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Sgt.Major Thistlewaite
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« Reply #75 on: November 06, 2009, 11:59:42 pm » |
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"You can't fix stupid." - Ron "Tater Salad" White, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour
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Yet well thy soul hath brooked the turning tide, with that innate, untaught philosophy,Which, be it wisdom, coldness, or deep pride, is gall and wormwood to an enemy.
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Strepitoso
Deck Hand
 Canada
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« Reply #76 on: November 07, 2009, 12:06:24 am » |
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I'd personally have gone the obvious route of suggesting that their family tree contained a bit too much special relativity.
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Hello, world!
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Wordsmith
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« Reply #77 on: November 08, 2009, 09:45:27 am » |
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Not to play devil's advocate, but elevating intellect based on what you know versus what others do is a dangerous area. I may be able to out wit an American football loving, pick up truck driving, tobacco spitting redneck in areas of history and the arts, but it still doesn't stop me from paying him huge amounts of money to fix my car. People focus on what interests them, for most here that is history, art, literature, etc. I would imagine it only hurts us to criticize others for not sharing our loves and hobbies...in fact, it sounds like we might be guilty of the same actions that we claim bring us so much grief.
Thankyou sir! Thankyou! I have such trouble getting my educated peers to understand this! |
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patron_vectras
Officer
 United States
Student of Architecture; of literature; of life.
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« Reply #78 on: November 08, 2009, 10:15:50 am » |
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Indeed, the acceptance of different areas of expertise completely destroys the usefulness of current IQ tests.
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Keep Running,
Patron Vectras ;]
"Thou shalt not cover thy neighbor’s ox, thy neighbor’s wife, or thy neighbor’s airship" -Cpt. Everett of the Flying Cloud
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Atterton
Immortal
Only The Shadow knows
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« Reply #79 on: November 08, 2009, 01:26:52 pm » |
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Well IQ tests were never meant to show a persons social skills or other such stuff.
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A gentleman does not conga.
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MWBailey
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« Reply #80 on: November 08, 2009, 03:31:25 pm » |
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(Another guy working there thought Tasmania was a US state.
No, Tasmania is in Africa according to my local Post Office You're both wrong. Tasmania is: *drumroll* A cartoon character! I have that on the impeccable authority of my neighbor's 13-year-old son, who also informs me that the earth is obviously actually flat, because "people" are always referring to its "four corners." I wish I could say that he was merely trying to be funny... *sigh* |
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Walk softly and carry a big banjo...
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Atterton
Immortal
Only The Shadow knows
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« Reply #81 on: November 08, 2009, 07:33:52 pm » |
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You´re thinking of the Tasmanian Devil, which is in some Warner Brothers cartoons. The one that spins around like a hurricane.
The four corners of the world does indeed seem to date back to when people thought the world was flat. It´s one of those things that has just stuck with us in the language, similar to the heart being the seat of emotions.
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Quinn
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« Reply #82 on: November 08, 2009, 07:44:45 pm » |
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hehe, Tasmania is an Australian island. sometimes it gets confused with Tanzania in Africa.
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Quinn <a href=http://www.parkersandquinn.com><  /></a> |
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Jonny B. Goode
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« Reply #83 on: November 08, 2009, 08:38:35 pm » |
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Some degree of stupidity - or ignorance - is almost requisite in society. The stupidity actually gives us clues that help us understand our world. For example, you see someone with an eye patch or a parrot on his shoulder. Automatically, you lump them in with your preconceived notions (your ignorance), and call them a pirate. It's the reason most steampunks wear goggles, it's the visual cue that helps the ignorant know what we are supposed to be.
Unfortunately, I personally find that most people take it to extremes and not only refuse to think outside of their little boxes, but prefer the warmth and comfort of them.
