastic, but thats just me.

[evildave]

Well, there's that, and then there's misreading sarcasm into every correction.

As an example....

B: "2+2=4! And dat's why God(dess) is real!"

A: "That doesn't make any sense at all."

B: "You're jus' bein' MEAN to us BELIEVERS! Oh GOD I'm bein' pussekooted... but now I feel sorta ... whatsaword... val-i-dat-ed as a beeleever! Like them Crissians bein' fed to the lyins! I MUST post more ultimate truth as Revealed by banging my head with a hammer until God talks to me in a bell-like voice! Soon dey will all see da lite!"

[Sanamas]

Maybe the problem is that stupid people are being too nice?

[evildave]

In a sense, the smart people are giving the 'stupid' people the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they are only ignorant, which is a condition that can easily be cured by providing information and links.

Stupidity is a willful condition. It doesn't matter how much information is provided, nor how many tips for finding the information for themselves are given, the stupid people will simply ignore the new information, in deference to their own preferred form of ignorance.

Another example is in order.

B: "If only you would read the bible, you would see I am right."

A: "I did read it, and your conclusions are suspect. Re-read this section and refer back to this other section..."

B: "That's in the OLD Testament! That doesn't count! Besides, only these bits and pieces are important to read, not the WHOLE book!"

A: "Ah, I see. So who decides which parts are 'important' or not?"

B: "Only THESE sections! None of the others!"

A: "What are you all worked up about?"

B: "STOP IT! You're just trying to TORMENT ME! Spawn of Satan!"

A: "What?"

B: (Dramatically averts gaze, wanders off with hands over ears chanting something or other unintelligibly - unless people are around, then makes a big deal about A being an unrepentant sinner, with the obligatory "I W1LL PRAAY 4 YOO!")

[Seismosaurus]

Originally posted by American
And angry, and condescending, and to make fun of people. More than mere righteousness, they think their frustration with stupid people allows them to lash out like the big babies that they really are. :)

Er, if you are attacking smart people because they attack stupid people, and you say that this proves that they are not so smart after all... well, doesn't that mean that with this thread you are guilty doing the very thing that you are complaining about?

[American]

Originally posted by Sanamas
Maybe the problem is that stupid people are being too nice?

That too.

Summary point is that brains feed ego, and ego is worthless. Look where nerds are in society. They're so smart, they can't even function. If only we'd listen to them, rather than people who work and perform actual tasks and not sit around thinking how smart they are... Nah.

[evildave]

Oh, deary me, nerds are so expensive, and they don't work in a way you understand?

Well, gosh, I'm sure even a cursory study in economics would explain clearly why nerds get paid highly for light work, while "real guys" get a pittance for "real work". Hint: Almost anyone can do that "real work", while few can do that "nerd work".

The real problem here is, that most people are natively just as "smart" as a "nerd". Many are even "smarter" in some ways. Most of them simply don't concentrate their efforts in an effective manner. Others are just lazy. You see, a mind is rather like a muscle, in that regular exercise will make it stronger... and a lot of people let their minds atrophy to the point where they have a hard time qualifying for the Special Olympics.

"If you think an education is expensive, try ignorance."

The next time you want to poke fun at a "weak" nerd because he can't do as many push-ups as you, consider who is more likely to need to perform manual labor, and whose position is more threatened by cheap and uneducated labor, something that the whole world is filled with.

[American]

The world's being automated, I'm not against that.

This is all way off track anyway. I wasn't even drinking when I started this crap! Oh well, not my best work.... Good night.

[aerosolben]

Like American, I find arrogance distasteful. No need to belittle another's ignorance most of the time, and many people need to realize that expertise in one field does not make one an expert in all (related) fields.

Like Seismosaurus, I find it amusing that American voices distate over a trait he himself exhibits frequently.

[evildave]

Another thing to consider when you ask a "nerd" about something "technical" is, how often they've been bothered about it this month already (i.e. "That time of the month").

