Where are all these "stupid people" that supposedly exist?

[ImBigBob]

Yes yes, obvious subject line designed to draw attention. Here's the real thing:

People complain about stupid people all the time. But I almost never meet someone that functionally retarded. I go to work in an office, do my job, come home, watch TV/play games/whatever. If there's a party or meetup going on that I'm interested in, I'll go. Simple as that.

The thing is, I never meet people that I really hate. I see so much complaining online about stupid facebook status updates and stupid conversations with friends, but I never find myself engaging with that type of person. I know that the recent election made a lot of people very confrontational, but not one facebook friend I had posted that kind of reaction. Nobody gloating, nobody complaining.

So why is it that I have some kind of anti-stupid field around me? Yeah, I've met stupid people, especially when I was working retail, but despite how common they are, they're practically a legend to me.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I've known a few, in my day, but not very many. It's usually more of a willful, deliberate ignorance than straight-up literal stupidity. I'd say the vast majority of people are of average intelligence. Which...well...imagine that, right? The average is average.

 

[JoJo]

I don't believe there are huge number of stupid people, rather there are many people who feel insecure about their own intelligence or uniqueness in the world and so dismiss others as stupid with the implication that they themselves aren't, that they're better than the average person. This is particularly common in politics where often the other side is always the side of ignorance who haven't seen the light yet.

 

[Luna]

I see what you mean OP. I see pages I've liked on Facebook, or threads on websites that show facebook statuses and conversations with people that seem incredibly stupid but I hardly encounter these people in real life.

I don't believe there are huge number of stupid people, rather there are many people who feel insecure about their own intelligence or uniqueness in the world and so dismiss others as stupid with the implication that they themselves aren't, that they're better than the average person. This is particularly common in politics where often the other side is always the side of ignorance who haven't seen the light yet.

I think when it comes to people complaining about 'stupid people' then often this can be the case.

 

[Stasisesque]

I don't think I've ever met a stupid person. I've met obnoxious people, pretentious people, vapid, cruel, angry and shallow people but not any stupid people.

 

[Keoul]

Mostly on facebook, which is why I deleted my account.
One chap in my class fills the criteria as well. Let me give you an extract of a conversation between him and the teacher.
"So as you can see there is vegetation the the sand dunes to keep it from washing away
"wait, vegetation, miss?
"yes"
"So there's vegetables on the beach?"

 

[Jason Rayes]

There are definitely stupid people out there. That said, not all stupid words or actions are done by stupid people. Indeed I'm pretty sure most of us have at some point done or said something stupid, which in retrospect we could have avoided if we had just thought things through a little more. So judging whether or not someone is actually stupid or just a regular person having a lapse in judgement, that's a tough call to make

 

[krazykidd]

They are everywhere . In our school , our governement , our workplace , our grocerystores , our gyms , our clubs , hell they might even be you or me ! It's just we don't realise it until we have conversations with these people!

Either that or you are really lucky and i'm going to have to come live where you live .

 

[Ieyke]

They are everywhere . In our school , our governement , our workplace , our grocerystores , our gyms , our clubs , hell they might even be you or me ! It's just we don't realise it until we have conversations with these people!

Either that or you are really lucky and i'm going to have to come live where you live .

^This.

It's a good day when I talk to random people for any extended period of time and don't want to punch most of them in the face.
I tend to deal with very few stupid people by virtue of filtering my interaction with society. I hang out with friends who I know are awesome, or friends of friends because my friends have good taste and are too smart to hang out with morons. I talk to people at Games-Workshop, where I know the kind of people that are drawn to the store are the type of people I get along with (much like the Escapist). I spend my time in places like Wal-Mart having bare minimum human interaction if at all possible.
The last place I worked I hated all but one guy. I literally sat in a room 40 hrs a week listening to the monkeys and meditating on not flipping a desk and giving them a 40 minute long run-down on why they were all morons and their beliefs about everything was a load of ignorant bullshit.

Maybe you just don't live in a Republican state like I do. That would probably help.
I love Texas, but a HUGE proportion of the people here are top notch dipshits.

 

[geK0]

It's all relative I suppose.

 

[White Lightning]

Maybe you're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe the reason you haven't seen/met any stupid people is because... YOU ARE THE STUPID PEOPLE!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

 

[Heronblade]

I just got done "reminding" my suite-mate, for what seems like the hundredth time, that when I'm busy doing statics homework, I need to stay focused, and am not remotely interested in hearing about the random anime episode he just finished watching (not that I express much interest at other times). He will literally stand at the door blathering on, watching me trying to get this work done. If the door is closed and locked, (he generally doesn't bother knocking either), he'll just talk louder. I've politely reasoned with him, yelled at him, stuck on headphones and ignored him, even thrown a few pillows his way. Best I can generally manage is a 30 minute recess before he comes back. I'm about ready to graduate to throwing something a wee bit more solid.

Then there's the other suite mate, who is the champ of his fraternity's drinking team, and gets up to even more stupid shit when sober than drunk, such as randomly threatening to urinate on anime kid's head when the latter goes to sleep.

I'd consider them to be only a little worse than par for the people around here. So yeah, where do you live? Can I move there?

 

[Stasisesque]

Mostly on facebook, which is why I deleted my account.
One chap in my class fills the criteria as well. Let me give you an extract of a conversation between him and the teacher.
"So as you can see there is vegetation the the sand dunes to keep it from washing away
"wait, vegetation, miss?
"yes"
"So there's vegetables on the beach?"

I think this is why I haven't met any stupid people: I wouldn't describe the above misunderstanding as stupidity at all. Not knowing what vegetation means probably applies to a great deal of people, but being able to work out that it is in some way related to plant life applies to far less.

Questioning the meaning of a word means there is something going on in his brain.

 

[Moderated]

In my art class, there is a Freshman. In Highschool. WHO CAN'T DO DIVISION.
No, he doesn't have a mental disability. He is just that stupid.

 

[Aeonknight]

You want stupid people? I advise you start watching "reality TV".

 

[Jfswift]

I think you just have incredible luck and good taste in friends.

 

[EHKOS]

www.youtube.com/comments

there ya go. There has never been a more stupid hive of stupid and retarded.

 

[lacktheknack]

There isn't a such thing as stupid people, just people of a personality you don't like.

Partly true.

While many people in this very thread are clearly mistaking "people I don't like" as "stupid people" (which I personally think is one of the stupider things you can do), there ARE some people out there who are legitimately dumb.

Like the guy at school who told us all that Hitler was right, that he drinks blood, has "accidentally" confessed his love for me (???), stumbles through basic English, and cannot read a blatant social cue to save his life. Everything about him reads as "actually dumb".

But he's one guy. I cannot think of any other legitimately stupid people, because I can actually properly gauge the intelligence of people I don't like.