Thread: Are people stupid or am I getting old?

Originally Posted by welshwizard

It's more a case of the car owner who hears the unusual noise from under his car and has no idea what a muffler is or does, or the computer user who has no idea that there is such a thing as a server.
Believe it or not, there are people out there who cannot connect the act of sexual intercourse with the resulting pregnancy.

Tonight I have a meeting with eight successful business owners to discuss a website I'm developing for a charity they're all involved with.
At our last meeting, I had to explain to them what a webserver is, and why there are hosting expenses involved with websites.

Perhaps tonight, I will inform them that they are all stupid.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Like someone else said, give these idiots time to grow up some and find their way. I am sure many of you were "idiots" when you were young.

I was not an idiot when I was growing up, just my mom and dad were. I am amazed at how smart they have become now that twenty plus years have gone by and I'm married with children.

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Some people are better at some things than others. I am very proficient in IT, but I had to pay someone a nice chunk of change today to replace my muffler.

Am I stupid because I could not replace the old rusted out muffler? Is the mechanic an idiot because he does not know how to setup an apache server?

People really need to get over themselves. Just because someone does not meet the arbitrary standards you set for them does not mean they are a lesser person.

Like someone else said, give these idiots time to grow up some and find their way. I am sure many of you were "idiots" when you were young.


RE: Young people not being proficient in history,etc.. Blame the current generation of geniuses in charge that decided proficiency tests are more important than actual learning and teaching.

There's a substantial difference between people not understanding things that are not in their field as in your example, and people who quite simply are incapable of logical thought. In my ops with the fire service we have all sorts of people. Some very capable in all manner of fields, others quite specialised in what they do. It can take us years to get the kids who join to the point where they understand that their actions have both immediate and longer term consequences. My wife's studies in jouvanile psychology tell her (and then me ... over and over) that most human brains are incapable of understanding causality until they're around 25. I was schooled in consequencial thinking at a much earlier age by particular circumstances in my life, so I tend to not understand how teens can be so blind and self absorbed simply because I never really was one (mentally that is, of course I didn't jump from 12 to 25yrs old).
As for the general population ... let's look at it like this. Who in our society breeds the most? Is it the high achievers, the best and brightest? No. It's very ordinary people through to those for whom welfare is considered a birth right. We allow the dumb to breed with the lazy and then pay them to sit on their backsides and breed some more all in the name of "personal liberty".

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

Am I stupid because I could not replace the old rusted out muffler? Is the mechanic an idiot because he does not know how to setup an apache server?

With the role computers play in cars today he probably can set up an apache server

I'm only 22 - I know what you mean. Obviously there are some references I don't always get simply because they were before my time. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that my generation just generally doesn't respond to anything that doesn't involve sex or alcohol (take for reference the music and movies most of "us" like).

When I was young and even today I like to be around my parents and relative for the stories, etc. so I'm familiar with a lot. I find it frustrating not being able to talk with most of my friends who are my age about so many things because they just aren't familiar with anything that isn't Will Farrell or Lil' Wayne. I mean... I have friends who haven't seen JAWS... c'mon, I was quoting Roy Scheider since I was 6

we're gona need a bigger razor

Originally Posted by tekbow

we're gona need a bigger razor

That actually made me snort out loud.

Originally Posted by HNSB

Tonight I have a meeting with eight successful business owners to discuss a website I'm developing for a charity they're all involved with.
At our last meeting, I had to explain to them what a webserver is, and why there are hosting expenses involved with websites.

Perhaps tonight, I will inform them that they are all stupid.

Webserver?

I'm 18 and have been saying that I'm a member of the stupidest generation yet. What is the worst part is (IMHO) is that it seems like no one is willing to work for anything anymore, they want it right now, and they want it without having to work for it. I tutored a kid last semester who was a junior in high school, he couldn't tell me who Benjamin Franklin or George Washington were. When I finally made him tell me he said that "I don't know Franklin did something during the Civil War and didn't that George washington guy like design money of something." I could have cried (I'm a history major in the fall) I couldn't help but ask if being that ignorant came naturally or he had to work at it. I've all but given up on my generation.

Originally Posted by ats200

I'm only 22 - I know what you mean. Obviously there are some references I don't always get simply because they were before my time. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that my generation just generally doesn't respond to anything that doesn't involve sex or alcohol (take for reference the music and movies most of "us" like).

When I was young and even today I like to be around my parents and relative for the stories, etc. so I'm familiar with a lot. I find it frustrating not being able to talk with most of my friends who are my age about so many things because they just aren't familiar with anything that isn't Will Farrell or Lil' Wayne. I mean... I have friends who haven't seen JAWS... c'mon, I was quoting Roy Scheider since I was 6

At one of my jobs I work with roughly 15 high school and college age kids. Most of them think I'm crazy because I know who Humphrey Bogart, Carry Grant, and Dean Martin are. Many have never heard of John Wayne. It drives me nuts, I grew up with McLintock and El Dorado being my favorite movies. Hell I've been quoting Full Metal Jacket since the sixth grade and many of my peers (I'm 18) don't even know what that movie is.