For some reason, when people find out you dig ditches for cables, or flip burgers for a living, they don't ask about the latest technology in shovels (actually, it's done mostly with some pretty cool machines that can burrow under roads and stuff), or the best technique for grilling a patty made of ground-up-pressed cow parts.

Another little thing that doesn't often come up is questions like, "Can you dig a ditch in my yard for me?" or "Can you cook some hamburgers for me?", or (given a job moving boxes in a warehouse) "Can you move some big boxes around for me?"

Yet people don't even blink before they ask "Can you fix my computer for me?", or "Can you write a program for me? I don't know what I want it to do, though....", or even "What printer should I buy?"

Funny thing, but the implicit part of the deal with "fix my computer" is "(and give me free parts from the bottomless collection of spare parts I think you have)". So, after hours of diagnostics and time consuming searching and twiddling to recover missing files that were not backed up, and isolating faulty hardware and more or less being forced to track down replacement parts to sort out the problem, often culminating in reinstalling the OS and every piece of software (some of which is naturally missing), I get disappointment when the system couldn't be fixed instantly and for free.

Then there's always the recurring "Can't you just install 'Office' (or Photoshop or various other expensive software) on my machine?" No, it costs $500 for a basic license, I don't own a copy, and you don't even want to pay for it, anyway. OpenOffice (or 'The GIMP' or various other open source things) is free, works at least as well, and I can put that on for nothing.... "No, I want Office." Well, I want a personal life some time where my relationships with people don't revolve around solving every fault slightly more technical than changing a light bulb.

Finally, it's "What should I buy?" Heck, I don't know. That target changes week by week, and to get a proper response, I have to spend an entire evening doing your research and shopping for you based on "I don't know... something cool and I don't even know what I want to pay for it". At the end of that, you'll just go buy the first broken thing in a shiny package at Comp*USA for triple the price I found for you on the Internet because you "heard somewhere the internet is watching - creepy!", then complain to me about how shoddy and expensive it is and "Can you fix it?"

In short, it's not necessarily a core of 'rudeness' from a techy when you interrupt them in the middle of doing something in order to be their free technical support, hardware diagnostician and general purpose handyman. Think of it as discovering your neighbor is a car mechanic and asking him to rebuild our your engine for you out of the clear blue as the first words you exchange with him.

When viewed through this lens, just who is being "rude" and "arrogant"? The one with the technical skills who is expected to work miracles, or the one who treats every 'nerd' as their personal computer djinn, pulling free parts and software out of their ass to satisfy his/her every wish?

So, if someone 'technical' seems a little prickly when you make your 'humble little request', consider for a moment how many "humble little requests" have been submitted to him this week.

[kyuudousha]

This is totally true.

Having worked in sales and (not in the job description) troubleshooting of computer hardware, software, and business machines for three years, and having worked as a photostatic copy technician (like the title?) for eight months now, I'm aware of the all too familiar feeling of being asked technical questions in personal situations.

Although I've yet to be at somebody's house or office and been asked to fix somebody's copier -- which I am most likely capable of doing -- I used to get asked about computers all the time, which really bugged me because it was like being at work without getting paid. Technical questions get tiresome pretty quickly.

So I think that might be the reason why smart people seem angry a lot of the time. Although, a little patience probably wouldn't hurt.

It sucks to see people who really know what the hell they're talking about get fired because a customer got insulted by a straight answer that was interpreted as rudeness.

Oh, and one last thing: smart people are mean because we're better at it than the rest of you. ;)

[thaiboxerken]

Summary point is that brains feed ego, and ego is worthless.

Why? Can you give examples of this and reasons why ego is worthless?

Look where nerds are in society. They're so smart, they can't even function.

Should we compare the average income of a "nerd" as compared to other people? Bill Gates makes quite a bit of money, and he's a nerd. How many scientists and medical doctors are brainiacs? Why do you insist that intelligence equates to failure when it's evidentlyl the opposite?

