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Topic: Is stupidity taught? (Read 21585 times)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #51 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
You comment on papers you haven't read, regarding subjects upon which you show yourself to be ignorant;

Don't be ridiculous. It doesn't help your position.
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
Please tell me how the Chinese and Indians were "instructed"!

They weren't. As you aren't.

I understand your effort on your thread's topic - stupidity, but please, you don't need to exaggerate.
Feel free to be a bit less on topic... :)
A matter of attitude.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #52 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
I don't know what Rush said. But I do know —pretty well— that neither Conan nor his writers were aware that H2O is the chemical formula for one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, which comprise a molecule of water.

As president of The Harvard Lampoon while attending Harvard University, let me guess that Conan knows about the composition of water. He might not know off the top of his head what the composition of formic acid is. Or what the formula of sn-Glycero-3-phosphocholine 1:1 cadmium chloride adduct is. I don't. But water? Really!

Let me be quick to add that I'm no fan of late night shows.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #53 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
I don't know what Rush said. But I do know —pretty well— that neither Conan nor his writers were aware that H2O is the chemical formula for one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, which comprise a molecule of water.
I appreciate that you prefer history (albeit, not objective history… :) ) and literature grads to scientists… :) (Please don't be so silly as to think I'm criticizing Conan… Although, if you want to be that stupid: Be my guest!)
Conan has an audience, and a bullpen of writers — and they, most of them, toe the Liberal (Progressive?) line: They disagree with some people; hence, anything can be attributed to those people — in order to (1.) get a laugh and (2.) to perpetuate the "dumb" conservative meme. That's where they'll go: They know their audience.
Academia has gone far in that direction, too.

Did Faulkner know much about organic chemistry? (Was his use of children as characters in his novels important in determining his expertise on environmental issues?)

What I'd point out (…apparently, I need to make the point so explicit that even the tone-deaf can hear the music!) is that there's a Liberal mind-set which allows (not to say requires!) any conservative view to be skewered, by whatever means available.
If it's "made-up" (i.e., false; a lie…) that doesn't matter. As long as people have been "taught" to respond appropriately, that's enough: And that's what we have.
People laugh when Conan mentions Rush Limbaugh — who has a "problem" with so-called homophobia — well, that's enough for the "joke" to resonate. But the mind-set needs to be assumed. Rush is homophobic; so, Conan's audience knows that the lamest of jokes that lambastes Limbaugh -even though Limbaugh said nothing like that- for connecting CAGW with homophobia is — funny!
And it is…
Yet the mind-set remains hidden, to those who hold it.
CAGW is also a tenet of Libralism; hence, Limbaugh must also be anti-gay if he disputes CAGW. QED (Liberal edition).

Humor is, of course (…you doubt it?) situational, something that exists in the mind-set of generations, ours and our predecessors, our progenitors…
Who have made our pre-conceptions, I ask?

But I'd prefer to talk about science. What has happened to our most reasonable and rational means of understanding the world we live in, when people are taught to ridicule those with whom we disagree?
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #54 –
Oakdale. but what about the stupid shit Rush himself says that as often as not turns to flat out untrue? You talk about toeing the liberal line, but what about the reactionary one - I'm loath to even call people like Rush conservative since they're not actually conserving anything.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #55 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
CAGW is also a tenet of Libralism; hence, Limbaugh must also be anti-gay if he disputes CAGW. QED (Liberal edition)

Or the fact that he has made blatantly homophobic statements. Doesn't occur to you that conservatives also have similar mindset. If a person is pro-equal marriage, he must also be in favor high taxes and massive regulation. You've actually done that to me many times and thus accused me of having positions I never once espoused. This is a stunning lack of self-awareness on your part. 

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #57 –
Quote from: Jimbro3738 on
That's quintessential OakdaleFTL.

