# If A Pill Could Cure Stupidity **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722 "2005-03-03T05:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/1 "2005-03-03T05:52:50Z")
How much would you be willing to pay for it? Now, I realize that it’ll probably never be possible to put a clue in a pill, but let’s say that they developed a pill which created an intense curiosity about all things in people who took the pill. So, someone who had no interest in anything other than drinking beer and watching pro-wrestling, suddenly found that they had an insatiable urge to read anything they could get their hands on, they started watching documentaries, news shows, and educational programming, in addition to their usual fare of pro-wrestling. Add to that, that only a single or small number of doses would be enough to create the effect for life and the pill carried no health risks whatsoever. Would you be interested in buying the medication for yourself (or for someone else who desperately needs it)? I’d blow damned near every penny I could scrape up on those pills and give them to everyone around me, and I wouldn’t care what the price per pill was. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/2 "2005-03-03T06:00:04Z")
Huh. Wouldn’t that make everyone else smarter than you? 😛 Nahh, I’m just happy with Viagra. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/3 "2005-03-03T07:29:46Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > I’d blow damned near every penny I could scrape up on those pills and give them to everyone around me, and I wouldn’t care what the price per pill was. Yep, that’s what I’d do. I don’t consider myself intellectually superior, to the people around me. But I do have more varied interest. Which leads to a lot of blank stares, when I try to start a conversation around something I find interesting. **Tuckerfan** , I’d love to know what incedent or conversation, inspired this thread. I almost started a similar thread, after spending the hollidays with the in-laws. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/4 "2005-03-03T10:36:26Z")
> [@](#): > > an insatiable urge to read anything they could get their hands on > [@](#): > > the pill carried no health risks whatsoever Come on, which is it? q;} I think it should come in spray form. Like mace. “Hmm, two for a dollar or 45 cents each… which do you think we should get, honey?” :::ducks out from the next aisle, liberally hosing down idiot shoppers::: “I think we should stop by the library on the way home. And put those pop-tarts back!” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/5 "2005-03-03T13:01:09Z")
If they made a pill to cure stupidity most people wouldn’t know how to open the child-proof lid and security wrappings to get to them. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/6 "2005-03-03T20:57:44Z")
The people who need the pill the most would refuse to take it. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/7 "2005-03-03T21:50:11Z")
I’d pay plenty for a pill that would cure my procrastination and cluttering. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/8 "2005-03-03T22:11:37Z")
Would it increase your IQ to 110 or therabouts or would it just increase your IQ by so many points and make the smart smarter? If the former, I’d get 4000 and give them to everyone in my school. If the latter, I’d buy 4000 and take them all! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/9 "2005-03-03T22:14:51Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > Would it increase your IQ to 110 or therabouts or would it just increase your IQ by so many points and make the smart smarter? Neither. It makes people want to read and learn more. You’re confusing intelligence with education. Odds are, if people were better educated, they’d make better situations, but they’d still, some of them, be as dumb as a box of rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/10 "2005-03-03T23:08:39Z")
A pill that gives people an insatiable urge to read everything is a pretty bad pill in my opinion. I realize I’ll probably be seen as a pariah for saying it, but reading books isn’t, itself, the be all and end all. The world needs doers also. Intellectual curiosity is great, but it only goes so far. If everybody sat around reading we’d have a bunch of well-read slackers – though I imagine message board usage would explode. I prefer diversity among people. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/11 "2005-03-03T23:09:30Z")
If i had access to such a pill, i’d crush up every last one, flush them down the toilet, and burn the formula. I’m relying on the fact that some people are dumber than me to make it through life. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/12 "2005-03-03T23:20:57Z")
I’d make a quick buck selling a herbal alternative to the pill to those people who didn’t want to pay the full cost of the real medication. P.S. read Flowers for Algernon, if the OP idea is interesting to you ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/13 "2005-03-03T23:28:20Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > If i had access to such a pill, i’d crush up every last one, flush them down the toilet, and burn the formula. > > I’m relying on the fact that some people are dumber than me to make it through life. > > 🙂 Amen to that! Are you trying to put me out of a job? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ZombiesAteMyBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZombiesAteMyBrain)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/14 "2005-03-04T00:30:21Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > The people who need the pill the most would refuse to take it. That’s just what I was going to say. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/15 "2005-03-04T00:42:53Z")
I think we should dump it in the water supply, like fluoride. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/16 "2005-03-04T01:16:46Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > The people who need the pill the most would refuse to take it. Oh, I’d be spiking drinks with it, let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/17 "2005-03-04T01:29:25Z")
I’d flush them too. I have my whole life’s strategy mapped out based on the idiocy that is rampant now and I don’t want anybody screwing that up. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/18 "2005-03-04T02:30:49Z")
Possible names for this drug: \*\*Cecilflex Dopacillin Cecicillin ( my personal fave ) Dopadophyllus Adamsythroid Ignoranact \*\* Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/19 "2005-03-04T02:37:14Z")
> [@hillbilly queen](#): > > **Tuckerfan** , I’d love to know what incedent or conversation, inspired this thread. I almost started a similar thread, after spending the hollidays with the in-laws. 🙂 Nevermind, I just read your pit thread. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722/20 "2005-03-04T02:43:01Z")
Try reading John Brunner’s _The Stone That Never Came Down._ Although I’m more intrigued by “Clue In a Drum”-- just cram the fool in the drum and leave him there until he finds the clue. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-pill-could-cure-stupidity/292722.md?page=2)