Why are there so many stupid people?

What is stupid? I know a publican who basically got lucky and sold his pub at the right time. Thick as two planks of wood but he didn’t over think the offer he got. I know another publican who was offered Millions, wanted more and died a pauper. He had way more intelligence (that wasn’t hard to be fair) but maybe this tripped him up and the thicko kept things simple and had a better life as a result.

I find that myself , sometimes over thinking things can trip me up. I can be awfully stupid , borderline self destructive when things are going really well, but I know Im not always stupid. Accepting you can be stupid at times is the first part of being less stupid.

The wisest things I do on boards (I’m not on any other media platforms) is when I step away from toxic threads. Particularly ones like Ukraine/Russia and the COVID ones where you get armies of thick headed bullies abusing people and acting like moral authorities on the topics. I feel stupid when I engage these people because I Think they are just ignorant , misguided morons, but I’m worse for engaging.

As I read before, the reason stupid people are so good at arguing their cases is because they have a lifetime of cultivating , defending and protecting their stupidity. Similar to a strongly held viewpoint that a person can’t discuss without attacking those questioning it, In this case, a lot of people on boards are just emotionally entrenched in a viewpoint they can’t have challenged. So what happens is they attack the poster challanging a view rather then the point being made.

Are we becoming more stupid as a species? I think it’s more we think too much of ourselves and spend more time talking about our issues but doing little to actually work on fixing them. It’s like the issues are out there somewhere else and it’s somebody else’s responsibility to sort them out.

I’ve no faith in humanity. Collectively we are morons. Most educated people accept we are the greatest threat to our selves and will probably be the human race undoing. For the all the remarkable things invetented and ways we have of co existing, if we End ourselves and possibly every living being on the planet , how can we be anything but morons?

Most human conflicts exist in our heads. Racism, xenophobia, actual land borders, skin colour, ideology’s etc, these aren’t actual real tangible issues, they are invented by humans. Like money doesn’t exist , except in our heads. But we fight over made up stuff (not just religion) because we are apes who stand up and then we love to marvel at how great we are as a species and completely ignore things we need to address.

The values of society are a load of sh*te. There’s no sense or self reflection , no pause to analyse, there’s only one view versus another. Those on the fence or asking questions (not acting like they know it all) are basically enemies of the groups who are absolutely certain in their cause/beliefs. If it’s true that A wise man knows he knows nothing, there’s very few wise people on boards or social media platforms 😂

We have so much potential but can’t even agree on how to secure peace and survival for our species. I think we all have our stupid blind spots. That’s partially why I’ve always wanted to be able to build a house with a moat, lots of land in between and pull up a drawbridge to leave the crazy and chaos of the world to itself.

The wisest things I do on boards (I’m not on any other media platforms) is when I step away from toxic threads. Particularly ones like Ukraine/Russia

Like the thread you started which said that the war in Ukraine was all the West's fault? 🙄

joe40

I don't think there are neccesarily more stupid peole around, just more people who just think they're smarter than everyone else.

We have a few on this forum.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214695#Comment_119214695

I started a thread titled “did the USA play a significantly negative role in events leading to the Ukraine crisis?” In the conspiracy forum. And a load of posters attacked me, presumed my motives and spoke more about what bracket they wanted to put me in then the information or links provided. I asked the question that more clued in scholars discussed and many of you lacked the capacity for discussion and made it hostile , ultimately closing down the thread.

But thanks for lieing about me “blaming the west” and proving my point.

bluedex

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214782#Comment_119214782

Not "more" just lots! They were probably always there.

Take a look at any comments section on Journal.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119207388#Comment_119207388

Modest means doesn’t equate with lack of intelligence. The most intelligent person I ever worked with was the attendant who had left school because of circumstance aged 11. Brilliant man, could solve any problem, make any complex calculation in his head. The go-to person.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215105#Comment_119215105

There was another gentleman who, while working age 11 lost his arm.

He went on to become an important figure in Royal Mail. Can't think of his name off the top of my head.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119207694#Comment_119207694

Liveline gets its share of people short of a few points in the common sense department.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215147#Comment_119215147

UNDERSTATEMENT

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215147#Comment_119215147

Liveline gives those people a mandate and an opportunity to express their opinion. Same with social media.

Dave McWilliamd talked about the rise of text messaging in the early 2000s. Radio shows started reading text messages and now White Van Man had a mandate. White van man was shorthand for something approximating working class, lower education and not particularly politically engaged, but he had opinions like everyone and now he had a forum to express those opinions.

Social media does the same thing for even more people and it has affected things like elections. In the past, the politically engaged needed to read newspapers and keep up with current events. Now someone can follow the news in tweets and Facebook form. And those platforms make their money my making it as polarised and simplistic as possible.

People aren't any smarter or stupider compared to previous generations. But the methods people have to express themselves are different. Everyone is encouraged to think they have all the information needed to form a strong opinion on any issue you care to mention.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214927#Comment_119214927

LOL, you are being "economical with the truth" to say the least there. Or to be more succinct, Fake News.