I'd say it's quintessential Republican. They claim to deplore PC, but than cry when you make a Rush joke based on his past racist, sexist, homophobic statements. This thread just provides that one example of a type of political correctness of the Right. In their minds, it's fine to say what you want about the LGBT, etc. But when you offer a retort, they scream "PC!" at the top of their lungs and even go so far as to say they're being silenced despite the fact they remain free to say what they want.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #58 –
Quote from: Midnight Raccoon on
I'd say it's quintessential Republican.
Of course you would! :)
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #60 –
Quote
Julia Reda, a member of the European parliament, is sounding the alarm on new copyright legislation under development. She says the European Commission is considering copyright protection for hyperlinking. Reda says, "This idea flies in the face of both existing interpretation and spirit of the law as well as common sense. Each weblink would become a legal landmine and would allow press publishers to hold every single actor on the Internet liable." Under this scheme, simply linking to copyrighted material would be legally considered "providing access," and thus require explicit permission of the rightsholder. Reda warns that it could lead to legal expenses for anyone who shares links (read: everybody), and ultimately the fragmentation of the internet.
(from Slashdot…)
Link to Reda's site.

If it isn't taught, it's certainly pursued persistently by bureaucracies…
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #61 –
Do the commissioners and the "copyright zombies" mentioned in the article not understand how many users would not even be aware of sites if they weren't linked to in some. In most cases, you want the free publicity even if the link isn't paid for. It's in everybody's interest to not pursue this legislation. The second post of the link the article offered by Oakdale offers technical solutions for publishers that don't wish their content shared. Don't allow other sites to plagiarize your content , but not allowing or making it difficult to do so betrays an ignorance of internet publicity and of the web in general. I would recommend to the commissioners find non-myopic backers.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #62 –
I'm naked on the street. But you shall not share pictures of me. Be warned.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #63 –
Wold we like to see our posts on other forums as if posted by someone else?
A matter of attitude.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #64 –
Yet another PSA (public service announcement… i.e., government-approved propaganda): America is probably the richest country in the world! But one in five six people are (sometimes) "food challenged". The tag line seems to be, We're rich — so nobody should go hungry!
Should those of us who are well-off round up the mentally defective and "chemically" deranged, and force-feed them?
BUT! What about the children?! Perhaps the early Progressives were onto something: Don't let the mentally defective and "chemically" deranged procreate… :)

Folks: Nobody in the U.S. needs go hungry… We all know this; you, over-seas know it too. Yet our government seems to want to convince us otherwise. Why?
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #65 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
Should those of us who are well-off round up the mentally defective and "chemically" deranged, and force-feed them?

I can't be bothered to watch a video, let alone one with Ben Affleck, but you're making it sound as if one in six are anorexic or something. :P

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #67 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
Folks: Nobody in the U.S. needs go hungry… We all know this; you, over-seas know it too.

Oakdale gets high again...
I suppose with Mexican hallucinogenic mushrooms. Wonders from the Baja California...
A matter of attitude.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #68 –
Actually, Bel, I remember the '60s! Mescaline was a reasonable substitute… (Better living through chemistry! :) ) And -of course- the marvelous LSD. But anyone with a lick of sense soon gives up on "expanded consciousness" — which, as Leary said, is only a prompt to "Turn on, tune in, and drop out!"
(Last I heard, his head was still being preserved — like anyone would need that! :) )
————————————————————————
I'm a little foggy on the order of that trio of imperatives: It might have been "Tune in, turn on, and drop out"… Leary was a mystic, and you know how they are!

What, I'd ask, is the reason the Portuguese have "dropped out"? :) My guess: ennui…
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #69 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
But anyone with a lick of sense soon gives up on "expanded consciousness"

There's no wiser words.

Funny that I've just downloaded recently the complete discography of The Doors (of perception... :) )
(LA Woman being the first rock'n'roll record I had.)

There's not too many people these days still knowing about the counterculture of the 1960s, the Beatnik generation and so on.
As the French says, les beaux esprits se rencontrent.

Even in a thread about... stupidity. :)
A matter of attitude.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #70 –
Quote from: Belfrager on
As the French says, les beaux esprits se rencontrent.
Ah, but did they say it before Voltaire did? :)
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #72 –
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
Ah, but did they say it before Voltaire did?  :)

before is a nice question by an American... ask the English, ask the French, ask the Spanish... three diferent answers for the same question, before you. :)
A matter of attitude.

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #73 –
Okay: I think I've figured out why Howie is so pissed…! And why so many "Europeans" are…

They don't understand "after you"…
进行 ...
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility." - James Thurber
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts!" - Richard Feynman
 (iBook G4 - Panther | Mac mini i5 - El Capitan)

Re: Is stupidity taught?

Reply #74 –
No one has pacience for the American traumas. A problem for the English to deal with.
A matter of attitude.