# Assholes, the jealous, and mediocretins. Cemetary Savior, spoke-, Fessie, Treis, etc **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591 "2005-05-12T19:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/221 "2005-05-13T16:41:19Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > While that’s true (and is why I qualified the word “intelligent” with “academically”), I think it’s a semantic quibble: it’s pretty clear to me that most people in these threads have been referring specifically to book-larnin smarts, not to people-skills. Okay, we’re in agreement then. This was my long-winded way of agreeing with the poster ( **Tries**?) who said that it’s not being smart that gets you beat up so much as it is being a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/222 "2005-05-13T16:43:53Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > it’s not being smart that gets you beat up so much as it is being a jerk. Hardly. Being “different” is what gets you beat up. ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/223 "2005-05-13T16:46:46Z")
> [@Cemetery Savior](#): > > Good Morning… I didn’t mean to pile on, I was cracking wise. In the future, I’ll be sure to let sleeping dogs lie. . . Understood; that’s why I used the phrase “could be taken as an after-the-fact pile on”. \* I \* didn’t think you intended piling on, but it was apparent to me from subsequent posts that more than a few people did. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. In a written medium you’re bound to lose the nuances of expression and gesture, so self-deprecating humor can come off as self-aggrandizement and jokes can get lost in interpretation. Don’t let that stifle your own sense of humor; after all, it’s the Pit - if we can’t laugh in here, we’re all doomed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Genghis\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/45deac/32.png) [@Genghis\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genghis_Bob)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/224 "2005-05-13T16:51:26Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Hardly. Being “different” is what gets you beat up. That’s not been my experience, but I’m willing to concede that it has been other’s. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/225 "2005-05-13T17:05:14Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > Understood; that’s why I used the phrase “could be taken as an after-the-fact pile on”. \* I \* didn’t think you intended piling on, but it was apparent to me from subsequent posts that more than a few people did. > > For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. In a written medium you’re bound to lose the nuances of expression and gesture, so self-deprecating humor can come off as self-aggrandizement and jokes can get lost in interpretation. Don’t let that stifle your own sense of humor; after all, it’s the Pit - if we can’t laugh in here, we’re all doomed. 🙂 Y’know, that’s a really good point about the written medium vis-a-vis self-depracating humor. I’m going to remember that one. I guess that’s what the smilies are for. Maybe Finn Again’s entire initial post was an exercise in self-depracating humor. I may have read him all wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/226 "2005-05-13T17:07:04Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > That’s not been my experience, but I’m willing to concede that it has been other’s. Look at it this way: jerks don’t get beat up as long as they keep their jerkiness confined to when they’re around like-minded jerks. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/227 "2005-05-13T18:14:57Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > That’s pretty much my take on it too, **Ellis Dee**. On re-reading, I can see how \*\*Cemetary Savior’s \*\* next-day joke could be take as an after-the-fact pile on. But **FinnAgain’s** subsequent posts just went off the outrage-o-meter; it’s hard to generate any sympathy for someone who goes nucular so quickly. Again, this is just a slimey position. I didn’t ‘go neuclear’, I made a somehwat confrontational post to CS. Then I had **Spoke-** call me a braggart. That’s a direct insult, and I responded accordingly. Why you and Treis find it important to ignore that detail, I don’t know. Maybe you two can make up a list where everybody is dancing and eating candy and the big bad Finn comes in and wrecks house. That’d be a much more accurate time line, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/228 "2005-05-13T18:22:03Z")