The original title of the thread you started was “war in Ukraine is primarily USA fault”. The mods edited your title because of its blatant bias, and now you play the innocent.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058237179/did-the-usa-play-a-significantly-negative-role-in-events-leading-to-ukraine-invasion

Substack ffs

Bobblehats

I’ve actually no problem with the folk pretending to be stupid, it’s the ones that think the are clever is a huge issue for us. Personally I’m one of those that can’t be bothered they say the

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119214782#Comment_119214782

That’s it I’ve actually no problem with the clever folk opting to having fun it’s the shunned folk running riot with their dainty little fingertips, driving us into the ground. Basement should never have been recognised as a platform, but then how low can you go

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215490#Comment_119215490

I edited the title (that was my disclosure) not the mods and I explained in the thread why I did it, stop making crap up because you can’t accept you were completely wrong about me and my motives for the post. Now if you can’t even get a that right about me, imagine what else you might be wrong about!

Again thank you for just confirming what I’m saying. You are incapable of judging information as it’s presented and focus on the poster. You have imagined “facts” on my motives and act hostile under the presumption that I’ve my own hidden motives.

BalcombeSt4

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058250363/why-are-there-so-many-stupid-people

The educational system is a system of indoctrination, they turn children with minds of their own with all sorts of questions about the world, into obedient adults who conform to the rules & regulations of state power.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215830#Comment_119215830

You're the one who brought up toxic Ukraine/Russia threads. I was just pointing out that you yourself started a rather provocative Ukraine/Russia thread. Be the change you want to see, and all that.

I didn't know that you edited the title yourself, it just says last edited by Big Bag of Chips, so fair play for that at least.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215920#Comment_119215920

94% of primary schools controlled by churches is hardly a system intended to promote free and independent thought.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215920#Comment_119215920

Precisely.

"State power" then keeps them distracted with divide&conquer, bread&circuses etc. The plebs will argue with each other, but ultimately nearly always bend over for authority in the end.

They set the system up well, to be fair 😄

jmayo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215137#Comment_119215137

I can think of another man that went to work at 9, lost his arm at 11 and went on to lead a social/political movement, write books and work as journalist.

Funnily enough he also worked in a British post office for a while.

Oh and he was from Mayo.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119211690#Comment_119211690

This reminds me of a recent incident.

Had to go to driving license centre for dirving license renewal.

There was sign on door about only accepting cards and no cash.

There were further signs in each of the booths.

They were hard to miss.

Young fellow in booth in front of me goes through the process and then proceeds to whip out cash.

The lady tells him no cash.

He keeps saying he doesn't have a card, but only cash and can she not take the cash.

It was like his brain just could not understand the NO CASH and worse still he didn't appear to notice all the very obvious signs around the place.

I was left wondering if this lad someday will just completely ignore a road traffic sign that is plain for everyone to see and cause mayhem.

BattleCorp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119216852#Comment_119216852

I totally accept your point about the signage etc.

But what happens to people who don't have bank cards? Is having a bank card now a requirement for having a driving licence? Doubt there's anything to that effect written into legislation. There should be some accommodation made for people who don't have bank cards.........and yes, I know it's a rarity these days but such people do exist.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119215969#Comment_119215969

It wasnt a toxic thread , it was made toxic by people who didn’t want to discuss the topic, they wanted to discuss what they imagined my motives were for making the thread.

I made a mistake with that post. I wasn’t looking for drama, just discussion. Again you presume something I wasn’t doing so there’s no point in going round in circles.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119216354#Comment_119216354

Nature abhors a vacuum. The world without religion will end up a world with some other corrupted institution that people follow. Religion is but a conduit for man’s instinct for control and manipulation. As is politics, financial systems, ideologies and pretty much anything invented by man.

I am curious to see what laws of unintended consequences bring up after the age of religion. I find the presumption of no religion equating to better rather perplexing, especially as very intelligent people can take this prophetic position.

Presumption is the Mother of all f*ck ups.

macraignil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119216864#Comment_119216864

Curious about this question myself as well as I noticed the issue in a recent holiday with loads of businesses in London advertising that they did not accept cash. I think I remember there being some sort of explanation for cash being "legal tender" when I was in Business studies class doing the junior certificate. Am I remembering the legal situation incorectly or is it now changed and is fine for businesses to say you need to use a bank card for payments and give your bank whatever they want to charge you for organising the electronic transaction? Seems even worse if it is something like getting a driving licence which is a legal requirement for something some people need to do to continue to live and work in this country.

Capt'n Midnight

mikemac2

Complain about government interference and big brother and ID cards despite most of Europe requiring you to present yourself to the town hall and register with the commune each time you move address.

