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Welcome to the Personal Development for Smart People Forums, the place for lively, intelligent discussion of all personal growth issues -- physical, mental, financial, social, emotional, spiritual, and more. You're currently viewing as a guest, which gives you limited read-only access. By joining our free community, you'll be able to post your own messages, access many members-only features, see the new messages posted since your last visit, and of course remove this header message. Registration is fast, simple, and free, so please join today. If you arrived here from a search engine, you may want to explore the main site first, which includes hundreds of deep and insightful articles on a variety of personal development topics. |
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03-19-2008, 09:25 PM
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 Smart people, please read Tonight I decided to make a rant. It's incredibly un-PC, and a little bit rude perhaps, but I need to get it off my chest. Please don't proceed if you take offence easily. Here's something that worries me a bit. I think the stupid people are outbreeding the smart ones. The uneducated, religious folks, third world people -- they're pumping out the babies a gazillion times faster. If the smart people don't have their 2.1 kids, what happens then... a bunch of stupid people living with the inventions of smart people, thinking THEY invented it. I don't flatter myself either - I know very well that I'm stupid. Over time I've become increasingly aware of it. In the grand scheme of things my intellect is tiny, unsignificant, a mere pinprick. Yet so many people I meet are dumber than me. And the scary thing is, they all seem to think they're smart, as if they know what the hell they're doing, or what's going on. Everyone seems to think they're above average, a step ahead of the masses. It's laughable. The majority thinking they belong to an enlightened minority... it's just too bad that's logically impossible. That's partly the attraction of this very website: "Personal Development for Smart People". Ooooo, I'm smart, this totally applies to me, right guys? Wrong actually, you're stupid, and the fact that you're not aware of your own stupidity serves to prove how dumb you really are. Usually that's part of being stupid - not knowing you're stupid. Look at the world. All these wacky two-legged creatures walking around. We're just a bunch of apes, completely adolescent in our path to humanhood. We're still driven by emotions last time I checked, we're like cavemen living in a world of concrete and glass. Sure we've been blessed with a bit of intellect, but that's more like the side sallad, certainly not the main course. Culturally we're still completely backwards. Look at the people we're electing as world leaders. Does an advanced democratic civilization elect a dumbass as their ruler? Did we ever stop to realize that democracy - which means power to the stupid masses - may just be an incredibly flawed system? Argggh, what are we and what the hell are we doing here, honestly? Smart people we need you!!! *rant over*
__________________ Get off your lazy ass and do what you have to do. Last edited by Marco Polo : 03-19-2008 at 09:42 PM.      |
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03-19-2008, 09:42 PM
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 .I can see what you are saying. To me, however, it's all in your perspective. I choose to look at the world as a beautiful place. I am connected to every living being. We all share the same struggles, the same happiness and the same pain. One of my favorite sayings is "there but for the grace of god, go I" and it's helpful. I am privileged to have had a decent education and a fairly stable upbringing. This is more than I can say for a great portion of the world's population. So I have no contempt, only compassion. Underneath it all we are all the same. If we want to see a change in the world we have to be it, share it and nurture it. Listen I am not an idealist, but I believe in perfection and it is here right in front of us.
__________________ I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies. This is the dawning of the rest of our lives. --Green Day The more I see, the less I know, the more I'd like to let it go. --Red Hot Chili Peppers |
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03-19-2008, 09:46 PM
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| wow... That was quite a post.... I'll offer up 1 or 2 points to debate with you. Steve Pavlina set up this website. I would say he is very smart, so is his wife Erin. So at the bare minimum that is 2 people that we can label as intelligent that frequent this site. I've read posts from quite a few other smart people in this forum. I'm not related to Einstein but I think I'm smart enough/intelligent enough that I can guage how smart a person is so I would have to say that there are quite a few of these intelligent "freaks of nature" lurking around this site at this very moment. There are varying levels of intelligence: what some people consider smart, others can consider dumb, it's all based on the point of view. I wouldn't consider myself dumb, I would definitely consider myself as intelligent. But I can also say that I have been very ignorant of alot of things in my life that I'm just starting to discover right now. It's quite possible you're equating ignorance with stupidity, the 2 don't always have to go hand in hand. You can be smart and also be ignorant of certain things - that doesn't make you stupid. |
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03-19-2008, 09:52 PM
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| If you put a dog in front of a blackboard and try teaching it math, you've got yourself a wasted afternoon. Now try putting humans infront of the universe and we've got the same thing. Our neocortex is just so much bigger than theirs. We're actually limited physically, so it's not just that we're "ignorant". I'm not against humankind or anything, I love being human and I'm glad we're alive (I'm not an "angry" guy). I just can't help thinking... we give ourselves way too much credit.