I usually dress dieselpunk. But I am constantly annoyed by the common unwashed plebes when I do. When I wear a fedora (especially if it's cold and I opt for a long coat with it), automatically I am "Dick Tracy!" If I go to a fancy place in a Zoot Suit, automatically I am a "pimp." (Which really annoyed me last Halloween when I was dressed as El Pachuco.) Actually, whenever I just use a cane these days, people say "you're a pimp." This Halloween I dressed in a generic 30's-inspired military uniform (which had started off as a uniform from the movie Starship Troopers but then I riffed it to hell and back, lol), and what did I hear? "You're Hitler! You're Hitler!" and the ignorant riffraff started doing bad Basil Fawlty impressions around me. <facepalm>
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Sky Marshal Jonathan Baines "Jonny B." Goode, F.O.S.S.L.
"The Gentleman Soldier"™
Commander, Air Corps Elite for Steel (A.C.E.S.)
Flagship: Hyperion Class I.S.S. Runcible
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RoseOak
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« Reply #84 on: November 08, 2009, 11:58:25 pm » |
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Whenever I'm very drunk) I have a theory that whenever a civilisation sends its warriors off to the farthest parts of the world to seperate two dangerous objects the warriors will obviously end up in the same place.
well that or they end up directly behnd the person who sent them off.
My ancesters were goveners of colonies and entertained kings in their parlours so I'm not sure if I count as common or not
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« Last Edit: November 09, 2009, 12:09:58 am by RoseOak »
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Arceye
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« Reply #85 on: November 09, 2009, 12:18:13 pm » |
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Mechanical ignorance. Few years ago I spent time promoting my electric bike conversion, the idea being that if you had a bicycle in good condition, I would motorise it for you, involving mounting a motor, chain drive, batteries, a simple control system. I was at some event or other with my bike and my promo material when a guy walks up, looks at the bike for five seconds and says 'Oh, I see you've fitted a power module'. I reply 'What do you mean, a power module?' But he's lost interest and wanders off.
'Power Module'? Was this his idea of an explanation to himself of what I was doing?
Then there was the air conditioning engineer who insisted the bike used perpetual motion. I don't think he was joking either. It seemed he knew how to install aircon, without knowing anything else about electricals.
Is the modern tendency to specialise a form of ignorance?
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There is nothing that cannot be made a little worse and sold a little cheaper
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patron_vectras
Officer
United States
Student of Architecture; of literature; of life.
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« Reply #86 on: November 09, 2009, 12:38:24 pm » |
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Arceye, you've reminded me of a special time I was studying in the local public library.
Some time after I settled into place, a fellow comes in and loads up with large books from the law reference section. Later, he receives and answers a phone call. The other end apparently asked what he was doing, and the cove told him or her. He was looking up how to submit a patent, because he wanted to suggest a change from using numerals in the telephone system to using the common alphabet. He expressed wonder at why we bothered using numbers instead, and wanted to know how that was started (or as he probably would say, "where we went wrong").
I can only imagine he put three seconds of thought to it somewhere down the line and abandoned this quest.
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Lucius Voltaic
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« Reply #87 on: November 14, 2009, 10:55:07 am » |
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The four corners of the world does indeed seem to date back to when people thought the world was flat. It´s one of those things that has just stuck with us in the language, similar to the heart being the seat of emotions.
I think it's always been just a figurative thing, as scholars have known the earth was round since antiquity. |
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"The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations."
--General Baron Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord, clearly talking about me.
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Atterton
Immortal
Only The Shadow knows
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« Reply #88 on: November 14, 2009, 01:09:18 pm » |
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Yes, but the commoners have had different ideas.
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Violet Rose
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« Reply #89 on: November 14, 2009, 04:53:49 pm » |
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Still the ignorance of commoners is as nothing compared to the ignorance of royalty most of whom are given a degree just for turning up at Oxbridge, and who probably think that the world naturally smells of drying paint.
It is a credit to Prince Charles that he has tried to overcome the disadvantages of his background.
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I'm in Darkshines sewing swap!
Declaring war on mediocrity and a pox on the foot soldiers of stupidity
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Khet Thelonius Maxwell
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« Reply #90 on: November 14, 2009, 05:29:02 pm » |
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Somehow, while reading this thread, I can't seem to get the movie Idiocracy out of my head. Don't know if you fine folks on the other side of the pond have ever heard of the movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/As for ignorant comments, the worst I've gotten so far about Steampunk is "You need a life" which amuses me to no end and generally they end up backing away before I can stop laughing and explain that this IS my life... |
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Disclaimer: The above post may not necessarily reflect the views of the Poster. Furthermore, the above post should also be taken with a grain of salt. Preferably, many grains.
