Calling people stupid

[paints]

Every time I hear someone say someone is stupid, or their idea is stupid, I think of my dad.

One of his pet peeves was using the word stupid.

He'd say, "Were you born knowing what you know?  Nobody is stupid.  Ignorant, yes. Stupid, no."

[aggie49]

i do not believe in calling people names it was done to me when i was younger but i choose not to get mad but to prove i am better

[haimsterette]

I think it can be a very hurtful and unnecessary word. Calling anyone any kind of name is not okay, and stupid is particularly bad to me for whatever reason. Insulting someone's looks or intelligence is just low.

[JediJohnnie]

Yeah, I agree. I also agree that there is no such thing as a "stupid question". If you knew the answer, you wouldn't ask the question. So how can it be a "stupid question"?

[fjaz1]

Yes people are STUPID!  They are the ones who refuse to learn and make things better for themselves and put others at risk.  For example people who text while driving are STUPID!  Stupid has many contexts and just so you know here is a quick definition of it:
                              stu·pid


/ˈst(y)o͞opəd/


adjective

adjective: stupid; comparative adjective: stupider; superlative adjective: stupidest



1.


lacking intelligence or common sense.
"I was stupid enough to think she was perfect"


synonyms: unintelligent, ignorant, dense, foolish, dull-witted, slow, simpleminded, vacuous, vapid, idiotic, imbecilic, imbecile, obtuse, doltish; More

So sorry to say many people are STUPID, get over it

[mrrangerrick]

It's never nice to say anyone (or anything) is stupid.

[Bigpar31]

So hard to be humble in this world  Be nice be kind.

[moon29]

i dont think any idea is stupid maybe misused or not a complete idea but not stupid i would have to agree with your dad.

[kingozzy]

That is a good statement, very true, but stupid is as stupid does according to forest gump!

[countrygirl12]

Every time I hear someone say someone is stupid, or their idea is stupid, I think of my dad.

One of his pet peeves was using the word stupid.

He'd say, "Were you born knowing what you know?  Nobody is stupid.  Ignorant, yes. Stupid, no."

Obviously you have not been in public lately.  Yes, people are stupid.  Maybe with a lot of them it is an act because it gets them out of working or having to do anything.  But if you "act" stupid then you deserve to be called stupid.

[lvstephanie]

It is ignorant to claim that no one is stupid, although the number of people lacking intelligence or incapable of rational thought is much lower than the number of people that are called "stupid" by their ignoramus bullies.

Seriously, though, there are many terms that modern usage has blurred the actual definitions to the point that now they are used interchangeably:

Stupidity is the actual lack of intelligence or lacking the capacity to learn. It is actually similar if definition as retarded (another misused term) except that retarded is actually a delay in normal growth. So a mentally retarded person may not be entirely stupid if they are able to learn albeit at a slower pace than someone with "normal" cognitive skills. Additionally, normal people can actually have acute stupidity where they cannot learn at that particular moment; a person witnessing a horrible act (eg a *bleep* murder) may mentally shut down for a few minutes as the body's coping mechanism.

Ignorant is not having the knowledge of something. It may be because the person is actually stupid or retarded, but much more often it is just because the person didn't take the time to learn or acquire the information on something. An ignoramus has an added connotation in that the person's ignorance is willful (or displays feigned ignorance); a person may be ignorant because they were never provided with the information necessary to make the correct decision whereas an ignoramus chooses not to learn specific knowledge in order to use their ignorance as a defense.

A fool is someone that acts without using common sense or wisdom. They may know about something and know what that something means, but still acts in the "wrong" way. For example, a person hears on the news (hence the person is not an ignorant) that it is likely to rain. Even though they know that if it does rain, they will get wet when they're outside (hence, not stupid), they still go outside without an umbrella and do end up getting wet (thus the person is a fool).

[paints]

Every time I hear someone say someone is stupid, or their idea is stupid, I think of my dad.

One of his pet peeves was using the word stupid.

He'd say, "Were you born knowing what you know?  Nobody is stupid.  Ignorant, yes. Stupid, no."

Obviously you have not been in public lately.  Yes, people are stupid.  Maybe with a lot of them it is an act because it gets them out of working or having to do anything.  But if you "act" stupid then you deserve to be called stupid.

So how does calling them stupid make it better?
Do they actually learn anything by being called stupid?
Does it make them do their job better?

Or does it just cause resentment, so that next time they don't know how to do something, they won't ask for help?

[paints]

It is ignorant to claim that no one is stupid, although the number of people lacking intelligence or incapable of rational thought is much lower than the number of people that are called "stupid" by their ignoramus bullies.

Seriously, though, there are many terms that modern usage has blurred the actual definitions to the point that now they are used interchangeably:

Stupidity is the actual lack of intelligence or lacking the capacity to learn. It is actually similar if definition as retarded (another misused term) except that retarded is actually a delay in normal growth. So a mentally retarded person may not be entirely stupid if they are able to learn albeit at a slower pace than someone with "normal" cognitive skills. Additionally, normal people can actually have acute stupidity where they cannot learn at that particular moment; a person witnessing a horrible act (eg a *bleep* murder) may mentally shut down for a few minutes as the body's coping mechanism.

Ignorant is not having the knowledge of something. It may be because the person is actually stupid or retarded, but much more often it is just because the person didn't take the time to learn or acquire the information on something. An ignoramus has an added connotation in that the person's ignorance is willful (or displays feigned ignorance); a person may be ignorant because they were never provided with the information necessary to make the correct decision whereas an ignoramus chooses not to learn specific knowledge in order to use their ignorance as a defense.

A fool is someone that acts without using common sense or wisdom. They may know about something and know what that something means, but still acts in the "wrong" way. For example, a person hears on the news (hence the person is not an ignorant) that it is likely to rain. Even though they know that if it does rain, they will get wet when they're outside (hence, not stupid), they still go outside without an umbrella and do end up getting wet (thus the person is a fool).

I think that was the whole point of my dads objection to the word.
There are very few truly stupid people.

Most people are capable of learning, if someone will take the time to teach them. 

[bowrunner]

Whenever I do something wrong I call myself "stupid" as that seems to me to be what I am.  I very seldom call other people stupid excepting some of our leaders.

[clickers]

Since common sense is not common, many people can be called stupid, on that basis alone.