If only we'd listen to them, rather than people who work and perform actual tasks and not sit around thinking how smart they are... Nah.

Yea, I mean... if people actually listened to smart people, they only have solved most of the world's issues. Damn them, damn them all to hell!!

:rolleyes:

[thaiboxerken]

I find it hilarious that the stereotype of a smart person is a "nerd". Heck, when I was in the nuclear-engineering program in the USNavy the most athletic competitors were us "smart" people. Of course, we did have our share of "nerds" too.

This presents a real problem for someone like American because the "smart" people not only make him feel stupid, but can pummel him in barbaric combat as well.

[Victor Danilchenko]

thaiboxerken

I find it hilarious that the stereotype of a smart person is a "nerd". Heck, when I was in the nuclear-engineering program in the USNavy the most athletic competitors were us "smart" people.That's an interesting observation; I noticed it too. In my aikido dojo, most people are very obviously way above average intelligence; I would peg mean IQ of the folks there at about 120 or so. It could be just the nature of aikido itself that attracts the more educated and sophisticated individuals, though...

[Dancing David]

There is all sorts of arrogance and menaess in the world, I think that it is pretty evenly distributed throughout the world, seems that intelligent people may be able to verbalize it better.

But then I have also heard that racism and beating your wife are just 'common sense', so it all evens out.

[Dragonrock]

Originally posted by thaiboxerken
I find it hilarious that the stereotype of a smart person is a "nerd". Heck, when I was in the nuclear-engineering program in the USNavy the most athletic competitors were us "smart" people. Of course, we did have our share of "nerds" too.

This presents a real problem for someone like American because the "smart" people not only make him feel stupid, but can pummel him in barbaric combat as well.

My anecdote agrees with yours. When I was in the army, the people in my electronic maintenance shop were the company "geeks". When we had a soldiers day (a competition for basic soldiering: ie weapons strip and assembly, setting up a claymore mine, Proper wear of chemical gear, etc) we would always clean up. Once we had a physical competition with events like volley ball, tug-o-war, truck pull, sprint, long distance, relay races, etc. The prize in both cases was a day off for your entire department. Well, the rest of the company was rather upset that we won again.

I figured the reason was that we tried a little harder during PT because we were more motivated than the average person.

[shemp]

Originally posted by American
And angry, and condescending, and to make fun of people. More than mere righteousness, they think their frustration with stupid people allows them to lash out like the big babies that they really are.

Proves to me that they're not so mature and bright afterall. As I've said, a little bit of education is dangerous. Any small bit of it makes someone an expert, or at least a hobbiest on some subject.

I'm amused watching those people fall flat on their faces when they try to apply that knowledge. Can't tell you how many computer, physics, political, and social "experts" there are who really like the sound of their own voices. I see it in a lot of college kids, but really it applies to anyone you meet on the street, your own friends and family too. So I sit there and chuckle while they talk. (No, I don't know any more than they do, usually, but I don't pretend to either.)

Compensation for behavior and personality problems is fun to watch! :)

Shut up you stinking little git! You don't have enough brains to fill a flea's thimble! Stop bothering us smart people! :D

[American]

Words are meaningless compared to actions. Smart people don't seem to do very much, because they can't!

[Sundog]

Originally posted by American
Words are meaningless compared to actions. Smart people don't seem to do very much, because they can't!

Except run the world, of course.

:rolleyes:

[thaiboxerken]

Words are meaningless compared to actions. Smart people don't seem to do very much, because they can't!

LOL. Yea, that's right, your computer wasn't invented by smart people, the internet wasn't invented by smart people. The USA government wasn't invented by smart people. You don't drive a car that was designed and invented by smart people. Smart people didn't invent roadways or technology. Smart people aren't doctors and lawyers, they aren't scientists and researchers.

Those damn smart people haven't done one bit of good for the world, Einstein included!

