I admit I do get worked up over the assumption that people in the past were stupid. It can make people in the present dangerously overconfident.
Only if they think they arenāt stupid themselves. I think everybody, including me, in past and present (and most likely in the future) is stupid.
I mean weāve got more or less the same brain people in the stone ages had and are trying to solve problems in the microcomputing age. Of course weāre going to make mistakes and most ideas we have about the universe or society are probably wrong. And of course weāll repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.
So I donāt think thinking of someone as stupid is bad, just assuming youāre less stupid is.
Sorry I get equally worked up over the assumption that people arenāt stupid.
Is it useful to define āstupidā as the level of intelligence that everybody possesses? Iām not saying it isnāt - maybe thinking āIām stupid and so is everyone elseā really is the appropriate level of humility. But, on the other hand, someone must ultimately make important decisions, so we canāt just say āno one is qualifiedā. With apologies to George Orwell, all people are stupid but some people are less stupid than others. So I think our language should distinguish between the two.
Yes Iād say so. I get where youāre coming from but I donāt think itās an excuse not to make decisions. Quite the opposite in fact.
I think of it like this: if you think youāre smart, you expect to make best choice for every decision. So in tough situations, where there is no ārightā choice, you beat yourself up about not doing better. If you accept youāre stupid, youāre willing to settle for the least wrong and accept failiure.
The same goes for interacting with others. Donāt expect others to make the best choice, as theyāre stupid too, so you might find a better solution. But if you did not find one and they didnāt, well, theyāre stupid, so of course they did not. Canāt blame them really.
Iām no native speaker so perhaps stupid and smart are the wrong words in this context. Perhaps fallible and infallible are better suited.
