The strange dichotomy of stupidity

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Today on the bus I was seated in front of a simple but charming young woman who was making conversation with her chaperone/coach, and I had the thought that retarded people really can be quite delightful.

Then I thought that it's interesting that we are taught compassion for those who fall below the 80 point line, but those who are just above it we treat with contempt, as though being stupid is a failure of merit, particularly if they break the rules.

Further, we aren't even supposed to acknowledge that such a thing is possible, as if everyone above that 80 point mark has equal inherent intellectual capacity. It's weird. "You are mentally retarded so we must be nice to you, but you, you're just stupid so we can totally make fun of you as cruelly as we wish". It doesn't make any fucking sense.   

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Hmmm. Good food for thought.

[LMNO]

I'm starting to think Nigel has some long-game master plan that will end up with the the most horrible people on the worst forum on the internet becoming genuinely nice people.

IT WON'T WORK, FUCKERS!

[Eater of Clowns]

I went on a drunken tirade about this a few months back. I'd been chatting with a girl at a party, someone I'd just met. Some time after, she'd left the place and I mentioned that I had a nice conversation. The reply was one of those "yeah, but she's kinda dumb," deals.

The world is full of, and run by, smart assholes. Intelligence is not the most valuable thing people have. Treating it as such leads to a world full of, and run by, smart assholes. It's no different than valuing someone just because they're pretty.

[trix]

Today on the bus I was seated in front of a simple but charming young woman who was making conversation with her chaperone/coach, and I had the thought that retarded people really can be quite delightful.

Then I thought that it's interesting that we are taught compassion for those who fall below the 80 point line, but those who are just above it we treat with contempt, as though being stupid is a failure of merit, particularly if they break the rules.

Further, we aren't even supposed to acknowledge that such a thing is possible, as if everyone above that 80 point mark has equal inherent intellectual capacity. It's weird. "You are mentally retarded so we must be nice to you, but you, you're just stupid so we can totally make fun of you as cruelly as we wish". It doesn't make any fucking sense.

So THATS why you're usually nice to me.  Because I'm almost-but-not-quite retarded.

Kudos!

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

Today on the bus I was seated in front of a simple but charming young woman who was making conversation with her chaperone/coach, and I had the thought that retarded people really can be quite delightful.

Then I thought that it's interesting that we are taught compassion for those who fall below the 80 point line, but those who are just above it we treat with contempt, as though being stupid is a failure of merit, particularly if they break the rules.

Further, we aren't even supposed to acknowledge that such a thing is possible, as if everyone above that 80 point mark has equal inherent intellectual capacity. It's weird. "You are mentally retarded so we must be nice to you, but you, you're just stupid so we can totally make fun of you as cruelly as we wish". It doesn't make any fucking sense.   

I currently work full time with adults with disabilities and it's already the best job I've ever had.

Some people look completely normal but have huge challenges in daily life, so I've been going through a very similar inventory of my worldview.

[The Johnny]

I think it has to do with perceived ammounts of accountability that vary depending on the condition of each person.

There's also the factor of varying degrees of conscious decision... without consciousness ¿can there be malice?

In law theres this thing called Malice aforethought ((law) The criminal intent which precedes a crime, especially murder.)

I know as i write it its a horrible comparison, but, its a comparison based on degrees of consciousness, not of quality, ¿if an animal hurts you, is it malicious?... i can say that one could make a scale of accountability based on mental capacity.

The most harshly punished crimes have a correlation with consciousness, intent and malice (murder, arson, rape, scams, fraud).

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm starting to think Nigel has some long-game master plan that will end up with the the most horrible people on the worst forum on the internet becoming genuinely nice people.

IT WON'T WORK, FUCKERS!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I went on a drunken tirade about this a few months back. I'd been chatting with a girl at a party, someone I'd just met. Some time after, she'd left the place and I mentioned that I had a nice conversation. The reply was one of those "yeah, but she's kinda dumb," deals.

The world is full of, and run by, smart assholes. Intelligence is not the most valuable thing people have. Treating it as such leads to a world full of, and run by, smart assholes. It's no different than valuing someone just because they're pretty.

Yeah, I'm gradually coming to a similar conclusion. Thing is, it's easy to despise someone because they're stupid, or make bad decisions; it's low-hanging fruit, and in general we all like feeling superior.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Today on the bus I was seated in front of a simple but charming young woman who was making conversation with her chaperone/coach, and I had the thought that retarded people really can be quite delightful.

Then I thought that it's interesting that we are taught compassion for those who fall below the 80 point line, but those who are just above it we treat with contempt, as though being stupid is a failure of merit, particularly if they break the rules.