:rolleyes:

[Dancing David]

Originally posted by American
Words are meaningless compared to actions. Smart people don't seem to do very much, because they can't!

Ask not for whom the bell trolls, many of the smartest epole I know have chosen to work 'menial' jobs, so smart people can do.

[Marvel Frozen]

It sounds like American is just jealous of us smart people :)

[Crossbow]

Originally posted by American
And angry, and condescending, and to make fun of people. More than mere righteousness, they think their frustration with stupid people allows them to lash out like the big babies that they really are.

...

Compensation for behavior and personality problems is fun to watch! :)

Sounds like he went to a Mensa event.

[stamenflicker]

After reading through this thread last night and noting so many of these responses I was deeply saddened.

I think this is an excellent thread at many levels. Perhaps intellectual-ISM will be the last of the bigot “–isms” to fall (besides maybe homophobia). I think this might be the case, because unlike say Racism and Sexism: Intellectual-“ism” hasn’t reached its peak yet.

This thread caused me to think of my grandfather who had to drop out of school in the 4th grade to work on the farm. Clearly he was one of the most uneducated men I have ever known, and will likely ever know for all my life. I watched him most of my teenage life, watched him do things that I certainly cannot do, especially with regards to cultivating the earth. He could do amazing things with his hands—fix almost anything. He could call his cows, breed his livestock with great skill, and butcher and process all his own meat. Most of all he was just a decent, good, honest, hard working man who found great satisfaction in how he lived his life. I really don’t see where I’m “one up” on him in any form or fashion, college degrees or not.

Then I thought of my grandmother, who only went to school through the 6th grade. She survived the Great Depression and learned so many thrifty skills from that experience. She could squeeze every ounce of nutrition from every meal, finding creative ways to use leftovers. She could weave an incredibly beautiful shawl or blanket from mere scraps of cloth gathered from a variety of outgrown or worn-out pieces. She canned her own vegetables and spent a great deal of her time distributing excess food to minority populations in rural Alabama.

And when they died, these two “ignorant” uneducated people had saved (in cash) almost four times the appraisal value of my mortgaged 3,500 sq. ft home; they had zero debt, two houses, three huge barns, over 50 acres of land, and a lot of valuable livestock. But you know, that doesn’t even matter. They were flat out good people and I learned a great deal from them. They never filed a lawsuit, never cheated anyone to my knowledge, and always gave what they could to anyone that asked.

Then I compared all that to the community I grew up in, Oak Ridge Tennessee. Maybe you haven’t heard of the place, but it’s one of two “secret cities” created during WW2 to make the bomb. As a teenager in the early 80’s it was consistently accepted that Oak Ridge had more doctorate degrees per capita and per square mile, than any other city in the world. The school system here has always been the top of the State, and was listed just last week in Newsweek’s top American high schools-- AGAIN. We’re talking about kids making 30’s on the ACT like it is nothing.

So what? I suppose being surrounded by such intelligent people has proven to be stimulating at a variety of levels, none of which would have been remotely possible in a conversation with my grandparents. But I’m not really sure what I’ve really gained from it. Like the fellow “intellectual-ites” around me-- I have debt, I work to pay off that debt, I sit in traffic constantly, I rarely get to enjoy a sunny day or nature at all, I live in a community that is plagued by drug abuse and crime and will send my child to this incredible school system with a rampant “intellectualized” drug problem, I read about lawsuits (big ones) every week in the local newspaper; in my lifetime I’ve seen PTO/PTA memberships decline, community recreation activities all but eliminated, community service and volunteerism turn practically non-existent, and a whole host of people—just like me—who spend more time in line at Walmart than they’ve ever spent in a garden, or on the porch with an ice cold glass of tea, or in a good Spades game with the neighbor’s next door.

So I’ve read through the responses to this thread so far and coupled them with other threads in which I've posted and reached a conclusion. There’s something just a little disgusting about the arrogance here, something a little disheartening about the current values of humanity, something a bit ignorant about the “intellectual-ism” in this forum.

