Are Most People Dumb?

[bust]

My ex has an IQ of 161 but does some pretty stupid things.

[playtheblues]

Yes, it's a simple question.

 

Lacking in common sense. Stupid. Idiots.

 

Do you have a family member who is stupid?

 

Do you have conversations with people and you immediately say to yourself "This person is an idiot".

 

And not to get too personal. Are some on this board lacking in intelligence?

 

Are most people dumb?

 

What about yourself?

[Bangkoktraveler]

Is a dumb ass the same as being dumb?

[playtheblues]

"most people aren't bright"

 

OK, I am willing to back off regarding the number of very bright and very talented people. Exceptional talent is - by definition - very rare. Let me tell you a story, though.

 

Anybody interested in music has probably heard about the "astonishing" (New York Times) Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela and its equally sensational conductor genius Gustavo Dudamel. It's an absolutely incredible talented group of musicians, their concerts all over the world being sold out many months in advance.

 

Now, many of these young musicians, trained by a music-education institution founded in 1975, are recruited from the slum dwellings of the Venezuelan cities, some even have a criminal background. One of those youngsters, bass player Edicson Ruiz was recruited by the Berlin Philharmonic - the world's finest orchestra - at the age of 17, being the BPOs youngest member ever. He was previously a rock fan but discovered that classical music "is more fun".

 

How can such a transformation be possible?

 

My first reflection on this phenomenon was the one of my previous posting: there is a lot of talent out there.

 

But thinking about it, 200 or so extremely talented and extremely disciplined and hardworking young musicians among millions of others are not that many. BUT, nonetheless and this is my point, they can be found everywhere, regardless of class and other social circumstances. Given the opportunity, their talent can be developed into world class performance.

 

The Thai prevalent view of lower class people is as you know the opposite. No talent can be found among those people and they should never be given any chance of development.

[playtheblues]

Posting above was in response to Faustian.

[Faustian]

Nice post, but is talent intelligence...I'd say it is more a skill, which can be honed and refined. Some do have gifts, in usually one skill, but as you say, this is rare.

 

Example; David Beckham...talented footballer....intelligent? No way!

 

Agreeing with you and returning to my previous post, I think most people can achieve a degree of competency in one area, such as a physical skill, but that isn't intelligence. Psychologists generally favour a definition of intelligence that leans towards conceptual and/or abstract thought.

 

What does that mean in practice? Well, it is the ability to view a stimulus from several points of view, assessing it, appreciating it, understanding it and making it internalised and connected to a myriad of other concepts. Finally, utilising it and producing something new and original.

 

An example....most people adhere to tenets or rules of conduct, because most people are leaderless sheep. They wont think for themselves, analyse, assess and interpret, they want to be led. This isn't some pack mentality in effect, this is because they simply don't know how to do it...it isn't there! With this are genetic precursors and environmental experiences (education, parents, peer groups and societal norms). Mix that all in a pot and what have you got? Not a terribly enthralling mess. Such mindless behaviour can be seen all around us, in such fine instances as religion, which plugs into the void most people are burdened with perfectly....

 

If you are interested, try reading about the 9 types of intelligence, which is generally agreed upon nowadays. It is quite revealing.

[Torneyboy]

I think we all say and do things that are dumb ...all part of growing up ..imo

[bust]

Example; David Beckham...talented footballer....intelligent? No way!

And when he's got his slapper with him it's dumb and dumber

[Guest lazyphil]

why is she a slapper, did she sleep around alot?....proof?...i dont think she was like that. she was however brighter than alot who took advantage of situations and make lots of money and marry a nice guy. darwins law applys with people like this whether you like it or not.

[playtheblues]

It's probably useful to distinguish, as you do, between intelligence and talent, but I would not reduce musical or other artistic talent to just skill. Football talent yes, but talent in music - the most abstract and "spiritual' of all arts - requires an extraordinarily high mindset and the ability to recreate refined and noble aesthetic form. I can imagine that musical and maybe other sorts of artistic talent is related to some form of spatial intelligence.

 

Nobody would be surprised to see a Latino slum guy become a great football player, but you would not expect him to become a world class interpreter of the greatest of Western musical geniuses and exhibit the corresponding refined taste. This is exactly what makes the Venezuelan experience so extraordinarily.

 

I don't think that a Thai hi-so member would raise an eyebrow if some Isaan guy became a Thai-boxing champion - sports is in fact the domain where the lower classes are "allowed" to excel - but the elite would think that the world has turned upside down - and also become worried - if a new Bernstein or Horowitz appeared from the rice fields.

 

Not to mention a new Einstein. Your definition of intelligence is probably correct. Remains to define what we exactly mean by being "bright".