# Why are dumb people often very loud? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094 "2014-09-01T00:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/1 "2014-09-01T00:19:46Z")
So often you can tell a person is dumb because you hear them long before you see them. Why the common correlation? ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/2 "2014-09-01T00:28:37Z")
Never heard of this, nor encountered it. Do you have a cite to back up your premise? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/3 "2014-09-01T00:33:52Z")
Assuming it’s true, it might be because they haven’t mastered the idea of “social context” and don’t know how to pick up on the clues everyone else relies on to know how to speak appropriately. Being unintelligent isn’t about lacking specific knowledge, it’s about being unable to piece together the knowledge you have. (People like to phrase this in terms of being “slow”, but at some point, it really is more about “able” vs “unable”. I will never compose a symphony the equal of Mozart no matter how much time I had, and that’s that.) ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/4 "2014-09-01T01:10:21Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Assuming it’s true, it might be because they haven’t mastered the idea of “social context” and don’t know how to pick up on the clues everyone else relies on to know how to speak appropriately. Being unintelligent isn’t about lacking specific knowledge, it’s about being unable to piece together the knowledge you have. (People like to phrase this in terms of being “slow”, but at some point, it really is more about “able” vs “unable”. I will never compose a symphony the equal of Mozart no matter how much time I had, and that’s that.) You are confusing social ineptitude with intelligence. It’s very common for highly intelligent people to be socially inept, and equally common for “unintelligent” people to be very socially facile and easy-going. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/5 "2014-09-01T01:12:49Z")
It’s quite possible that you are perceiving them as dumb because they are loud, rather than them being loud because they are dumb. Plus, if someone is dumb and quiet how would you know they are dumb at all? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/6 "2014-09-01T01:17:15Z")
Hearing a dumb person? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Oh, you meant stupid… 😃 ---
**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 1, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/7 "2014-09-01T01:17:19Z")
In a related vein, one of **Jackmannii’s Rules of Dining Out** states that, of the people at an adjoining table(s), the one with the most annoying voice talks the most. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/8 "2014-09-01T01:53:46Z")
> [@stringbean](#): > > so often you can tell a person is dumb because you hear them long before you see them. Why the common correlation? i HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!! ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/9 "2014-09-01T02:33:45Z")
Maybe they think, because everyone ignores them, that they need to speak louder? (it isn’t we didn’t hear you, it is because we think what you said is not worthy of response - a lesson they cannot comprehend.) Some dumb people learn to keep quiet during intelligent conversations above there comprehension. Too often, these are school kids in classrooms with an overworked, underpaid teacher who is quite happy not to have to correct yet another student who doesn’t quite get it. And so the dumb kid falls further and further behind - and thinks the job cleaning up at $10/hr is a better deal than yet more D and pity C’s. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/10 "2014-09-01T02:43:06Z")
For the same reason that the loudest, dumbest, most Fox-news-spewing person ALWAYS sits next to my table in a restaurant or is next to me on my 12-hour flight. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/11 "2014-09-01T02:45:46Z")
Because they’re deaf? ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/12 "2014-09-01T02:56:39Z")
Maybe they drown out new information. They started out just loud, but years of it has made them the dummies they are today. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/13 "2014-09-01T03:12:00Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > For the same reason that the loudest, dumbest, most Fox-news-spewing person ALWAYS sits next to my table in a restaurant or is next to me on my 12-hour flight. Entertainment? ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/14 "2014-09-01T03:14:35Z")
They’re not necessarily dumb - in fact, some may be scarily smart - but many people I have encountered on the autistic spectrum seem to not be able to modulate their voices appropriately. I don’t know if that’ part of the effect you are seeing. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/15 "2014-09-01T03:21:32Z")
Individuals with Down Syndrome / trisomy 21 are loud because they have poor physical control of their voice: it’s part of the syndrome. Not that I think that’s what you meant, I just thought I’d add it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/16 "2014-09-01T03:25:20Z")
I would say it has more to do with insecurity than outright lack of intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/17 "2014-09-01T17:24:28Z")
No mention of Confirmation Bias yet? It is likely that Stringbean has encountered many “dumb” people who are not loud, but does not notice a correlation for dumb = not loud. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/18 "2014-09-01T17:47:49Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > No mention of Confirmation Bias yet? > > It is likely that Stringbean has encountered many “dumb” people who are not loud, but does not notice a correlation for dumb = not loud. Do you notice a correlation for intelligent = voice at soft-to-moderate levels? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/19 "2014-09-01T18:03:55Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > You are confusing social ineptitude with intelligence. It’s very common for highly intelligent people to be socially inept, and equally common for “unintelligent” people to be very socially facile and easy-going. Actually, I’m proposing a lack of intelligence as a possible _cause_ for social ineptitude, which it certainly can be. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094/20 "2014-09-01T18:07:39Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > No mention of Confirmation Bias yet? > > It is likely that Stringbean has encountered many “dumb” people who are not loud, but does not notice a correlation for dumb = not loud. Ahem: > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > It’s quite possible that you are perceiving them as dumb because they are loud, rather than them being loud because they are dumb. Plus, if someone is dumb and quiet how would you know they are dumb at all? Perhaps I should have posted more loudly. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-dumb-people-often-very-loud/697094.md?page=2)