Moderation Questions

Hurt people, hurt people - but it takes two of those to create bad situation. They are probably armed to the teeth. Let it go.

The 2025 Ranger XL rwd 4 cyl is like at 33k in Cali and prolly 30 in your state and is going to retain its value and last (engine wise) probably the same as the elantra and (cosmetic wise) a hell of a lot better than your elantra. And it will be worth about 2-3x the value of your elantra in 10-20 years. Those 4 banger trucks will very likely be in high demand + still running when evrerything is ev. Plus we've got **** right now for ev trucks and any change there is going to take a very long time.

I see. Very interesting. So, tell me, how do you know about all these problems the UK is having 18 years after you were last here?

passed it on his 3rd time, while not indicative of him being super smart (nor do i think he is) it's a very different yarn from the one you are spinning and failing it is not at all out of the ordinary

Two words:

Your country's full of track suit garbed chavs. 😡

Unfortunate that you chose the mixed race guy as an example when you could have gone with Hewitt.

Absolutely not

6.5% of the population does not a Muslim country make.

Seems fair enough and your last paragraph acknowledges the crucial role of society. My gripe wasn't that I thought you were really being racist (because I know you're not) but that the definition people have of stupidity is as vague as that of intelligence. But we can agree that if people can be said to be stupid then the median American exemplifies it, though I don't think that has anything to do with religion.

My original point wasn't meant to judge people or cultures on a macro scale, only to say that if I've just met you and I find out you believe in magic sky fairies and other such horseshit, my evaluation of your intelligence instantly hits the floor. Same if you believe in horoscopes, psychics, lucky numbers, and an infinitude of other dumb ****.

Kasparov is famously into numerology, and in particular the number 13. A stupid person?

If you met him without knowing who he was and he went on about his lucky number 13 and then said he likes playing chess, you might give him odds.

Sure, I mean, there are exceptions to every rule. My heuristic is probably >99% reliable.

And if true, I also now think a bit less of Kasparov.

Also, I wouldn't give anyone odds at chess without first seeing them play, even if I think they are denser than a bag of spanners. Dumb people can be really good at chess.

Did you miss the word "becoming" in my post?

(But I did think it was much higher than 6.5%)

That's the problem with using words like "intelligent" and "stupid" to describe people.

I've actually met folks who professed belief in horoscopes*, psychics, and lucky numbers. I've met nobody who confessed believing in "magic sky fairies."

*I'm Sagittarian, and we don't believe in nonsense like astrology.

Thank you!

If I use the word "attractive" to describe a person, that means I find that person attractive. If I use the word "stupid" to describe a person, that means I find that person stupid. The chances are, most others will find also find the same people attractive, and the same people stupid, but my evaluations are never going to match anyone else's exactly. For example, you might think that being good at chess ipso facto makes someone smart, whereas I don't. You might find tattoos on a woman attractive, I don't.

So, I'm not seeing the problem. Do you also have an issue with every other adjective that can be used to express one's subjective judgement of another person, or just this specific one?

This!

Don't know if it's still true, but in the 1990's The Skeptical Inquirer published a survey among members of MENSA that showed that while MENSA members tended to not believe in God, they were more likely than professing Christians to believe in numerology and astrology.

This whole conversation started when I responded to a post from tame deuces saying "smart people can believe dumb things" saying that I think no, believing dumb things actually makes them dumb people. I'm standing by that remark, and it just seems we've come full circle with the discussion.

Despite how you might want to define it the word "stupidity" does have common definitions though, and one is a lack of good judgment. Not sure you could call a world chess champion stupid.

So does attractiveness. And I'm sure there is a woman with tattoos out there that I might find attractive. I'm speaking in generalities, which by necessity means that there will be outliers.

My pleasure!

THE APOSTLES' CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Think of it like a chess eval bar. My eval bar of you might be teetering around the zero mark, and then you say you believe in astrology or numerology or magic sky fairies and boom, you just hung your rook. It's possible to get back from there, but you'd have to do something pretty ****ing amazing.