# So, is Dr. Ben Carson an idiot? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 30, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346 "2013-03-30T12:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OurLordPeace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e8c25b/32.png) [@OurLordPeace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OurLordPeace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/21 "2013-03-30T20:16:47Z")
Also, this sort of thing is related to Richard Dawkins’ mentioning that it’s a very different experience talking to “bishops and archbishops” than, say, most of their lay co-religionists. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/22 "2013-03-30T20:34:09Z")
I have a huge problem with the idea that people aren’t hungry in this country. Maybe some are able to fill their bellies with nutritionally void foods like doughnuts, but they are harming themselves in the process. As for Dr. Carson, doctors are smart people, but that doesn’t mean that they take the time to think things through. They are just as prone to gullibility as anyone, and they are probably more prone to arrogance and feeling like they are speakers of truth. Nzinga, you may not have had much formal education, but I don’t ever read your posts and say, “There’s a woman who just isn’t interested in thinking things through. There’s a woman who just thinks she has all the answers.” That, to me, is a much higher accomplishment. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/23 "2013-03-30T20:46:12Z")
I saw him on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox talking about how if we only opened up the all the prohibited land for oil drilling here in the U.S., we’d have no problem completely removing any dependence we have on foreign nations for oil. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/24 "2013-03-30T21:08:44Z")
Sometimes intelligent people don’t express themselves well when speaking on the fly. A few poorly worded comments and some media spin can destroy anyone’s image. Even though I was never a Howard Dean supporter, I thought it was crazy how the media totally destroy his presidential campaign by making him look like a lunatic (by constantly replaying “the Dean scream”). The media can make ANYONE sound like a moron based on what they choose to focus on - you or I included. That issue aside, as a doctor, I can confirm: Being a doctor makes you an expert on your specialty, but not an expert on life in general. A doctor isn’t necessarily any better informed about non-medical topics than anyone. In fact, one particular specialist may not necessarily have the best info about general medical topics. I often roll my eyes at people trusting Dr. Oz’s advice about quasi-medical topics, because a cardiothoracic surgeon isn’t necessarily the best expert on general medical topics even though they surely do know a lot about heart surgery. I have no doubt that Dr. Carson is a very intelligent, hard working, and talented person. Neurosurgeons are some of the hardest-working and smartest of ALL doctors. The hours they work are insane and most of them have very little life outside work. It’s quite possible that because Dr. Carson has spent so much time honing his skills in neurosurgery that he hasn’t had a lot of time to read about or debate other issues and he’s kind of speaking on the fly about this stuff. I know that during residency I often went through phases where I literally did not have time to keep up with the news or watch popular TV shows so I felt isolated from the rest of the world (and no I am not a neurosurgeon). ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/25 "2013-03-30T22:26:04Z")
Posting from my phone, so this post will be short, but ijust wanted to say I find all the responses interesting, and I take everyone’s points about the hunger thing. ---
**Author:** ![Saraya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Saraya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saraya)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/26 "2013-03-30T22:35:06Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Ben Carson used to be a hero of mine. Not just because he was sexy as hell, either. It was the fact that he was sexy AND a freakin’ neurosurgeon! > > So, lately, he has been saying dumb shit. I mean, really dumb shit about how [marriage](http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/29/dr-ben-carson-says-he-will-not-speak-at-johns-hopkins-commencement/)should only be for straight people, because God designed it that way, blah, blah, blah. > > So, this is where I get stuck… > > I know better than to think that religious people are dumb. Many religious people I know are some of the smartest people I know, so I’m not one of those people who say, “Oh, you believe in a sky daddy so you are a dummy”. > > Like Neil deGrasse Tyson once said, there are top scientists out there who are Christians, although they may be in the minority. But until we can say there are NO top scientists out there who are Christian, we look pretty silly dismissing Christians as dumb. > > Ben Carson is a fucking brain surgeon. Clearly an intelligent guy. > > But how can we see him say such dumb shit and not begin to think he must be kind of dumb somehow? > > Right? I know Richard Dawkins wrote that people can be very smart, but still be deluded. I