# Stupidity or ignorance? You decide! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 29, 2003, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450 "2003-09-29T10:50:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/21 "2003-09-29T15:49:06Z")
“Heretic! I Excommunicate You!!!” -Pope Alessandro Ludovisi ---
**Author:** ![godzillatemple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@godzillatemple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/godzillatemple)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/22 "2003-09-29T15:52:33Z")
Hmmmm… Ask her why, if faith is all that is necessary for a plane to fly, why the same thing doesn’t work with, say, buses. Or, for that matter, why you can’t flap your arms and soar into the air by wishing hard enough. I think it’s a combination of ignorance (lack of knowledge) and stupidity (extreme gullibility, lack of common sense, etc.) Barry ---
**Author:** ![bri1600bv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@bri1600bv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bri1600bv)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/23 "2003-09-29T15:54:51Z")
I know alot of people like that. If you believe you won’t get cancer, then you won’t. If you believe you’ll be cured of whatever disease (or refuse to give it energy) then you will. If you believe that the war in Iraq won’t happen (if you refuse to give it “energy” is the phrase I think she used) then it won’t. Because nothing happens without people directing ‘energy’ toward it…something like that. It makes it more comforting for them, I suppose, as they see themselves more in control of things. Of course it’s infantile madness, but oh well. It’s mostly women who believe this stuff I would bet. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/24 "2003-09-29T16:04:40Z")
Aw, don’t be silly…of course it’s the faith of the passengers…and Barney’s the pilot! On a serious note, I would characterize her answer as ignorance. After all, you managed to educate her. It’s the stupid people who don’t learn, not the ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/25 "2003-09-29T16:23:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > **"They can fly because all the passengers really believe they can", she says. "Otherwise, how could these big, heavy things fly?"** Egads, that has got to be stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! Everyone knows that planes fly because **pilots** believe they can. Why, if it were left up to passengers, imagine what terrorists could do just by not believing! Has this woman even thought this through? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/26 "2003-09-29T17:44:19Z")
Airplanes fly only because I believe they can. I work day and night to keep them aloft. I do it selflessly and thanklessly, out of a sense of duty. I inherited the job from a cousin, and will pass it on to-----someone, I don’t know who. In the meantime, whenever you travel by air, remember who is keeping your airplane aloft, and safe from harm. Donations would be greatly appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/27 "2003-09-29T18:05:48Z")
Poor uninformed girl. I hope someone’s told her that exposing her breasts can help prevent the flu. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/28 "2003-09-29T18:27:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RAWDuke \* > Ask her how she thinks cargo planes fly 😃 > > I vote for the “stupidity” option. Nah, the entire cargo transport crew is made up of priests and bishops in order to compensate for the deficit in “uplift.” Another vote for dazzling, incomprehensible, stunning, world record-setting and almost mind-numbing idiocy. Does this woman manage feed and clothe herself without any assistance? Permit me to be the first to predict a Darwin in her future. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/29 "2003-09-29T18:33:32Z")
Oh, and for the record, single seater jet fighters [with their tiny little wings] must be flown by cardinals or better in order for them to get off the ground. Come’on **Priceguy** , I want to know. Does this dame wear crystals on a regular basis? Does she have one of Reverend Ike’s “prayer cloths” at her desk? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/30 "2003-09-29T18:38:44Z")
I don’t know who’s dumber, the woman in the OP or Jessica Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![Svt4Him](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Svt4Him](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svt4Him)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/31 "2003-09-29T18:42:21Z")
Although I do have to say, if I was to fly a plane, it would only be on a wing and a prayer. And I’d be willing to also bet that there would be a heck of a lot of people praying as well. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/32 "2003-09-29T19:24:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*I don’t know who’s dumber, the woman in the OP or Jessica Simpson. \*\* And according to **lieu** , Jessica may have the flu. We need to all get together and wish her well!! Wish Wish wish wish ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/33 "2003-09-29T19:41:18Z")
How do military drones fly? Do they put a plastic Jesus on the dashboard? ---
**Author:** ![MarkofT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MarkofT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkofT)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/34 "2003-09-29T19:57:16Z")
I’ll betcha she asked her daddy when she was young and her daddy made something up like Calvin’s dad does. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/35 "2003-09-29T22:21:21Z")
Knowing about the Bernoulli Principle isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. The original, awful 1962 Mets had a young pitcher named Jay Hook who lost 19 games. Hook studied engineering in the offseason (he eventually got a Masters degree in thermodynamics) and once took the trouble to explain the Bernoulli Principle to a reporter in the locker room. Casey Stengel (the Mets manager) walked by later, looked at Hook and said “If only you could do what you know.” Sorry. That’s the only story I have that involves the Bernoulli Principle. Now if pigs could run really really fast… ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/36 "2003-09-30T00:26:01Z")
Must have been some mean-ass rolling blackout. It hit Italy too. Did Newton describe the princliple of rolling blackouts: An electric company at rest tends to make all other electric companies rest too. ---
**Author:** ![Chaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Chaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chaco)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/37 "2003-09-30T04:06:23Z")
If we all clap our hands another airplane will get its wings! ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/38 "2003-09-30T05:37:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Come’on **Priceguy** , I want to know. Does this dame wear crystals on a regular basis? Does she have one of Reverend Ike’s “prayer cloths” at her desk? \*\* No, nothing like that. In fact, this was the first time she actually said something really new agey, and yet I had her pegged as a woolly-thinking, soft-brained, new age type from the moment she opened her mouth on day one. I hate it when my prejudices turn out to be true. It makes me wonder which of my other preconceptions are true as well. **capacitor** , it was a mean-ass blackout, but there were several days between ours and the one in Italy. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/39 "2003-09-30T05:39:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lynn Bodoni \* > \*\*Let me know if she signs up as a poster here…I’ll give her a unique member status, the infamous “2stupid2live”. \*\* Lynn, I love you. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450/40 "2003-09-30T10:41:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Priceguy \* > \*\*Hey **Malacandra** … \*\* ## quote: Originally posted by Priceguy ## And yes I know my explanation of flight was simplified. You go in depth with someone like that when you’re already annoyed for a thousand different reasons. And besides, that’s not the point. Well, you used small print. Besides, isn’t “The wing pushes air down when it’s moving, so that pushes the air up. Newton’s Third Law - every action has an equal and opposite reaction” a simpler explanation? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidity-or-ignorance-you-decide/204450.md?page=3)