> [@stretch](#): > > Unintentional irony is still irony, **FinnAgain**. Only if the circumstances are right. In order for it to have been ironic, yet again, I’d have to have been bragging. I wasn’t. Therefore… it wasn’t ironic. It was a statement of fact, and that some parents might have valid concerns. > [@stretch](#): > > Also, I really don’t get this thing of yours with calling people cowards. I don’t see anyone acting cowardly–I see people not accepting the motives you are assigning them, just as you refuse to accept the notion that your post was ironic. That doesn’t make them cowards. Refusing to engage you would be cowardly–disagreeing with you is not. No… what’s cowardly is to do things like create a perfect syllogism, and then deny that you implied anything by it. What’s cowardly is to call me a braggart, and then say ‘oh ,I was only joking!’. What’s cowardly is to go over the record of events as treis and ghengis evidently have done, and change the truth so that it fits with a particular agenda. But of course, **spoke-** politely explained some stuff to me, and then I went on an unprovoked rampage and destroyed three entire villages. ~shrugs~ I’ll still call a lie a lie, and deception deception. If someone crafts a complete syllogism, and then refuses to admit that they’re saying what they’re clearly saying, there are two possibilities. They’re an idiot, or they’re a liar. Maybe I should just start assuming that some people are painfully dumb? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/229 "2005-05-13T18:39:24Z")
> [@Genghis Bob](#): > > Maybe. Sometimes. In some places. It’s not universal, though - at least, not to the extent that \*\*FinnAgain \*\* seems to insist it is. You’re not doin’ real well here. Treis’ lilttle ol’ list which has **spoke-** simply ‘explaining’ to me what my problem was and me going nuts as a result, you think that’s fine. And then you somehow read what I’ve poitned out, what, a dozen times, is a _personal anecdoe_, applies to some great extent? Are you kidding me? > [@Genghis Bob](#): > > Egregious use of polysyllabic words, an air of superiority - these things mark you as a jerk, and you get unwanted negative attention. “Egregious use of polysyllabic words?” What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Egregious? It means that if anybody has a vocabulary that they’re conformatable with that includes ‘big words’, they’re going to get harassed and hassled. But I’m glad that you think that’s just fine. Moreoever, an air of superiority is not enough to get you in trouble in high school. Football team members at my school were always superior, for instance. No, I’d wager it’s not superiority, but intellectual superiority which pisses people off. We don’t get upset when the quarterback acts as if he’s a better sports player than you. But we do when the genius acts like he’s smarter than you. (Not saying that I did, merely making a point). With this being the case, is it really any wonder that America has continually been dumbing itself down? And simply as a side note, someone who’s smarter than you, well, is smarter than you. Should they have to hide it with false modesty, or can they, like the athlete, be proud of their gifts? > [@Genghis Bob (bolding mine)](#): > > I know some very smart High School-aged kids who happen not to do that. They don’t dumb themselves down, **but they also try not to make other kids feel dumb by using words the other kids won’t know.** Don’t you get it?!?! This is exactly the price people pay for their false modesty, and exactly the reason behind it. If a smart person should use their intellect, say, by knowing lots of big-scary-words, then they’re “making other people feel dumb.” This is **exactly** why I believe the word jealousy can be applied quite often to this situation. And by the way, yes, purposefully speaking in a vernacular which is not your own so that people who aren’t as intellgient are you won’t jump your shit… that’s dumbing down. Athletes don’t have to pretend to be cripples so as not to make other students feel less athletic. Smart people have to pretend to be less smart in order for (some) stupid people not to get their feelings hurt. This is not a good thing, and it’s part of why we’ve got a culture of anti-intellectualism right now. > [@Genghis Bob (bolding mine)](#): > > It seems to me that a smart kid who displays his brilliance to the **detriment of a less-endowed kid** is acting just as aggressively as the physical bully. How exactly can someone do that? Other than going up to someone and saying “I’m smarter than you!” What, shoudl displays of intellgence simply be banned? If you can solve a math problem in your head, you are instead required to fake that it took you five minutes on scratch paper? Displaying brilliance is not a crime! But a fear of doing so is, yep, you guessed it, anti-intellectualism. > [@Genghis Bob](#): > > It’s jerk behavior to let someone else know they don’t measure up, either by action or omission on your part. Bullshit. If by the natural exercise of my mind someone else is made to feel inferior, they can go fuck themself. Mediocretins indeed. > [@Genghis Bob](#): > > “Intelligence” equates to more than just IQ or book learning. \*Emotional Intelligence \* counts too - truly smart people can make anyone feel comfortable around them without compromising themselves. EQ and IQ aren’t the same thing, and how many 13 year olds have fully developed EQ’s anyways? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/230 "2005-05-13T18:52:56Z")