"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months" ~Oscar Wilde
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Arceye
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« Reply #91 on: November 15, 2009, 12:18:53 am » |
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Today, in Sheffield, a friend and myself were just walking in search of lunch when out from their just parked car step two heavies, one of whom tried to push me out of the way. I looked at him, held my ground and he backed off. I've met this before, people getting out of their cars thinking pedestrians are going to get out of their way- I've seen people open their car doors in people's faces.
'I've got a car, I'm tough me'.
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RoseOak
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« Reply #92 on: November 15, 2009, 12:33:31 am » |
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Today, in Sheffield, a friend and myself were just walking in search of lunch when out from their just parked car step two heavies, one of whom tried to push me out of the way. I looked at him, held my ground and he backed off. I've met this before, people getting out of their cars thinking pedestrians are going to get out of their way- I've seen people open their car doors in people's faces.
'I've got a car, I'm tough me'.
I know what you mean. I don't know your height but I'm only 5ft and its soo annoying when people just think they have the right of way. |
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Sgt.Major Thistlewaite
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« Reply #93 on: November 15, 2009, 01:38:33 am » |
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A solid thrusting kick to the center of the car door, administered when they are exactly halfway out should prove very instructive.
~T
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MinistryOfTruth
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« Reply #94 on: November 15, 2009, 04:19:00 am » |
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Sgt. Major, I wholeheartedly approve of your thoughts on education. As for ignorance (the following is not for the faint hearted, as the extreme level of ignorance shown here is truly shocking): Someone I was at school with believed that the Vietnam War ended "when President Roosevelt dropped the atom bomb on Pearl Harbor". |
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He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.
Perhaps a Lunatic was simply a minority of one...
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GideonFaile
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« Reply #95 on: November 15, 2009, 05:07:47 am » |
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I think I just had a small seizure.
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"Won't you come back again? I miss the sound of footsteps as we danced amidst the stars and the light of a dawn approaching too quickly reflected in our eyes."
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RoseOak
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« Reply #96 on: November 15, 2009, 10:41:03 am » |
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oh dear
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Flynn MacCallister
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« Reply #97 on: November 15, 2009, 11:18:38 am » |
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The four corners of the world does indeed seem to date back to when people thought the world was flat. It´s one of those things that has just stuck with us in the language, similar to the heart being the seat of emotions.
I think it's always been just a figurative thing, as scholars have known the earth was round since antiquity. That has not been continuous knowledge. It is a fact that has been found and lost by verious societies around the world. It is not an idea that has flowed down through Western societies since it was postulated by Greek scholars and proven by Eratosthenes. It may be figurative, but there was certainly a wide belief recently enough that the phrase could arise from a "flat earth" idea. |
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helios
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« Reply #98 on: November 15, 2009, 11:45:29 am » |
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As for ignorance (the following is not for the faint hearted, as the extreme level of ignorance shown here is truly shocking): Someone I was at school with believed that the Vietnam War ended "when President Roosevelt dropped the atom bomb on Pearl Harbor". I do believe my entire right side locked up for a moment there. That certainly is up there on things that are truly ignorant. |
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In smoggiest day, in sooted night no ignorance shall escape my sight. Let those who worship ignorance's might, beware my power... Brass Goggles light! |
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Violet Rose
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« Reply #99 on: November 15, 2009, 01:35:38 pm » |
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It is the "innate" I would disagree with. I think everything is acquired from different ways and for different reasons. Except pathological cases, of course, that I am not discussing here. I do believe that in the right environment (or paradigm) everyone is able to abandon stupidity. Then we would just have to treat ignorance through education which is purely a technical question (and costs a lot of money also...).
Please excuse my very synthetic answers as english is not my native language. I am doing my best, I promise. Merci!
Au contraire! Votre anglais est formidable - mieux de mon (ma?) francais. I understand what you mean - I agree most people's ignorance outstrips their ability to learn |
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