On Dec 5, 2007, at 8:46 PM, Julia Thompson wrote: > On Wed, 5 Dec 2007, Warren Ockrassa wrote: > >> If you're thinking of "stupid" as meaning "inclined to mental >> laziness", >> I'd probably agree, but my personal working definition of "stupid" is >> (more or less) "totally incapable of comprehending something". I >> don't >> believe the concepts are equivalent, and I don't believe most >> people fit >> that definition of stupid. > > I have several categories for people who don't have given > information or > knowledge: > > 1) Ignorant (but probably willing to learn, or at least not > rejecting the > information) > > 2) Willfully ignorant (actively rejecting the information) > > 3) Stupid > > Ignorance can be "cured" with information. Stupidity can't. Willful > ignorance is the worst, IMO. Brittle dogmatism leads to willful > ignorance > in a number of cases, hence is a very negative thing.
I like the categories. Willful ignorance is inarguably the worst. Stubbornness in general is frustrating, but when it's combined with wealth and/or power, and particularly with willful ignorance, the combination is much more than annoying; it can be actively, aggressively dangerous. For instance, CNN reported today that Bush was told back in August that Iran had dismantled its nuke program -- yet he continued pushing the panic button and beating the war drum, *exactly as he did with Iraq*. And yet no one is commenting on the obvious inability he has to either (1) learn from history; or (2) give a shit.* Of course it goes both ways -- Huckabee's rising in popularity despite the fact he's clearly an even more deranged, fundamentalist wacko than Bush. Despite the last seven ghastly years, there are people in the US who want even *more* of this kind of garbage. And no, you can't fix stupid. ;) == * Either choice works, and of course it doesn't have to be either/or. -- Warren Ockrassa Blog | http://indigestible.nightwares.com/ Books | http://books.nightwares.com/ Web | http://www.nightwares.com/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
