[Guest]

(Skip to the bottom if you don't want to hear my awesome story)

I am by no means perfect and I've had my share of dumb incidents in the past.

However I've always wondered what goes through peoples mind when they do dumb things ?

And how do you react ?

For example, I work a bullsh*t job while at school in which I control the lockings of an electronic gate.

Now people know I control this gate and they also know I unlock it ( Even those unfamiliar with the with the area know I control it)

Everytime someone is about to walk thru it, I pres a button to unlock it.

Now almost everyday ( The clients that go thru the gate are very wealthy) I'll have at least one person try and "pull" the gate, where you can clearly see it only opens by "pushing it". So as they stand there trying to pull it open they become frustrated and angry. Eventually they look at me and scream "unlock it"

Inwhich I respond with a small hand gesture that mimics me "pushing out" as if you're suppose to push the gate open"

Eventually they get the message and a complete dumb look falls upon their face.

Now this is one example, please think to yourself of all the examples inwhich you've seen people do dumb things.

So I wonder,

Is every equally intelligent at atleast some level ? As in, everyone knows not to cut off one another, everyone knows to yield when merging ?

If they do know this basic knowledge, are they just lazy to not actually behave in that manner?

Personally, I believe everyone has the knowledge ( of course except those who are rare) and people are just lazy.

I believe when people merge onto a highway , 99% of the time they know other cars are coming but the act of looking over, then seeing if it's clear etc.. seems like a lot of work and they find it easier to just swerve right out as others will react instinctively.

Also, please put yourself in their ( one's who act more stupidly than you) and see how they see the world.

Edited February 15, 2010 by Ionno

[Guest]

We had a thread about driving somewhere, started by akasickster

[unreality]

(Skip to the bottom if you don't want to hear my awesome story)

I am by no means perfect and I've had my share of dumb incidents in the past.

However I've always wondered what goes through peoples mind when they do dumb things ?

And how do you react ?

For example, I work a bullsh*t job while at school in which I control the lockings of an electronic gate.

Now people know I control this gate and they also know I unlock it ( Even those unfamiliar with the with the area know I control it)

Everytime someone is about to walk thru it, I pres a button to unlock it.

Now almost everyday ( The clients that go thru the gate are very wealthy) I'll have at least one person try and "pull" the gate, where you can clearly see it only opens by "pushing it". So as they stand there trying to pull it open they become frustrated and angry. Eventually they look at me and scream "unlock it"

Inwhich I respond with a small hand gesture that mimics me "pushing out" as if you're suppose to push the gate open"

Eventually they get the message and a complete dumb look falls upon their face.

Now this is one example, please think to yourself of all the examples inwhich you've seen people do dumb things.

So I wonder,

Is every equally intelligent at atleast some level ? As in, everyone knows not to cut off one another, everyone knows to yield when merging ?

If they do know this basic knowledge, are they just lazy to not actually behave in that manner?

Personally, I believe everyone has the knowledge ( of course except those who are rare) and people are just lazy.

I believe when people merge onto a highway , 99% of the time they know other cars are coming but the act of looking over, then seeing if it's clear etc.. seems like a lot of work and they find it easier to just swerve right out as others will react instinctively.

Also, please put yourself in their ( one's who act more stupidly than you) and see how they see the world.

As someone who has done my share of stupid things too, I think it's probably laziness too. We've evolved to conserve energy

It also depends what you mean by stupid. Sometimes you might call an activity stupid (such as certain drugs or smoking or drinking, what have you) but maybe you just don't understand the why, the how, the what of the situation. You see college kids hungover the next day and think they're stupid, well maybe they are, maybe they aren't. That kind of thing is a personal decision IMO.

The same case-by-case justification can extend to other situations but not as often - for example, maybe the guy swerving out into the lane has a pregnant woman inside giving birth, or is being chased by government agents who think he's responsible for a political assassination, or he needs to deliver a pizza really fast (or all three - what a movie that would be!). Now 99% of the cases are going to be just that: pure stupidity and laziness, maybe some peer pressure. I'm thinking mainly of driving here, but there are other stupid things that are less dangerous... like pushing a door instead of pulling or vice versa. etc. Sometimes a person is really distracted or stressed, etc. There are a lot of factors

Edited February 15, 2010 by unreality

[Guest]

Judging someones actions as stupid is not that simple. Stupid can mean slow to learn, or tending to make careless mistakes or poor decisions. I'll give an example of something I did that I'm sure anyone that witnessed it thought I was an idiot. I was waiting in the lobby of a hotel for a shuttle bus that was due to arrive. When it finally arrived I was focused on the bus and started to walk toward it. I walked face first into the clear glass door at the entrance to the hotel. My glasses broke and I ended up with a black eye. As naturally as I could manage, I bent down to pick up the pieces to my broken glasses, opened the door and went to the bus. (By the way, nobody ever came over to see if I was hurt.) Was that a display of stupidity? To anyone watching it certainly was. I was so intent on not missing the bus that I blocked out my surroundings and walked into a door. The lighting was just right so that it showed no glare and appeared invisible from my perspective.

[Guest]

I think that "thinking" that someone did something stupid is the easiest thought we can give of a certain action since we're not in the other person's place (or mind) to see the reasining behind their action. Like unreality said, something may look stupid to us (the driving example), but it depends on a lot of variables that come into place and that are completely unknown to us.

But if you think about it.... What is considered a "stupid action"? Is it something "I" wouldn't do because "I" consider it stupid? This can be seen like in different cultures, there are some things that different cultures do that we may consider stupid, but they're completely normal somewhere else. So (like stated before) I think that calling something (or someone) stupid because of one thing they did is probably "acting stupid" ourselves, since we don't know the reasoning behind their actions or the other variables that influence a certain decision.

Although I have to say that I'm the kind of people that sometime says "What a stupid" when someone does something wrong...

Just my humble thoughts.

[akaslickster]

My input: I believe people make most mistakes, errors, and accidents by being in a hurry and failing to read signs that may need to be larger at times.

[Guest]

I agree. I do stupid things most when I'm not paying attention, in a hurry, or just being lazy.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Semper Rideo

[EDM]

My siblings do stupid things all the time......ON PURPOSE!!!

It completely annoys me.....

but i do stupid things to them too....

*and no....i'm not talking about pranks....

Edited February 20, 2010 by EDM

[onetruth]

Yeah, I usually get embarrassed when I do dumb things like that because it isn't intentional. I get pissed when it's something dangerous and the other person is clearly doing it on purpose - like a young guy driving too fast and swerving in and out of traffic. If it's accidental and the person waves apologetically, then I don't mind, because we all do it. But when the other person doesn't seem to care that she almost ran you off the road, into a crew of construction workers because she swerved into your lane to cut off a full school bus (true story!) and then laughs about it when you roll down your window to scream profanities at her, it doesn't make me too happy. It makes me feel like screaming profanities. Oh, and she was on her cell phone.