Meanwhile give photos of yourself, your children and everyone you know to social media companies.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119216923#Comment_119216923

"just asking questions" aka "JAQing off" 🙄

Religion is and always has been a coercive undemocratic system of control over the populace, humanity started moving on from that bullshít in 1789. We have a tricolour which is supposed to mean republicanism, which is incompatible with religion.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119217873#Comment_119217873

and meanwhile unthinkingly give every single piece of data about everything you do on the internet to Apple and/or Google 🙄

edit: and what's much worse, allow those companies to track their phones and therefore them, everywhere they physically go.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119218455#Comment_119218455

I think any sort of support of something is open to assimilation, corruption and coercion.

Why are the Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine ? Is it because they love Vlad or is there some sort of misguided idealistic attachment to mother russia? Putin doesn’t ask then to fight for him, it’s for russia, if he didn’t need to make up a story about it being best for Russia he wouldn’t bother wrapping his lie in a story about protecting Russia.

I don’t see religion as any different to other things used to wage wars or atrocities, it’s just a different medium used. One difference is that there is actually some good rules that in principle we are supposed to follow (and many do follow). For all the bad said about religion there are good things that the average person practises. I think the religion of capitalism (at the church of money) has few redeemable qualities that lend itself to a potentially kinder world, but I digress.

Personally I would rather see religion improved and re-packaged (if possible of course). It’s far harder to do that , much easier to burn it all down and that’s what we do, while learning little in the process.

I think we probably already have it’s replacement insidiously building it’s way into our lives while all the focus is on the supposed all evil religion. In 100 years people will ask how we were so stupid to think just getting rid of religion wouldn’t lead to something else and how we were so blind to its replacement.

People don’t change. Paedophiles , tyrants and corrupted immoral people don’t just disappear with no religion, they just move somewhere else to control people.

Democracy is at its purest for people with the most money. If I’m a billionaire, will my vote and support get more doors opened for me ? Can I buy my freedom if I brake the law? If I have for example a paedophie ring an I more likely to get away with it? Will I have more clout to bend the will of Irish people and legislation to my will? Of course I will, but while we have China and even Russia as “well it could be worse” examples, the democracy we enjoy can be a play thing for the real people in power while we imagine we are in control while voting for either tweedle dum or tweedle dee.

Sure look at the Irish banks “donning the green jersey” engaging in share price manipulation of banks and the bank bailout. If anybody did what the banks did, including laundering money for drug cartels in USA , they’d be locked up. If I owe the bank 20,000 they will hound me to the ends or the earth , if I owe them 20 billion , it would be written off quicker. Capitalism for the poor , socialism for the rich.

Our Democracy is not pure, it’s very much corrupted badly but we are used to it so go along with it. It’s better that worse systems and many countries , but it’s no different to comparing a mass murderer to somebody who only kills when it suits them.

In terms of freedom of thought , is there such a thing? Can a person actually think independently if they are absolute on subjects they can’t verify and are relying on external sources for information? Somebody telling you their “facts” is by default going to paint a picture that’s slightly bias and it’s influencing you by default. The only way to truly try to attain a more objective view is to consider all angles and all views, but society today instead takes absolute sides so it learns little.

Then there’s this idea that “I think this based on that, so it’s my thought”. Is it though?. I’m proud to be Irish cause of that thing. Why? Why does it matter you are from this island? Why has that value ? It doesn’t have value because you were born and instinctively decided that being Irish has value. So that’s not your freedom of thought, that’s a value groomed into you and adopted.

Its why I live philosophy in my older years. You can deconstruct everything you thought was true and find out interesting things about yourself. I enjoy trying to work out why things are such or why I might think a certain way. More out of interest to figure out what actually drives us personally and collectively.

We are manipulated everyday of our lives. We support things and take views on things we probably don’t even understand why. I regularly write long posts even though I know people aren’t arsed reading my ramblings but I can feel compelled to try to articulate what I’m thinking. It’s just who I am but it’s quite often misinterpreted in these forums as something else.

TLDR: I think the crusade to abolish religion is misguided, I’d prefer to fix it and don’t see peoples nationalistic tendencies as overly different. Blind support of something that only exists in our head , driven by sentiment , was bred into us (ireland exists only in our head, like borders) and something people will kill and do awful things to protect this idea.

Most people are stupid to a large degree, even those who perform smart rolls in society are often stupid on many subjects.

Why is this ?

Well it takes lots of effort to really think about a thing and often when you have thought about a thing you will discover that you were wrong about it in the first place. All that effort and ego disappointment are powerful disincentives. On top of this, policy formers don't want intelligent informed citizens because they are harder to manipulate into agreeing to policies which on close examination are counter to the interests of the citizens who will be impacted.

Also we are essentially lacking in free will, most of our behaviours are preprogrammed by our genetics, our society and our environment. In real life we have very little freedom to actually decide anything for ourselves. Most of what we think of as our choices are actually post hoc justifications for what we just did - stories we tell ourselves to justify our behaviours. It takes immense will to act out our considered thoughts - so most people simple trundle along on the same tracks of behaviour they have always followed - its easier.

It is my opinion that, with rare exceptions, most people choose to be stupid and could be otherwise.

Why does anybody in a military force do anything?

Because they were ordered to, and can be imprisoned or maybe even shot if they don't obey. Duh.