Stupid people piss me off. It doesn’t help that I have to talk to them all day (one of the things I support is computer speakers… it takes a very special type of person to need support on computer speakers). But I can deal with them as long as they do what I say. Which they usually do because I’ll hang up on them if they don’t.
But in normal life… in normal life I can’t hang up on them. They just stand there in front of me slack jawed, the concept that I might be telling them something useful not even gracing their fragile little minds.
My friend is the worst. She is 23 and just got her liscence. And a big truck. The reason she just got her liscence is that her parents are too afraid to drive with her. I thought this was a joke at first. But she does things like waiting until the last minute to stop, changing lanes without signalling (or looking), and turning too early and running over curbs and sidewalks. Her response to me giving her any tips? “Tee-Hee. Its okay, I’m in a truck.” SHE ACTUALLY SAYS “TEE-HEE”. The other night she was helping me move a couch, and was backing up into a parking space. She lined up so that her head was in line with the space she wanted and tried to get into the space. She almost tagged the truck next to us. She pulled back to where she was before, and I told her to go forward a bit so she could get into the spot. She said, “I’m okay, tee-hee.” Went back and tagged the truck in back of us. Did she blink? Leave a note? Express any concern that she had dented someone’s truck? Nope.
Every time she stays over, she leaves out the back door. She is the only one that ever leaves out the back door. So I tell her “Please use the front door, so we don’t wind up with a door unlocked all day” (If you’ve read the desciption of my apt, you understand my concern over security.) Her response? “I can’t remember where I parked if I use the front door”. She is risking several thousand dollars of my property because she can’t navigate a parking lot!
So my point is… for some reason stupid people refuse to live in the same universe as the rest of us. They refuse to acknowledge that their actions may have conseqences for others. Is this a symptom or a cause of stupidity? I wish I knew.
Ignorance is curable, stupidity is chronic.
http://www.madpoet.com
Computers have let mankind make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns.
I don’t know if your topic question was rhetorical or not but, if you stop and think about it, they are stubborn because they don’t have any alternative. If you can’t conceive of doing something any other way you’d better stick like glue to the way you’re doing things now.
“If ignorance were corn flakes, you’d be General Mills.”
Cecil Adams The Straight Dope
She’s actually not stupid. She’s rolling right over everyone else (literally, in her monster truck) - no one has told her she can’t. If I were you I would have had enough a long time ago - she would have heard these words:
If you can’t go out the front door you can’t stay here anymore.
Your driving is dangerous and I’m not riding with you anymore.
Maybe she wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore, but with friends like her, who needs the Grim Reaper?
To answer the original question, “Why are stupid people so stubborn?”
I forget who said it first, but a very wise person once noted “You cannot reason someone out of an argument they weren’t reasoned into in the first place.”
The girl has been my friend since high school… a little late to back out now. That, and she’s the same girl that I mentioned in my sleeping with friends thread. It wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t feel like shit for trying to show her the light… every guy she’s gone out with has belittled and abused her she gets all sad and dejected when I start in.
Gah.
http://www.madpoet.com
Computers have let mankind make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns.
I’m sorry but it is so easy for these manipulative beeyatches to screw with guys minds! All they have to do is get a little misty and some guys will believe anything they hear!
It’s never too late to get rid of someone who makes your life Hell. You do not deserve that crap! Call me cold, but I just dropped a friend I’ve had for over ten years because she is the same way.
*“Don’t disagree with my opinions or I’ll get upset.”
“Don’t answer my questions truthfully or I’ll say you’re not really my friend.”
“Stand back and watch me ruin my life - don’t say anything or I’ll say you’re interfering. But if you don’t warn me I’ll blame you for the bad things that happen!”*
In other words, I’m responsible for every emotion she has, every decision she makes. I did not sign up to be her mother!
You just added yourself to the long list of people who are unwilling to confront her about her reprehensible behavior.
I think “stubborn” is a natural component of “stupidity,” as mentioned above. It goes along with the notion of narrow-mindedness. Of course, it is possible to be so open-minded that one’s brains fall out, but that can be addressed in another thread.