# Computer-retarded people make me cry. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2010, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234 "2010-08-05T04:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/21 "2010-08-05T08:50:59Z")
> [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](#): > > > [@Rigamarole](#): > > > > That’s fine. But don’t expect me to cater to your hypersensitivity. I would never insult someone that was actually mentally challenged and I’m comfortable enough to use the term knowing that I mean no disrespect to such people as your child. If you perceive it as disrespectful then there’s nothing I can do about that. > > As long as you realize your using the word like this (which I don’t think is okay because it does set an example) does in fact bring some people in real life to tears. Actually, if you step back from your personal issues and look at what he actually said, he is using it correctly. > [@](#): > > Main Entry: re·tard·ed > Pronunciation: \ri-ˈtär-dəd > Function: adjective > Date: 1895 > > sometimes offensive : slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress I think that limited in academic progress with respect to computers is exactly what he was indicating. Do remember that many times words have more than just the commonly used definition. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/22 "2010-08-05T09:34:05Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > > [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](#): > > > > As long as you realize your using the word like this (which I don’t think is okay because it does set an example) does in fact bring some people in real life to tears. > > Actually, if you step back from your personal issues and look at what he actually said, he is using it correctly. > > > [@](#): > > > > Main Entry: re·tard·ed > > Pronunciation: \ri-ˈtär-dəd > > Function: adjective > > Date: 1895 > > > > sometimes offensive : slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress > > I think that limited in academic progress with respect to computers is exactly what he was indicating. > > Do remember that many times words have more than just the commonly used definition. Yep, this is pretty much what I was going to post. Saved me the trouble. 🙂 mmm ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/23 "2010-08-05T10:43:02Z")
I too find it hard to understand how a 20 year old would not have pretty decent computer skills. Shit, my now 22 year old was teaching _me_ how to use the internet and stuff when he was just 7 or 8 years old (the other kids were older and even more computer literate, but came to the conclusion I was unteachable 😃 ) Kids in Australia are introduced to computers and IT technology in prep class when they’re five, so a 20 year old without a comprehensive understanding of computers would be considered a freak in our community. My only guess is that your college student might have come from a religious background that doesn’t embrace a lot of modern technology, or might have been home-schooled by parents who wanted to shelter their child from the evils of the modern world. IOW, probably no television, radio OR computers. So, it might be in your best interests to desist from belittling for her ignorance, and perhaps guide her towards a Computers: 101 course to help her get the best from her future education. Or, she might be feigning stupidity 'cos she wants to get in your pants. You pick 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/24 "2010-08-05T10:54:40Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Computers and internet-based technology are still awfully new, generation-wise. Plenty of people in their early 20s or younger associate computers with nerdiness still and nerdiness still isn’t a societal good thing to them yet. We’ve got a good number of years ahead of us before people are as comfortable with computers, the internet and technology in general as the general population of this message board. What? For one, nerdiness is much more accepted among teenagers than it was just five years ago. For two, computers stopped being nerdy the second every kid in the world joined Facebook. Every kid might not be “computer literate” in the strictest sense, but not a one of them is going to look down their nose on someone who is, because knowing how to use a computer is important. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/25 "2010-08-05T11:03:57Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > > [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](#): > > > > But I gotta say…I really do hate the casual way you you use "retarded"in your thread title. > > That’s fine. But don’t expect me to cater to your hypersensitivity. I would never insult someone that was actually mentally challenged and I’m comfortable enough to use the term knowing that I mean no disrespect to such people as your child. If you perceive it as disrespectful then there’s nothing I can do about that. I had the same reaction to your thread title. The word _is_ a slur against disabled people and it’s not “hypersensitive” to identify it as such. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/26 "2010-08-05T11:18:31Z")
These days, I am surprised about 20-year-olds who don’t understand computers, at least not being able to describe what they click on to get onto the Internet. And I can see the “it’s not a Mac, so it must be a PC” reasoning - Macs are very distinct-looking, while PCs are so different from each other in outward appearance. The only thing I could think of would be someone who grew up rather poor and went to schools that didn’t have good computers/didn’t really get Internet time. I had a coworker several years ago who decided she didn’t like how “cluttered” all of those folders on her computer were, so she planned to make some new folders and move into them all those files that didn’t seem like they were something she used. You know, stuff like operating system files. Fortunately, she told me of her plan before she actually started moving files, so I was able to convince her that this wasn’t a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/27 "2010-08-05T11:22:04Z")
> [@SecondJudith](#): > > > [@Rigamarole](#): > > > > That’s fine. But don’t expect me to cater to your hypersensitivity. I would never insult someone that was actually mentally challenged and I’m comfortable enough to use the term knowing that I mean no disrespect to such people as your child. If you perceive it as disrespectful then there’s nothing I can do about that. > > I had the same reaction to your thread title. The word _is_ a slur against disabled people and it’s not “hypersensitive” to identify it as such. I _didn’t_ have the same reaction to the thread title, and as I also know someone who knows someone who has a child with a mental disability, my post out-trumps yours. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/28 "2010-08-05T11:36:55Z")
OK, if this thread is going to degenerate into a PC\* vs Non PC battle, then the use of the word RETARDED is indeed a non PC word. It’s used in a derogatory fashion to denigrate people who are intellectually disabled, and the word ‘retarded’ has been verboten for many years now in Australia at least. I personally\*\* HATE\*\* the word _retarded_ because it harkens back to the olden days when kids who had a disability were herded into the ‘Retard Homes’ and rode the ‘Retard Bus’ to school. Those were frigging obnoxious times, and I’m glad we have grown up since then \*Politically Correct, not Personal Computer. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/29 "2010-08-05T11:41:38Z")