__________________ Get off your lazy ass and do what you have to do. Last edited by Marco Polo : 03-19-2008 at 10:14 PM. |
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03-19-2008, 10:03 PM
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| Nice replies. This is one message board I read more than post because this is the only message board I know of that makes me feel stupid. So, I am afraid to open my mouth here more times than not. I would say I am a thinker. I am student. I am always learning. That could be seen as stupid in some people's eyes, I guess. No one has all the answers and he is a fool if he thinks he does.
__________________ Life Less Distracted: my quest for a life less distracted. |
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03-19-2008, 10:34 PM
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| We’re not all stupid, by definition half of society is above average (well medians and bell distributions aside). Stupid people don't necessarily have stupid children, the brain is a muscle and if it is exercised the child's intelligence will grow beyond their parents. Popular opinion, assuming you're from the US, is that you didn't elect your leader. Not all is lost. Not all is as gloomy as your rant. |
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03-19-2008, 10:55 PM
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| Don't fret, Marco... I looked in God's master plan book and there was nothing in there about everyone being the same whether it be smart or dumb, black or white, motivated or slothlike. Duality makes it possible to know that there is light by experiencing darkness. You are smart. Other people are dumb, therefore they have given you the gift of contrast. As far as the practical concerns related to having more undereducated people in the world vs highly educated, it's ALWAYS been that way. It's just more noticeable now that in America and other developed countries we have shifted to service-based economies instead of economies based on manual labor and manufacturing and we are also now communicating globally on a scale as never before. It makes the differences more glaring even if they aren't more prevalent in reality. Jennifer |
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03-20-2008, 08:01 AM
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| My father actually was born in a third world country, a religious fanatic, and highly uneducated (ironic huh?). I used hate him for that, so I can see what you're saying here (although I may be one of the people you are talking about). The thing is, intelligence isn't everything. He joined the American Navy, working his hands to the bone and being constantly ridiculed and racially degraded, so that his kids (my siblings and I) would have a better education, employment opportunities, and a better upbringing. He realized his flaws and decided to change his environment, enduring loads of pain and suffering so that when he had kids we wouldn't inherent the same flaws that grew on him. He may be dumb as a doorknob at times, but he takes what he has and makes the best of it through whatever means necessary. I'd say it paid off, one of my brothers is now a history professor, and pretty much kicks everyones a$$ at jeopardy. And his kids are smarter than I am... To sum up my ramblings: Not all dumb people breed dumb people. And intelligence is just a slice of the pie aspiring to clarity mentioned that all this is just part of your perspective. From your perspective, a good majority of people are stupid right? This was a pretty interesting read, maybe you'll find it somewhat useful? What Is Intelligence, Anyway? |
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03-20-2008, 01:21 PM
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Kind people we need you!!! |
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03-21-2008, 01:30 AM
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If everyone was totally brilliant, we would create robots capable enough of doing these lesser tasks for us. Society would be much better. We would do the intellectual work and machines would do the crafty work. And eventually we would develop machines as smart as us/more smart than us and they would make us advance beyond imagination. This will all happen, but is being delayed, because there are not sufficient brilliant people around.
__________________ All that matters is results. |
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03-21-2008, 02:56 AM
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Subjective, but interesting. |
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03-21-2008, 04:31 AM
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| While there is certainly an argument to be made that the gen pool gets weaker through smart people getting fewer children than dumb people, I don't think that the effect is large enough to matter. It would take houndreds of years for it to matter. It won't be long (probably in this century) till we can fix any genetical issues through gen therapy. The good part about education is that the parents aren't the only one who can educate the child. We have invented institutions like schools and university to have smarter people educate the children of less intelligent people. Religion is a bit tougher. On the one hand I don't think that it is that bad. There is also a bit of progress in religion to switch to religion that is a bit less dogmatic and has more spiritual elements that aren't in the way of progress. I also think that especially people who don't life in the west will become less religious once their physical and security needs (the lower needs of maslows pyramid) are met and they can turn to the higher needs of the pyramid, which will happen probably in this century. I don't think that creating self cleaning appartment is a problem these days. There just isn't enough demand for it. When you would have to pay a lot for cleaning I think it would take 5-10 years to create the necessary technology. According to the branding thread 3 people labeled me with "intelligent". But the more I read, the more I come to the conclusion that there are people out there who are a lot smarter than me and also that those people are often also struggling. In the end the black swarns determine the future.