Further, we aren't even supposed to acknowledge that such a thing is possible, as if everyone above that 80 point mark has equal inherent intellectual capacity. It's weird. "You are mentally retarded so we must be nice to you, but you, you're just stupid so we can totally make fun of you as cruelly as we wish". It doesn't make any fucking sense.

So THATS why you're usually nice to me.  Because I'm almost-but-not-quite retarded.

Kudos!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Today on the bus I was seated in front of a simple but charming young woman who was making conversation with her chaperone/coach, and I had the thought that retarded people really can be quite delightful.

Then I thought that it's interesting that we are taught compassion for those who fall below the 80 point line, but those who are just above it we treat with contempt, as though being stupid is a failure of merit, particularly if they break the rules.

Further, we aren't even supposed to acknowledge that such a thing is possible, as if everyone above that 80 point mark has equal inherent intellectual capacity. It's weird. "You are mentally retarded so we must be nice to you, but you, you're just stupid so we can totally make fun of you as cruelly as we wish". It doesn't make any fucking sense.   

I currently work full time with adults with disabilities and it's already the best job I've ever had.

Some people look completely normal but have huge challenges in daily life, so I've been going through a very similar inventory of my worldview.

It's hard not to judge people, and god knows I am a judgy mcjudgerson. But I'm trying to be less so, because the reality is that I don't know the particulars of anyone's life but my own, and there are so many variables that can make it hard or impossible for someone to "be smart" that I really have zero grounds for passing judgement or even really of forming an opinion in most cases.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think it has to do with perceived ammounts of accountability that vary depending on the condition of each person.

There's also the factor of varying degrees of conscious decision... without consciousness ¿can there be malice?

In law theres this thing called Malice aforethought ((law) The criminal intent which precedes a crime, especially murder.)

I know as i write it its a horrible comparison, but, its a comparison based on degrees of consciousness, not of quality, ¿if an animal hurts you, is it malicious?... i can say that one could make a scale of accountability based on mental capacity.

The most harshly punished crimes have a correlation with consciousness, intent and malice (murder, arson, rape, scams, fraud).

Right, but what I'm talking about is the fact that if a person is not mentally retarded, our society in general makes the assumption that they are naturally as mentally adept as the next guy, which of course is not necessarily true. Socially speaking, we (and I'm using that broadly) feel completely justified in mocking, belittling, and even punishing people for being stupid. We're cool with it, as a society, at least partly because we assume that stupidity is a matter of merit rather than a matter of physical limitation. I am talking about the arbitrary nature of the cutoff that recognizes someone with an IQ of 79 as mentally retarded and not responsible for their actions, but someone with an IQ of 81 as not retarded and therefore responsible, and about the public's relationship to that recognition, and our accompanying assumptions and attitudes.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Maybe there's two broad causes of "stupidity" - Physiological brain damage/pathology and memetic infection

On one hand bad brains, on the other bad ideas.

We feel sorry for someone who has been knocked on the head or born with a defective brain but we feel no empathy for someone who's mind has been infected with pathological memes

Poor downs kid, stupid fucking republican

[Pæs]

I've actually half-started threads on this topic before, failed to explain myself and given up for later.

I feel like the same arbitrary cutoff may be used to determine whether some is responsible for being an asshole, there are people who are totally rude who we understand don't know any better, and others who are similarly rude but seem highly functioning enough that FUCK THAT GUY.

[Cain]

Today on the bus I was seated in front of a simple but charming young woman who was making conversation with her chaperone/coach, and I had the thought that retarded people really can be quite delightful.

Then I thought that it's interesting that we are taught compassion for those who fall below the 80 point line, but those who are just above it we treat with contempt, as though being stupid is a failure of merit, particularly if they break the rules.

Further, we aren't even supposed to acknowledge that such a thing is possible, as if everyone above that 80 point mark has equal inherent intellectual capacity. It's weird. "You are mentally retarded so we must be nice to you, but you, you're just stupid so we can totally make fun of you as cruelly as we wish". It doesn't make any fucking sense.

I can think of a way in which it does.  Sort of.  You have to sequentially order the beliefs however, then it becomes more clear.

Belief 1: Stupid people need to be mocked.
Belief 2: Mocking people whose stupidity results from a disease is a social faux pas.
Belief 3: Those belonging to the group who fall under the second belief are given a free pass, because it is easier than re-examining my assumptions about belief 1.

See?  Sorta makes sense, once you factor in the order beliefs and human psychology.