> [@treis](#): > > 😃 If this is you trying to be civil oh boy I can’t imagine what you trying to be an ass is like. I offered you the chance to put down the swords and let bygones be bygones, you refused. And then, yes, I pointed out that you’re wrong. This is the Dope, and the Pit for fuck’s sake. If pointing out that you’re wrong is now a breach of civility, looks liek Great Debates will be finished within the week. By the way, very brave of you yet again to have a post full of insults (yes yes, that’re just your ‘opinion’), and then tell me I’m being an ass because I, horror of horrors, said that you’re wrong. Please accept my apology. Really. > [@treis](#): > > Part of her post was about parents bragging about kids. THE OTHER PART WAS PARENTS WHO BRAG ABOUT THEMSELVES THROUGH THEIR KIDS. Which is exactly what you intentionally or unintentionally did. Nope. You can’t brag unintentionally. People can think you were bragging, but if they’re too stubborn and pig headed to stop thinking that once you’ve corrected them, whose fault is it? Again spunky, nature or nurture generally ends up giving smart parents smart kids. It’s not a brag, it’s science. This is the Dope for Og’s sake, step away from the ignorance, slowly… > [@treis](#): > > Jesus for someone who claims to be smart you’re pretty freaking dense. Yeah, because I won’t accept that notion that I was, um, untintentionally bragging? Bragging which is…totally volitional? So a totaly volitional action was completed…unintentionally? Sorry, but no. What you should really say is that **you read it** as bragging, and you’ll squirm and equivocate rather than admit you read it wrong. Nope, I wasn’t ‘unintentionally’ puffing myself up. I was just relating an anecdote. Wanna drop being wilfully ignorant, or do you wanna try for another whopper? Maybe you can claim that I was subconsciously bragging? Channeling the ghost of a dead braggart? Under the control of alien mind-control-rays from the plannet brag? See, becauze I wasn’t bragging, and no ammount of pretzeling on your part will make that false. You can read it however you want, that doesn’t mean I was unintentionally doing the thing you accused me of. Oh, and, by the way, are you going to act like a victim and crow about how horrible I am if I note that you’re an asshole for calling me dense, especially since you’re wrong? Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/231 "2005-05-13T19:08:21Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > I’ll still call a lie a lie, and deception deception. If someone crafts a complete syllogism, and then refuses to admit that they’re saying what they’re clearly saying, there are two possibilities. They’re an idiot, or they’re a liar. Maybe I should just start assuming that some people are painfully dumb? Okay, work through this one for me: > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Part of my point was not just that kids who are (or are perceived) to be sorta intelligent get shit, but that the more intelligent you are, the more shit you get. I was fairly intelligent in high school, and I’d like to think I’m still above average. Yet I got very little to no shit based on my intelligence. Now by the syllogism you created in the second point I quoted, I should have gotten a lot of shit. Yet I didn’t. So, if I’m reading your words correctly, either you’re an idiot, or a liar. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/232 "2005-05-13T19:08:30Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > What you should really say is that **you read it** as bragging, and you’ll squirm and equivocate rather than admit you read it wrong. Nope, I wasn’t ‘unintentionally’ puffing myself up. I was just relating an anecdote. Wanna drop being wilfully ignorant, or do you wanna try for another whopper? Maybe you can claim that I was subconsciously bragging? Channeling the ghost of a dead braggart? Under the control of alien mind-control-rays from the plannet brag? Okay, _now_ you’re being funny. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/233 "2005-05-13T19:10:36Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Okay, work through this one for me: > > I was fairly intelligent in high school, and I’d like to think I’m still above average. Yet I got very little to no shit based on my intelligence. > > Now by the syllogism you created in the second point I quoted, I should have gotten a lot of shit Only if your fellow students were aware of your intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/234 "2005-05-13T19:18:26Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > I was fairly intelligent in high school, and I’d like to think I’m still above average. Yet I got very little to no shit based on my intelligence. But not none at all. > [@Sauron](#): > > Now