I suddenly think my time would be better spent somewhere, anywhere besides here. I think I need to find better company. Good luck to you all; many of you are very decent people. Thanks to Loki for his reasoned and kind and honest debate. He’s a gift to this forum.

I may pop in to do a climate check from time to time. I bid you farewell.

Flick

[jimlintott]

Anyone who thinks that stupid or ignorant people aren't sometimes mean, angry, condescending and insulting should get out more.

Although they are sometimes comical when trying to be condescending.

[Dragonrock]

American,

I'd like to know what you feel I am. Am I one of the smart people who can't do anything, or am I the type that can perform actions.

I have scored 132 on an IQ test when I was 11, joined the army and played war games in Korea, provided communications support to the President of the United States, replaced the filter on my inground pool, drained and cleaned my inground pool, replaced the starter on my wife's car, replaced the coolant pump on my truck, dug up my front lawn for my wife's flower garden, built a wall out of sand bags to protect from flooding, painted my house, built a gazebo from scratch, gone to night school to get my degree, and installed a ceiling fan.

Is this a list of everything I've done? No, but, I have done things and while there are people who are smarter than I am, I consider myself smarter than most.

Would you perhaps care to give examples of smart people who don't do a thing?

[Dancing David]

Wow, Stamen Flick, I'll miss your posts.

[Jet Grind]

Originally posted by jimlintott
Anyone who thinks that stupid or ignorant people aren't sometimes mean, angry, condescending and insulting should get out more.

Ditto.

The whole point of this thread appears to be that American needs to validate himself by criticizing another group of individuals. I find it kind of funny that he's exhibiting the exact same behavior that he's condemning.

Oh well, that's trolls in a nuteshell. :rolleyes:

[American]

Originally posted by Dragonrock
Would you perhaps care to give examples of smart people who don't do a thing?

People who talk and complain a lot but don't do nothing special. They gots all the answers. They critisize, but they can't do a better job than who they're all mad at and stuff.

And don't flatter the all of yourselfs by thinking I was talking about YOU!

[hgc]

Originally posted by American


People who talk and complain a lot but don't do nothing special. They gots all the answers. They critisize, but they can't do a better job than who they're all mad at and stuff.
Is this your definition of "smart people," or have you changed the topic of this thread to "complainers?"

[Dragonrock]

Originally posted by American


People who talk and complain a lot but don't do nothing special. They gots all the answers. They critisize, but they can't do a better job than who they're all mad at and stuff.

And don't flatter the all of yourselfs by thinking I was talking about YOU!

One thing this board has never had a shortage of is advice. So, you must just be complaning to hear yourself type.

[American]

Originally posted by hgc
Is this your definition of "smart people," or have you changed the topic of this thread to "complainers?"


That's the stuff baby!

See he knows what I'm talking about.........

[Hazelip]

Oh, and you, American, must be an absolute genius since you posted this silly thread in the R&P section... :rolleyes:

[Hazelip]

Originally posted by American
Words are meaningless compared to actions. Smart people don't seem to do very much, because they can't!

Typical hit-and-run troll posting.

Say 'hello' to the ignore feature, American. You should rest assured that you are in the fine company of many other posters of lesser intelligence. You'll feel right at home. :D

[c4ts]

Originally posted by evildave
Stupid people simply misinterpret every correction of absurd/stupid assertions as "being mean".

Some people just don't know how to handle a little constructive criticism. They stop listening once they hear they're wrong, and they interpret the rest as "I'm right" instead of instructions to correct this wrongness. Not that I am offering any right now.

[evildave]

People who talk and complain a lot but don't do nothing special. They gots all the answers. They critisize, but they can't do a better job than who they're all mad at and stuff.

Ah, to be like 'American', placing one's self firmly and unambiguously in the NOT "smart people" category.