# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/101 "2013-04-07T00:22:05Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > 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. I think this post makes an excellent point that may have been overshadowed by the (well-deserved) compliment. Someone with a very low IQ is likely to be incapable of learning some things or making some connections that someone else would be capable of, but there are relatively few things that a person of average IQ can’t do that someone of high IQ can. Someone with an IQ of 130 will likely be able to breeze through medical school (at least the academic parts) and learn all the facts and skills necessary to be a neurosurgeon much more quickly and easily than someone with an IQ of 105. But I suspect anyone with an IQ of 105 has the ability to be a neurosurgeon. It’s just going to take them a lot more time to study and take a lot more work. Most people aren’t that dedicated, so there are probably few neurosurgeons with IQs of 105 (and of course, those positions are very competitive, so a person of average intelligence is less likely to be accepted into med school, less likely to get into a surgical 1st residency, and less likely to get into a neurosurgical 2nd residency [I think that’s the training regimen] than someone with a high IQ even if they are equally capable). But there are almost certainly a few neurosurgeons with average intelligence, just like there have been one or two NBA players of average height. At the other end of the spectrum, just like there are tall people who never played basketball, there are smart people who never learned the parts of the brain. There are also smart people who, despite having the _capability_ of learning things quickly and easily, never bothered to learn much at all, and even more who never bother to think about the things they do learn. If Dr. Wossisname does have a genius IQ, it means that it would be extremely easy for him to learn how to analyze arguments rationally, and also extremely easy for him to apply that knowledge to the argument that homosexuality is equivalent to pedophilia, but it doesn’t mean he would be inclined to. It’s often difficult to tell someone who is incapable of thinking well from someone who could but does not. And to piggyback on **jsgoddess** ’s compliment, it’s hard to tell over the internet whether thinking comes easily to you or whether you struggle with it; all we can tell is that you do a lot of it. Are you smarter than Dr. Dumbass, or just more dedicated? Either way, I know who I’d rather talk to! ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/102 "2013-04-07T00:23:52Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > While I earlier mentioned another neurosurgeon with dingbat creationist/evolution denialist views (Michael Egnor), I forgot to cite perhaps [the nuttiest neurosurgeon of them all](http://www.skepdic.com/blaylock.html), Russell Blaylock. > > Blaylock, who has been publishing a health newsletter and selling supplements during his retirement, is known for railing against the horrific dangers of water fluoridation, vaccination, artificial sweeteners, aluminum cookware and “chemtrails”. > > He also has multiple pages on [whale.to](http://www.whale.to/a/blaylock4.html), which is a reliable mark of being a loon. > > What this shows yet again is - don’t trust an “expert” solely because they have “Dr.” in front of their name or have qualifications unrelated to the subjects on which they are expounding. Water flouridation is compulsory medication on everyone. In Europe, they achieve the same results with flouride toothpaste. No doubt you are a willing participant in the nanny state. artificial sweeteners can be damaging aluminium cookware has long been held to possibly contribute to mental problems. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/103 "2013-04-07T01:18:23Z")
And…we’ve got another live one. > [@Doggo](#): > > Water flouridation is compulsory medication on everyone. No doubt you feel similarly oppressed by chlorination of the water suppy. > [@](#): > > artificial sweeteners can be damaging To the sugar industry, yes. > [@](#): > > aluminium cookware **has long been held** to possibly contribute to mental problems. Not by the sane. Have you thought about subscribing to Russell Blaylock’s newsletter? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/104 "2013-04-07T02:34:25Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > Water flouridation is compulsory medication on everyone. In Europe, they achieve the same results with flouride toothpaste. No doubt you are a willing participant in the nanny state. > artificial sweeteners can be damaging > aluminium cookware has long been held to possibly contribute to mental problems. I love water flouridation! It saves so much money on Bisquick. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/105 "2013-04-07T02:51:11Z")
In case the issue of feeding Americans is still kicking around: The school lunch program was instituted at the request of the military, which, in the 50’s, was getting chronically malnourished kids in the draft. They didn’t make good soldiers (as NK knows). Foodstamps were started by the Department of Agriculture to lower the quantity of grain and milk it was buying as price supports and throwing away. The first stamps could not buy meat or frozen dinners - milk, cheese, grain products, yes; meats, non-food, no. If I go out for the day, I put a couple of extra cold sodas in the car - the homeless are quite grateful for something ta=hat costs 60 cents. You might want to try a Snickers ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346/106 "2013-04-08T12:45:32Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > And…we’ve got another live one.No doubt you feel similarly oppressed by chlorination of the water suppy.To the sugar industry, yes.Not by the sane. > > Have you thought about subscribing to Russell Blaylock’s newsletter? :dubious: My water supply isn’t chlorinated. It comes out of a well in the back yard, and is filtered for drinking. So, I don’t feel oppressed by chlorination at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-dr-ben-carson-an-idiot/654346.md?page=5)