by the syllogism you created in the second point I quoted, I should have gotten a lot of shit. Assuming you were some stratospheric genius, then yes, you should’ve. But you just said that wasn’t the case. Moreoever, as other posters have pointed out, you can still get shit for being different but ameliorate the effects with certain social skills. > [@Sauron](#): > > Yet I didn’t. So, if I’m reading your words correctly, either you’re an idiot, or a liar. Right? If you were, then yes. But you’re not. Difference, difference in-and-of-itself, is cause for notice and mockery in many highschools. Will there be exceptions and ameliorating circumstances, yes, there will. But that doesn’t change the dynamic. Nice nitpick, by the way. Oh, and, there’s a difference between insulting a poster while claiming total ignorance, and making a statement about social dynamics. Yes yes, you can nitpick and point out that Treis’ point was about a social dynamic, but it was a direct claim that intelligence does not pose a problem, and that only being an asshole does. Your attempt to make that equal to a formulation about how difference is regarded in high school is somewhat lacking. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/235 "2005-05-13T19:20:55Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Okay, _now_ you’re being funny. 🙂 Not on purpose, I swear! Oh, wait, no… that’s on purpose. Never mind 😃 ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/236 "2005-05-13T19:29:55Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > I offered you the chance to put down the swords and let bygones be bygones, you refused. And then, yes, I pointed out that you’re wrong. This is the Dope, and the Pit for fuck’s sake. If pointing out that you’re wrong is now a breach of civility, looks liek Great Debates will be finished within the week. 😃 This is too funny. You have off the top of my head called me an asshole, coward, liar, a fucking moron, loud mouthed and ignorant. That my friend is what caused your actions to be uncivil not disagreeing with me. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > By the way, very brave of you yet again to have a post full of insults (yes yes, that’re just your ‘opinion’), and then tell me I’m being an ass because I, horror of horrors, said that you’re wrong. Please accept my apology. Really. What apology are you talking about? If you are referring to this: > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Ya know what Treis, life’s too short for this. If you want to just chalk this up to a misunderstanding and let the past be the past, then I’ll be happy to drop this. If you want to fight some more, I guess I’ll still be here. That is not an apology. An apology would have to start with “I am sorry for overreacting and calling you an asshole, a coward, a liar, a fucking moron, loud mouthed and ignorant.” > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Nope. > You can’t brag unintentionally. > People can think you were bragging, but if they’re too stubborn and pig headed to stop thinking that once you’ve corrected them, whose fault is it? No but you can post something that has a meaning that you didn’t intend. Look at what I wrote: > [@treis](#): > > THE OTHER PART WAS PARENTS WHO BRAG ABOUT THEMSELVES THROUGH THEIR KIDS. Which is exactly what you intentionally or unintentionally did. If you just meant to relate an anecdote about your test scores then in that post you unintentionally bragged in almost the exact way the OP pitted parents for doing. If thats not what you meant to do fine, I don’t really care but the fact remains that your post was ironic despite your intended goal. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Again spunky, nature or nurture generally ends up giving smart parents smart kids. It’s not a brag, it’s science. This is the Dope for Og’s sake, step away from the ignorance, slowly. Look you could have just as easily said, “You know some of the parents concerns are valid. Smart parents generally have smart children and it is hard for them to socialize in school.” Instead you said (paraphrasing) “You know I had high test scores and graduated early from high school and its rough growing up smart.” Can’t you see how that can be read as bragging? You brought up irrelevant information in your test scores in the exact same way the OP was pitting parents for. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Yeah, because I won’t accept that notion that I was, um, untintentionally bragging? Bragging which is…totally volitional? So a totaly volitional action was completed…unintentionally? Sorry, but no. No slugger try and comprehend this. You brought up information in a way that can be interpreted as bragging. Either you intentionally did this in which case you were bragging or you did it unintentionally in which case you might not have meant to be bragging but your statements can still be interpreted as such. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > What you should really say is that **you read it** as bragging, and you’ll squirm and equivocate rather than admit you read it wrong. Nope, I wasn’t ‘unintentionally’ puffing myself up. I was just relating an anecdote. Wanna drop being wilfully ignorant, or do you wanna try for another whopper? Maybe you can claim that I was subconsciously bragging? Channeling the ghost of a dead braggart? Under the control of alien mind-control-rays from the plannet brag? I didn’t read it as anything of the sort and I more or less completely missed the joke until this pit thread. Quit trying to put words in my mouth or ideas in my head that I have not expressed. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > See, becauze I wasn’t bragging, and no ammount of pretzeling on your part will make that false. You can read it however you want, that doesn’t mean I was unintentionally doing the thing you accused me of. I don’t know how to make this any clearer. Your post can easily be read as bragging in the exact same fashion as what the OP was pitting. If it wasn’t your intent to brag than _gasp_ this happened unintentionally. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Yes yes, you can nitpick and point out that Treis’ point was about a social dynamic, but it was a direct claim that intelligence does not pose a problem, and that only being an asshole does. Your attempt to make that equal to a formulation about how difference is regarded in high school is somewhat lacking. I never said it wasn’t a problem. Please go ahead and try to comprehend my statement and if you need clarification or want me to expand on it try to ask without calling me a fucking moron, ass hole, loud mouth or a coward please. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/237 "2005-05-13T20:04:14Z")
Ya know what? Here’s a third attempt and an offer to put down the guns and put this to bed. This’ll be the last one. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/238 "2005-05-13T20:12:41Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > But not none at all. Actually, I was trying to be vague, because I was sure I’d remember some incident after I posted. But it’s been a while now, and I honestly can’t remember a single time I was picked on or harassed due to my intelligence. > [@](#): > > Assuming you were some stratospheric genius, then yes, you should’ve. But you just said that wasn’t the case. Again, I want to make sure I’m reading you right. You’re saying that if a teenager is a “stratospheric genius,” they’ll get picked on solely for being a stratospheric genius. If that’s what you’re saying, I completely disagree with you. Oh, and I never said it wasn’t the case that I wasn’t a stratospheric genius. Tell me how you define that term, and I’ll let you know if I qualify. > [@](#): > > Moreoever, as other posters have pointed out, you can still get shit for being different but ameliorate the effects with certain social skills. How is this any different than saying that intelligence isn’t a barrier to making friends, but one’s personality and attitudes can be? > [@](#): > > Yes yes, you can nitpick and point out that Treis’ point was about a social dynamic, but it was a direct claim that intelligence does not pose a problem, and that only being an asshole does. Your attempt to make that equal to a formulation about how difference is regarded in high school is somewhat lacking. I’m not trying to do anything other than understand your position better. But thanks for commenting on the quality of my attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/239 "2005-05-13T20:16:55Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > How is this any different than saying that intelligence isn’t a barrier to making friends, but one’s personality and attitudes can be? If I might try to explain: Bob is a solid B student, with average social skills. Eustace is an A+ student, with average social skills. **All else being equal** , Eustace is likely to catch more shit than Bob is. Replace “solid B student” with “smooth-skinned guy,” and “A+ student” with “acne-riddled guy,” and you’ll get the same results. Academic intelligence isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get picked on, but, **all other factors being equal** , the schmoe with the academic intelligence will get picked on more than the schmoe without it. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591/240 "2005-05-13T20:18:17Z")
> [@Sauron](#): > > Again, I want to make sure I’m reading you right. You’re saying that if a teenager is a “stratospheric genius,” they’ll get picked on solely for being a stratospheric genius. No, **Finn** has been saying that they’ll get picked on for being “different” and being more intelligent than nearly everyone else qualifies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assholes-the-jealous-and-mediocretins-cemetary-savior-spoke-fessie-treis-etc/303591.md?page=13)