Yes, well there are probably more retards to be offended in Aussie. ps. Obviously not per sq mile, as no fucker wants to live in the vast majority of your country, apart from roos and dingos. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/30 "2010-08-05T11:53:36Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Yes, well there are probably more retards to be offended in Aussie. > ps. Obviously not per sq mile, as no fucker wants to live in the vast majority of your country, apart from roos and dingos. We call them sq _km_ here. Who’s the retarded one now then, eh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/31 "2010-08-05T12:01:30Z")
Touché, you douche. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/32 "2010-08-05T12:09:36Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Touché, you douche. 😛 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/33 "2010-08-05T12:52:45Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > But when I started almost anyone who touched a computer was a programmer. As computers become more sophisticated and ubiquitous, I’m wondering if computer literacy is actually declining. Kids used to build their own radios out of little more than cardboard tubes and copper wire, but damned if I’ve looked inside a radio in the last few decades. I just push the right buttons. Computers may be comparable. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/34 "2010-08-05T13:27:59Z")
[WARNING: Enormous time-suck!] [Computer Stupidities](http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/) [/WARNING] ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/35 "2010-08-05T13:33:02Z")
> [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](#): > > I understand and get what you’re trying to do here. > > But I gotta say…I really do hate the casual way you you use "retarded"in your thread title. It sets an example of it being okay to use this as derogatory and demeaning term. > > Speaking as the parent of a completely non-verbal and profoundly austic child who is also about to enter into middle school. The OP might be ripe for a pitting. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/36 "2010-08-05T13:46:08Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > > [@Voyager](#): > > > > But when I started almost anyone who touched a computer was a programmer. > > As computers become more sophisticated and ubiquitous, I’m wondering if computer literacy is actually declining. Kids used to build their own radios out of little more than cardboard tubes and copper wire, but damned if I’ve looked inside a radio in the last few decades. I just push the right buttons. Computers may be comparable. EXACTLY. A typical male teen or twenty-something in the 50s & 60s tinkered with cars. A male teen now knows how to put gas in one. And probably can’t check the oil, much less change it. Cars have become balck boxes for most people for most purposes. Somebody (of any age) who was avidly using computers in the 90s had to learn an awful lot about what’s behind the browser. Somebody who started using computers in the last 5 years doesn’t need that. And siunce most youngsters have been seeing a computer as an entertainment device, not a productivity tool, the focus has been on the entertainment, the result. Not the process. Knowing how to click a favorite to go to google or youtube or facebook is not computer literacy. it’s computer illiteracy. But its enough to get a lot of folks up to college freshman status. For a typical 21st century consumer product, computers (even Macs) require a lot more care and feeding than any other device folks own. And that’s a bad thing. The majority of people would be happier with something like a giant iPhone. All locked down guaranteed safe apps, simple single-mode UI, no user serviceable parts in the hardware or the software. Using a computer productively in an business or academic setting is a very different thing. You wouldn’t expect to hire a factory worker who just picked up operating stamping presses in his/her spare time. The same thing is/ought to be true for computer use for productive purposes. Bottom line: 20 years of browsing does not produce Excel gurus. Nor should anyone expect it to. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/37 "2010-08-05T14:03:11Z")
Hey, I’ve made a discussion thread for the word “retarded”. Feel free to discuss your opinions there. It’s in IMHO, not the Pit, though. [Is it ever acceptable to use the term “retarded” when referring to a dumb person?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12767359#post12767359) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/38 "2010-08-05T14:03:34Z")
What I wish people would understand is that being ignorant about the technology they are using makes them vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Case in point: I have a friend that recently messaged me in a panic because he was trying to get data from a GPS device, and he got an error indicating that he needed to install the correct driver for the device. He did not understand this message, mostly because he doesn’t know the difference between a driver and a device, and he doesn’t know what USB means, so he was searching the Web for a special USB driver cable or something. I tried to explain to him that all he needed to do was to go to the Garmin website, download the correct driver, and he’d be good to go, but he just couldn’t quite figure this out, and since he’s geographically distant from me, I couldn’t just go do it for him, either. He finally signed off, and later told me that he had gone to a local computer shop where a helpful guy had sold him the correct cable that he needed and “cleaned up his computer for him” for the low, low rate of $30. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he just got charged $30 for a $2 cable and a free driver installation. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/39 "2010-08-05T14:48:46Z")
One of the things I am running into where I work is people who need technology in order to maintain their non-technology jobs—e.g., someone who went into nursing to satisfy a desire to take care of people and now has to use a computer to enter and keep medical records. This is someone who never wanted to use a computer, who now has to. The number of people in this situation is surprising and having to start all the way back at “‘point and click with your mouse’ does not mean that you pick the mouse up and point it at something” poses some real instructional challenges. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234/40 "2010-08-05T15:29:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I think the bigger issue is that a lot of people only became exposed to computers much later in life, and were unable to adapt. Y’all on the Dope seem to be the exceptions. That seems to be the case with my wife - don’t get me wrong, I love her to pieces, but when we first met I was a card-carrying nerd and had been using computers for 20 years by that point (starting on a TRS-80). She had very limited, if any, exposure to computers. She sure didn’t have one at home, she didn’t have email access. She was also in her 30s by that point. Even though we do have a computer at the house now, she doesn’t use it that much, just for her job searching, resume writing, and email basically. She needed my help the other day to move her cover letter from her old resume to her new one (copy cover letter, insert page break on new resume, paste, touch up formatting, done!) took her quite a long time before she asked me. My email program (Pegasus) is a bit antiquated, but the main reason I’m loathe to change (probably to Thunderbird mail, as FF is my main browser and I like it) is because I’d have to teach my wife all over again how to use email. (For some reason, even though I mainly use FF, she mainly uses IE, which makes me grind my teeth every time I see her using it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-retarded-people-make-me-cry/549234.md?page=3)