Why do we celebrate stupidity?

Started by sunjester, 10 October 2018, 02:33:23 PM

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d_Guy

Quote from: Dr Dave on 10 October 2018, 04:07:10 PM
It is hard to get past the likely situation that 1/2 the population are of below average intelligence.

It may be worse than you think since that distribution is based on a 2018 psychometric mean. If the same data is applied to a 1948 mean it is more like 3/4 below!

Of course, since the iOS 12 update (along with associated apps) I have now slipped into the lowest quartile.
Sleep with clean hands ...

Dr Dave

A month or so ago there was a lady on Radio 4's Today program being interviewed about her idea that voting rights should be based on intelligence.

Exactly how this was to be implemented, and for what elections, she had no idea.

paulr

Quote from: sunjester on 11 October 2018, 01:28:44 PM
That's what comes of posting to the forum on my phone. Bloody new technology with ****ing predictive text (which can only spell in American). I'll stick to my old fashioned computer in future.

I wasn't getting at you Sunjester, it just fitted with the pedantry of the rest of my post ;)
Lord Lensman of Wellington
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FierceKitty

Quote from: Dr Dave on 11 October 2018, 07:40:10 PM
A month or so ago there was a lady on Radio 4's Today program being interviewed about her idea that voting rights should be based on intelligence.

Exactly how this was to be implemented, and for what elections, she had no idea.

Attractive idea, but I've never found a reliable definition of what the term actually means.
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Ithoriel

Intelligence (noun) - a measure of the amount by which a persons views and beliefs coincide with those of the speaker. ;)
There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

FierceKitty

Fair enough, but as a criterion for the franchise?
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Ithoriel

Well, clearly, I should interview everyone in the country and decide who gets to vote :D
There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

Raider4

Quote from: Ithoriel on 12 October 2018, 01:42:51 PM
Intelligence (noun) - a measure of the amount by which a persons views and beliefs coincide with those of the speaker. ;)

Reminds me of:

Patriotism - The belief that one's country is the best in the world, simply because one was born there.


FierceKitty

Patriotism: last refuge of a scoundrel.
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Leman

That sums up Mel Gibson pretty well.
The artist formerly known as Dour Puritan!

steve_holmes_11

Quote from: Raider4 on 10 October 2018, 05:29:52 PM
And seemingly walk around glued to the screen a foot in front of their eyes, rather than their surroundings. Hopefully Darwin-ism will weed these out of the gene pool.


Unfortunately not, because it's to widespread to possibly be an inherited trait.

steve_holmes_11

Quote from: sunjester on 10 October 2018, 02:33:23 PM
By "stupid" I am not referring to  the occasional charming idiocentric eccentricities displayed by the members of this fine forum (Yes Nobby, that includes you).

Warning: Middle-Ages rant coming here.....

I know the cult of "celebrity" has been around for a while now, feting worthless morons who are a waste of water and oxygen, just because they proved themselves to be a complete **** on Chelsea's Big Brother's Essex Real Wife or some such dross.

But the latest advert from Barclays Bank really pissed me off last night. A diphead woman on the bus thinks she has lost her credit card, so places a temporary freeze on it using the wonderful new app (and how long before that stops working properly?), only to unfreeze it 2 seconds later when she looks in her other pocket and finds the card. Well, thank you Barclays, now you are encouraging every half-witted arsehole to knee-jerk into panic every time they can't be arsed to take 10 seconds to check something properly, because it's OK, if you screw it up you can unscrew it straight away. Or perhaps that is just the only type of customer Barclays can attract?

....rant over.

Thank you gentlemen, that feels better.

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Fools and their money....

Wulf

Quote from: fsn on 10 October 2018, 03:05:59 PM
My particular gripe is contactless payment. First we had a card. Then a card with a magnetic strip. Then a card with a chip and PIN so that naughty people couldn't just use your card ... and then contactless... which means anyone can use your card if they find it on the street.
And be very VERY careful where you stand in a queue... A woman in a sandwich shop in front of me paid for someone else's sandwiches while preparing her own card for payment...