__________________ I am always open for feedback on my posts. That might focused on the argument at hand or on my writing style. If your feedback would go offtopic feel free to send me a Personal Message. I don't believe in Beliefs. |
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03-21-2008, 09:03 AM
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| I see this as a symptom of the human race not having any clear goals. It may sound strange, but I think a lot of Americans act dumb simply because there is nothing intelligent / stimulating to work towards. What are the goals of the human race? World peace? Ending starvation? Space travel? Those are the big three that come to mind but we are in regression for each of those. People might act dumb, but I think its just that there aren't systems in place to guide them towards doing anything better.
__________________ Best, Dan Linehan |
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03-22-2008, 03:52 AM
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| You should watch the movie Idiocracy. It's absolutely hilarious (you can find it on youtube I believe). |
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03-22-2008, 01:59 PM
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| +1 for idiocracy. Brilliant movie. You can watch the beginning on YouTube: YouTube - Intro Idiocracy (IN ENGLISH) |
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03-22-2008, 03:03 PM
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| I just think it is incredible that intelligence has evolved at all. If you look at life on this planet at the time of the dinosaurs, you would not find any species as smart as a horse, for instance. Compared to the vast majority of life that has ever existed on this planet, humans are very very intelligent. Right now we live in times of relative peace and prosperity and population explosion. But wars and famines and plagues will (probably) decimate the human population again, and the "fittest" will survive, as they always have. Will intelligence be one of the factors selected for? Probably yes, there seems to be a trend over the last few million years. I think we don't have to worry about short-term trends of "stupid" people out pro-creating the intelligentsia.
__________________ ~Lauxa~ |
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03-24-2008, 08:29 AM
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| You must have seen that movie,i forget exactly what it was called,i think it was called Stupid or Stupidity or something like that. It really did make me feel ashamed for being a human. I agree with you for the most part. I get angry too when i feel like i'm the only person around me who isn't brainwashed and suffering in silent desperation. Or am I??  EDIT: after i posted this i saw other people talking about that Idiocracy movie,but the one i'm talking about isnt that,i know its called either Stupid or Stupidity,so check that out too! Last edited by Rockchick26 : 03-24-2008 at 08:37 AM. |
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03-24-2008, 09:34 AM
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If you take a look at current economic theory and economic indicators, it seems as though the current goal of the human race is to consume the resources of the planet as quickly as possible. |
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03-24-2008, 01:11 PM
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| My thoughts on this is that people think that they are better than average because of public education. The teachers are not allowed to tell someone that they are stupid. They aren't allowed to say anything to a kid that might make them feel inferior or unhappy. Parents are just as bad, and often worse. Then there is my own sick and twisted ideas that smart people marry smart people, stupid people marry stupid people, and that the genetic divide is getting wider. Think about it. If you have an amazing IQ, you are likely very successful. Are you going to marry someone who is also smart and successful? Or the prostitute that is walking the street because she hasn't enough brains/talent to get a better job? How about the walmart clerk? How about the ... Smart people marry smart people, stupid people marry stupid people, the middle marry both ways. "My mamma always says that stupid is as stupid does." |
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03-24-2008, 01:15 PM
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The technology hasn't really gone mainstream because I think currently there is, as you say, little demand. I don't want to play basketball with a robot. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the answer to the world's problems is smart people making new inventions, scientific discoveries etc. The simple fact is that we'd go a very, very long way, if only we made better use of the technology / knowledge that we ALREADY have. For example, all our smart scientists could work hard to discover new medical treatments and cures for 100 diseases. OR, everyone could do commonsensical things like: 1. eat more fruits and vegetables; 2. avoid smoking & excessive alcohol; 3. exercise three or four times a week; 4. apply sunblock before going out in the sun And this is what would lead to massive reductions in the occurrence of lung cancer, heart disease, skin cancer, stroke, colon cancer, COPD and other major killers. That was just one example .... |