# Human Nature is Inherently Stupid **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 18, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290 "2019-03-18T01:37:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/1 "2019-03-18T01:37:30Z")
Why can’t people reason out that, when entering a crowded area, you HAVE to let people OUT before you can squeeze in! What the hell is it with people that they CANNOT for the life of them reason this out? Will self-absorption and ego be the death of the herd? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/2 "2019-03-18T02:12:33Z")
I find people to be self-absorbed or only paying attention to their companions. I volunteer at a large concession stand with 6 counters/cash register windows. It doesn’t matter how much we tell people the line is shorter down the way, they still stop at the first window, which is always packed and low on everything after 30 minutes of opening. They just know it will be quicker. We always put the fastest checkers there. But there is just so much they can do when they are waiting on food and drink to catch up. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/3 "2019-03-18T03:20:31Z")
What I hate is people trying to get on an elevator without waiting for passengers to get off it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/4 "2019-03-18T03:31:31Z")
I always think back to 1st grade when we were taught to walk on the right side of the hall or staircase, with our hands packed. It worked so well. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/5 "2019-03-18T13:32:30Z")
There are TWO doors at 7-11, people! You don’t have to wait at ONE door for people coming in before you exit. USE THE OTHER DOOR! ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/6 "2019-03-18T13:44:35Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There are TWO doors at 7-11, people! You don’t have to wait at ONE door for people coming in before you exit. USE THE OTHER DOOR! It’s not just 7-11, and it’s not just exit/entry queuing. Back when I went to church, people would line up at the open door to exit. I would walk up to the other door and go out - and it was like the floodgate had been opened and everyone got out twice as fast. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/7 "2019-03-18T13:52:23Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I always think back to 1st grade when we were taught to walk on the right side of the hall or staircase It’s only a matter of time before I start carrying a sign or flash card that says “Walk on the right, pass on the left”. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/8 "2019-03-18T14:03:42Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There are TWO doors at 7-11, people! You don’t have to wait at ONE door for people coming in before you exit. USE THE OTHER DOOR! Hey, good point! _: Thwump :_ It’s locked. I have been bamboozled! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/9 "2019-03-18T20:24:14Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There are TWO doors at 7-11, people! You don’t have to wait at ONE door for people coming in before you exit. USE THE OTHER DOOR! That’s when I’ll generally stop in the doorway, open the second door and say “This can be used as a door, y’know”. Not a single person has ever thanked me… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/10 "2019-03-18T21:27:10Z")
That 7-11 door thing is hit or miss. It may very well be locked. I’m often amused when I see people stop at a door waiting for it to open automatically. And it’s not an auto- door. I’m easily amused. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/11 "2019-03-18T22:02:07Z")
I think it’s said that a person may be smart, but people are stupid. Also, there is the Wizard’s First Rule: “People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they’re afraid it might be true. Peoples’ heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.” ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/12 "2019-03-18T23:09:21Z")
What gets me is people in the supermarket. The stop their shopping carts in the middle of the aisle, rather than one side or the other, so that no one can pass. “Excuse me?” “Oh, I’m sorry”. Then they move the cart. Like they are surprised another shopper might be in the building. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/13 "2019-03-18T23:10:55Z")
**Human Nature is Inherently Stupid** Am not! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/14 "2019-03-19T00:04:54Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > What gets me is people in the supermarket. The stop their shopping carts in the middle of the aisle, rather than one side or the other, so that no one can pass. > > “Excuse me?” “Oh, I’m sorry”. Then they move the cart. Like they are surprised another shopper might be in the building. Also at supermarkets (and other retailers): the person who saunters down the middle of the parking-lot aisle, no matter how many cars may be inching along behind. This may go into the category “some humans like to feel powerful and so do quite stupid things because it makes them feel powerful.” _I am so powerful that vehicles have to inch along behind me as I saunter down the middle of the parking lot aisle! All Hail Me!_ Wankers. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/15 "2019-03-19T00:31:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I find people to be self-absorbed… As a leader at scout camp, I instituted the **_Awareness Of What’s Going On Around You_ merit badge.** It even came with tasty homemade muffins. Every kid discovered a way to be disqualified by the end of the week. The sad thing is, so many of them will never learn. Y’know why the young’uns are called CUB scouts? Because in the animal world, cubs make a mistake, suffer the consequences of it, and learn from it. Humans? Not as smart… ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/16 "2019-03-19T05:25:47Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I always think back to 1st grade when we were taught to walk on the right side of the hall or staircase, with our hands packed. It worked so well. Which is ironic – according to the laws of all 50 states, vehicular traffic is supposed to be on the right side of the road, but pedestrian traffic is supposed to be on the left side. ---
**Author:** ![customdistro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb9ed0/32.png) [@customdistro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/customdistro)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/17 "2019-03-19T05:41:11Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There are TWO doors at 7-11, people! You don’t have to wait at ONE door for people coming in before you exit. USE THE OTHER DOOR! holding doors for people messes this up. if they made the doors out of wood instead of glass, it would fix this problem within a week. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/18 "2019-03-19T05:55:38Z")
You are not going to get thru this red light any faster than I am. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/19 "2019-03-19T11:47:12Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Why can’t people reason out that, when entering a crowded area, you HAVE to let people OUT before you can squeeze in! What the hell is it with people that they CANNOT for the life of them reason this out? Will self-absorption and ego be the death of the herd? It’s not human nature, it’s culture - and some cultures handle this scenario better than others. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290/20 "2019-03-19T12:45:24Z")
_“Human nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put on this earth to rise above.”_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-nature-is-inherently-stupid/831290.md?page=2)