get that. But I am listening to Dr. Carson break down his reasoning, and it doesn’t sound like delusion, it sounds like stupidity. I mean, why did he throw in bestiality and NAMBLA when making his point about gay people. That is just retarded and isn’t something that would be said by even a deluded smart person. > > Someone help me understand this. > > And, by the way, I do admit I have a bit of a problem with this topic because I, not having gotten as much formal education as I would have liked, tend to really look up to those who are very accomplished. But, when I catch them doing or saying really dumb shit, I tend to want to tear down the pedestal I built for them. I notice it all the time, even on this board, and I realize it is not fair on my part. But once I catch someone I thought was smart doing something really dumb, I just get so disillusioned! > > Anyway, I digress. My question is, how can Ben Carson be both so smart and so dumb. Him being smart is, more or less a fact. Marriage only being between a man and a woman is, more or less an opinion. His reasoning for the latter is really not relevant. The question is, does his belief in heterosexual only relations bother you so much that you’d disown all the rest you like about him? The interesting underlying tone of your comments is that ‘Christians are smart, admittedly, I know some myself - however if they believe marriage is for straight people only well then..maybe I would reconsider my view of them.’ ---
**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 30, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/27 "2013-03-30T23:10:36Z")
There are several tells for people who appear to be fairly intelligent, but are actually idiots. One of the tells is the abbreviation ‘Dr.’ in front of their name. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/28 "2013-03-30T23:23:00Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I’m willing to bet that Carson IS a pretty smart dude. I bet he’s got a high IQ, had really great grade and test scores in school, and has impressed people around him > his entire life. > > But as comprehensive as those metrics are, they don’t paint a completely global picture of who he is. > > Maybe Carson has a deficit in critical thinking that was never addressed in school. Not everyone is taught this skill, first of all. And secondly, maybe when one is strong in other areas, weaknesses become hidden or not so important. Yeah; I don’t know much about what it takes to be a neurosurgeon, but I can certainly believe that the _kind_ of intelligence it takes to be a neurosurgeon doesn’t necessarily have much overlap with the kind it takes to critically examine logical arguments about social issues, or the kind it takes to talk without saying stuff that sounds stupid and offends people. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/29 "2013-03-30T23:41:43Z")
I think a lot of debates on policy–whether to permit gay marriage, restrict immigration, or mandate the teaching of evolution in schools–are conflicts of different moral and philosophical systems. I think that’s at the root of why people sometimes cling tenaciously to their views, even when presented with highly logical and well-constructed arguments from the opposing side. I also think that such differences of view have little to do with intelligence. [This TED video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs41JrnGaxc) may be of interest. ---
**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 31, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/30 "2013-03-31T02:09:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Just think of Ben Carson as a brain mechanic. He knows his brain parts backwards and forwards. But he can still be a stupid person in most other respects. Carson is also a creationist who has suggested that accepting evolution leads to immoral behavior. And Carson [is not the only neurosurgeon](http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/06/neurosurgeon-intelligent-design-opinions-darwin09_0205_michael_egnor.html) who has made a big deal about believing in creationism. Being a successful neurosurgeon requires considerable intelligence, but those smarts don’t necessarily translate to being intelligent about other fields. I would be disappointed\* if Dr. Carson did not get elected to office as a Republican, thus carrying on the great tradition of Republican physician legislators embarrassing themselves through public displays of ignorance (the most recent being Congressman Phil Gingrey’s defense of Todd Akin and his “legitimate rape” comments). \*well, not _that_ disappointed. \*\*there is a 21-member Republican Doctor’s Caucus, which is kind of scary. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/31 "2013-03-31T02:36:53Z")
Who was it that said that smart people are also very good at rationalizing the beliefs they were imprinted with as children? I’ve found that to be quite accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/32 "2013-03-31T04:19:36Z")
Otherwise intelligent people adhering to crazy politics isn’t without precedent just look at Bobby Fischer or Gore Vidal. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/33 "2013-04-01T03:49:32Z")
