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People: Dumb?

Are people, taken as a whole, unintelligent?

  • Yes

    Votes: 17 60.7%

  • No

    Votes: 9 32.1%

  • Other

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • Total voters
    28
Dav

Dav

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Is the average human being a dolt, or something close to it?
This does have a point to it, just bear with me. For now keep in mind I am talking about permanent conditions, not something like the political landscape.
 
with the exception of mice and dolphins we are smarter than any other living things we are aware of.
 
Better question: Are they smart enough to look out for themselves? Or do they need someone to defend them from themselves?
 
marduc said:
with the exception of mice and dolphins we are smarter than any other living things we are aware of.
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I think the cats would debate that point.
 
Dav said:
Better question: Are they smart enough to look out for themselves? Or do they need someone to defend them from themselves?
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Even better question: If people aren't smart enough to look out for themselves, how can they be smart enough to look out for someone else?
 
Dav said:
Better question: Are they smart enough to look out for themselves? Or do they need someone to defend them from themselves?
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They are smart enough to look out and defend themselves to their own acceptable standards.
 
People are generally smart but they should never make any decisions without consulting me first. I'm good at spotting "wong."

Sometimes great people who are fun to be around just suck at making the right decisions. I shake my head and wonder if they have lost their minds. You put the a/c vents there? You used flat paint on the house? You made that room your office? You bought that car with your bad knees?

Oy.
 
Dav said:
Better question: Are they smart enough to look out for themselves? Or do they need someone to defend them from themselves?
Click to expand...

It seems to me that the ability to see or vision the bigger picture or the perceptiveness of people do vary quite greatly among individuals.

A persons IQ can almost be calculated just by how they live their lives.

The lower the IQ the more individuals live a life more focused on the very basic of human needs and entertainment.

The middle IQ class expands a little from their personal basic needs and has a vision expanding to get involved and help the community be a better place.

The higher class of intelligence are well beyond living a life mainly focused on basic personal needs and entertainment. They are usually compelled to constantly research and learn about every aspect of everything around them.

To answer your question more directly, yes most people lack a bigger vision and live their life basically like sheep in the mainstream america.
These type of people usually don't do much thinking of behind the scenes and just except what they're told and that's it...period...denial and ignorance is bliss...

From that angle people are dumb.
 
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We aren't smart enough to avoid the tragedy of the commons like all other animals face when their species overpopulates. We aren't smart enough to avoid engaging in our trivial tribalistic wars between nations, and egoistic competition.

I think we are comparatively smarter, but we are not smart. The species as a whole is still quite primitive. Sorry for taking the glass is half empty approach, but I can't help it.
 
Dav said:
Is the average human being a dolt, or something close to it?
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I guess it depends on your definition of 'dolt.' The average person can balance a checkbook, drive a car safely, look after their kids, understand directions, and know that they should visit the doctor if that mole on their neck starts to turn strange colors...

So no, I don't think the average human being would qualify as a 'dolt.'

iq-bell-curve.gif
 
Orius said:
We aren't smart enough to avoid the tragedy of the commons like all other animals face when their species overpopulates. We aren't smart enough to avoid engaging in our trivial tribalistic wars between nations, and egoistic competition.

I think we are comparatively smarter, but we are not smart. The species as a whole is still quite primitive. Sorry for taking the glass is half empty approach, but I can't help it.
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I think that greed and obsession can infect people no matter what their intelligence level may be.
 
Orius said:
We aren't smart enough to avoid engaging in our trivial tribalistic wars between nations, and egoistic competition.
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Healthy competition is what keeps all species strong. No??

young_bucks_470x353.jpg
 
celticlord said:
I think the cats would debate that point.
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As would the majority of humans. Just goes to show how vastly superior a mouse's intellect is in comparison to ours, they have pulled a brilliant snow job on us.

Tucker Case said:
We are so far behind the mice, though, it's scary.
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That it is, we are so naive.
 
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I think the need to start a poll like this should make it pretty clear.. lmao
 
Kali said:
I think the need to start a poll like this should make it pretty clear.. lmao
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Well, I hear people complaining about it all the time, I just wanted to see if they really meant it, and for those who did, whether it implies a certain mindset connected with other ideas. If that makes any sense.
 
We have created complex civilizations based in complex orderly societies, we are creating manned explorations to space, we have figured a way to communicate with other people on different parts of the world in real time, we have created machinery to take us to other continents within hours, we have created complex weapons with the potential to destroy and contaminate countries, we have found a way of curing what was once deadly dieases, we can grow human ears on mouses, we can trace blood lines thousands of years back using complex forensic science, we have created means of talking to people in any part of the world and we have created machines that are faster, and stronger, and more accurate then our own bodies or minds.

And you ask me if people in general are dumb? I can name certain groups of people, but mankind as a whole? Not at all.
 
kaya'08 said:
We have created complex civilizations based in complex orderly societies, we are creating manned explorations to space, we have figured a way to communicate with other people on different parts of the world in real time, we have created machinery to take us to other continents within hours, we have created complex weapons with the potential to destroy and contaminate countries, we have found a way of curing what was once deadly dieases, we can grow human ears on mouses, we can trace blood lines thousands of years back using complex forensic science, we have created means of talking to people in any part of the world and we have created machines that are faster, and stronger, and more accurate then our own bodies or minds.

And you ask me if people in general are dumb? I can name certain groups of people, but mankind as a whole? Not at all.
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Well... all of the things you listed above were discovered, created, or figured out by about 0.0001% of the population. The remaining 99.9999% simple tag along for the ride.

;)
 
Grateful Heart said:
Well... all of the things you listed above were discovered, created, or figured out by about 0.0001% of the population. The remaining 99.9999% simple tag along for the ride.

;)
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Lol i see what you mean but i still refuse to think mankind is dumb, or anything close to it. :mrgreen:
 
If this turns into an allegory about socialism I swear to god im going to flip my ****

On the off chance it's not, then yes, I think the average human is probably a moron.

An IQ of 100 is bad. Like, really bad. That's 880-on-the-SAT bad. That's miss-all-the-jokes-and-stare-blankly bad.

Can a person like that hold down a job, be a good person, have a great family, and live a happy life? Of course, but I wouldn't consider that evidence of intelligence.
 
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RightinNYC said:
If this turns into an allegory about socialism I swear to god im going to flip my ****

On the off chance it's not, then yes, I think the average human is probably a moron.

An IQ of 100 is bad. Like, really bad. That's 880-on-the-SAT bad. That's miss-all-the-jokes-and-stare-blankly bad.

Can a person like that hold down a job, be a good person, have a great family, and live a happy life? Of course, but I wouldn't consider that evidence of intelligence.
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AS George Carlin said, "Just think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize half of them are even stupider!"
 
Everyone does dumb things every so often.However you need more than just pure intelligence to be happy or successful.For instance being very intelligent can act as a disadvantage in say investing in the stock market.I remember reading a study that showed people with who considered themselves very intelligent would hold on to unsuccessful shares much longer, and as result lost more money than those who didnt because they had the frame of mind that they where always right.
 
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