this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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No Stupid Questions

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To clarify here, I don't feel like I'm significantly smarter than most people, but I feel like people have a hard time doing any sort of thinking about stuff. Especially when it comes to verifying "facts."

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[–] glibg10b@lemmy.ml 67 points 11 months ago (4 children)
[–] BananaTrifleViolin@kbin.social 22 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, "stupid" is not defined around average intelligence. This whole panel is an example of a straw man fallacy to undermine someone saying "people are stupid".

[–] glibg10b@lemmy.ml 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Sure, "stupid" isn't defined around average intelligence, but "people" is defined around the average person. So, by saying "stupid" is not defined around average intelligence, you're really criticizing the phrase "people are stupid"...

...which is exactly what this comic is doing

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 11 points 11 months ago

Saying "people are stupid" is the same as saying "the average person is stupid". What's hard to understand here?

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago

Frankly, that is just a big pile of babble.

but “people” is defined [SIC] around the average person

There's no "definition" here. The closest to what you said that would make some sense would be "but "people" implies a generalisation around the average person", but it doesn't work in your argument because it does not contradict what BananaTrifleViolin said. Nor it justifies your assumption that

by saying “stupid” is not defined around average intelligence, you’re really criticizing the phrase “people are stupid”…


I genuinely think that you did not understand what the other poster said, so I'll repeat it under different words.

The comic has an implicit definition of stupidity as "lower than average intelligence" (see panel 2).

BananaTrifleViolin is highlighting that this is not the definition that people use for "stupid" when they say "people are stupid". And that leads to a fallacy called "straw man", where you misrepresent a position to beat it. Munroe (the cartoonist) is doing this, either by accident or on purpose. (It is not the first time he does this; his comic about free speech also shows the same irrationality.)

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What you're really saying is "other people aren't as smart as me."

I like xkcd but I feel like Munroe is being assumptive here, assuming "your expectations are based on you". Are they?

[–] AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world 20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Agree. When I say "people are stupid" I mean they are living below their potential. The average person may have the intelligence, but consistently refuse to use it.

[–] lvxferre@lemmy.ml 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yeah, I think that this is part of the deal.

When someone says "people are stupid", they usually are not conveying "the average person has a lower-than-average intelligence". And I don't think that they're even comparing people with some point of reference (the average, or themself, or someone else); in the context they're usually criticising some behaviour that they see as stupid. For you this behaviour would be "living below their potential", for me it's "showing blatant lack of reasoning", for @_danny@lemmy.world's (from another comment) "lack of curiosity, drive to learn and critical thinking".

[–] calypsopub@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

This. I don't mind ignorance. The ignorant can always be educated. I mind WILLFUL ignorance. Those who refuse to look at facts or use reason when confronted with something that contradicts their world view. THOSE are the stupid people.

[–] Markimus@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

That’s not how you respond to someone saying “people are stupid.”