Intelligence is complicated, and so are the traits that make someone able to succeed or become prominent in the community or even world famous. Very smart people, capable of a multitude of things I could never be, and with an enormous list of impressive achievements, can believe, do, and say some really fucking stupid things. All day, every day. My own gifts seem to mainly give me a strong, sensitive nose for bullshit. Doesn’t mean I’m smarter but in a lot of ways I am more level-headed and rational than a majority of people. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/34 "2013-04-01T04:30:13Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > If Isaac Newton could believe in things that we think today are stupid (like alchemy), there’s no reason smart people today can’t hold beliefs that will look stupid in the future. Believing in chemistry and calling it alchemy doesn’t make a man stupid. Believing without evidence that some goals of alchemy were achievable or had been achieved is stupid, but not merely being born in an age before humanity had amassed a sufficient understanding of the particulars of how chemistry did and did not work. People today who believe in an interventionist deity do not suffer from this handicap. They are not Bronze Age villagers who have no understanding of electricity save as blasts of light and sound that can tear trees apart. They have the foundation to make a rational decision that there is no God, but have failed. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/35 "2013-04-01T05:23:36Z")
I know a number of really smart people who are Mormon, including an uncle who was a professor of engineering at a well-known university and a good friend from high school who went on the get his PhD from Standford and works as a research scientist. Yet guys have obvious blinders concerning Mormonism. I also have a great friend who is Catholic and we regularly disagree on religion. He’s an inhouse counsel for a Fortune 100 company and has terrific critical thinking skills but some of the arguments he uses to defend religion are simply laughable. Of course, I am an idiot in many ways myself. It’s just easier to see it in others, especially when they are arguing on points you disagree with. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/36 "2013-04-01T13:53:26Z")
Doctors and PhD’s are brilliant in very very narrow areas of expertise. Anything outside of those areas, and they often bring the crazy and/or the idiotic. This is ESPECIALLY true with medical doctors, in my experience, and I know a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/37 "2013-04-01T14:33:08Z")
One of the smartest people in world disagrees with you about a political issue so therefore he must actually be an idiot? Maybe he is right and you are wrong. Maybe you are the idiot. However, there are also smart people who think that gay “marriage” is a good idea. So maybe he is the idiot after all. Most likely neither you nor Carson is an idiot. You just have different opinions. Issues are complicated, how can one person ever know what the real truth is. We are all just trying to do our best and most likely only getting anything partially right like the blind mean describing the elephant. Maybe gay “marriage” will be the greatest thing since the Doritos Loco taco, or maybe it will destroy marriage as we know it. Most likely it will have some good parts and some bad parts. It will be hard to know exactly what effects it will have once it is in place. It is impossible now to know what the effects will be since they are all in the future. This should give us some epistemological humilty. When someone we admire disagrees with us it may be better to examine the basis of our own beliefs rather than to call that person an idiot. Even if we don’t change our beliefs it can be a good reminder that having different beliefs doesn’t mean you are a bad person and people with different opinions are not enemies. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/38 "2013-04-01T15:06:46Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > One of the smartest people in world disagrees with you about a political issue so therefore he must actually be an idiot? I freely admit, I consider anyone who compares homosexuality with bestiality or pedophilia to be an idiot (at least in these matters). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/39 "2013-04-01T15:16:38Z")
I have no problem with people in science fields being religious. Science and religion are different fields of human endeavor and not necessarily incompatible. But letting faith-based arguments trump the scientific method and actual empirical evidence? That’s idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/40 "2013-04-01T15:17:10Z")
> [@ReticulatingSplines](#): > > I’ve wondered about this many times, because it truly puzzles me. My sister is very intelligent and yet still religious. I’ve met some of her friends from her church and they are, likewise, shockingly intelligent. These aren’t WBC rubes; some have Ph.Ds from top-tier Ivies in fields that I dodged in college, like math and physics, because I was too dumb for them. And yet, they all believe that some guy survived for three days in the belly of a large fish. Who says the WBC are “rubes”? In case you didn’t know it, Fred Phelps is a lawyer, as are most of his adult children. He’s NOT uneducated. He’s better educated than most SDMB regulars. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346.md?page=3)