Why do I bother talking to idiots?

[Liv2Ski]

Well said lissa. When and why, I am not sure but when they hand out trophies to the team that loses it makes mediocre acceptable. My wife was buying into this crap when my daughters were starting to play sports. I put a stop to it. No winning is not everything and we all most lose sometimes. To make my point I asked them who lost the last Superbowl or World Series. They understood and now play their hearts out. If they lose it is OK and if they win we celebrate the success and learn from what helped make them win (same for the loss). Nobody wants to hurt little Johnnies feelings these days so we sugar coat a loss. We end up with people that want to have a pat on the back because they showed up for work. It does not matter how well they played just that they showed up.

This thread has gone south pretty quick. Fact is the OP posted about a guy that lacked common sense and basic math skills. A person that had the opportunity to possibly learn something but chose the path of being a "know it all". Probably one of the ones who has a shelf full of trophies just because he showed up for the game.

BTW - I still stand by my assumption that he was most likely in politics

Happy vapes all and please do not drown

 

[BostLabs]

I've been following this thread for a bit. Lets take a look at this part.

Me - "It costs me $20 for 2 weeks of liquid, vs $11 per pack of cigarettes"
Idiot - "So you're saving $4"
Me (shaking head in amazement - "No, it costs $20 for 2 whole weeks instead of $11 every day"
Idiot - "Oh, so you're saving about $9"

Ok, I'm no math whiz and my wife will tell you that freely. However even I can tell that $20.00 for two weeks of vaping vs $11.00 per day does not equal $9.00. According to my calculator that is a savings of $134.00 Even from the first statement he got it wrong big time. Even I can count that in my head. 20-11=9. So if he didn't pay attention to JR correcting him he needed to do a little more thought.
If JR wasn't caught off guard with that guy he could have said "I spend $20.00 on vaping every two weeks vs $154.00 for cigarettes." In fact, I'm putting that fact in my pea brain for future use.

The second part about water. Ok not everyone considers this but we take in water through our lungs every day. Air has water vapor all by itself (Even in Arizona! ). You take a shower or are in a steamy room you are taking in water. The way this guys says it, it sounds like we are putting a hose to our mouth and taking a lung bath. There is no way we are going to drown from the same amount of water vapor we take into our lungs by vaping.

The real point here is the guy came into the conversation with a very closed mind. So closed, in fact, that there was no way JR could reason with him because he knew the TRUTH even though his truth was false. The guy lost, and everyone around knew it except him.

I certainly didn't take that JR was picking on him or making fun. My take that JR was astounded by the brick this guy was.

I have infinite patience when dealing with challenged individuals. In fact, a few I consider my friend. One is scary smart in some things, not so much in common, everyday stuff. But when he wants to talk I listen and converse with him. There are times where he leaves me behind let me tell you! Scarey smart. I think I'm pretty smart with IT, but I'm no where in his class on it. And yes, that was a very humbling experience the first time he went scary smart on me.

Some people are challenged and some people choose to be dumb. The guy JR was talking to is the latter.

 

[FeistyAlice]

Smart People Don't Think Other People Are Stupid. That is the "truth of things" for me, so I guess we'll just agree to disagree on worldviews.

I'm smart, well educated, and very tolerant. I rarely feel superior rather very scared by INTELLIGENT people being stupid; most notably those in power (various leaders, politicians) who do have the ability to harm so many people driven by their righteous BELIEFS most often religiously based.

Feisty Alice



Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Crash Moses]

You can't reason someone out of something they haven't been reasoned into.

 

[mare ze dotes]

Intelligent people being stupid!! Yes. therein lies my problem.

 

[orbach]

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein

 

[Uma]

OP! I feel so much better about my own sorry math skills now, after reading the OP. That is pathetic!!

 

[asf146]

I'm sure he works for the FDA. lol

BUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

[Statistic]

I have successfully isolated the exact moment when this conversation could have gone right but instead blissfully tumbled downhill...

How it could have gone:

Idiot - "Oh, so you're saving about $9.50 a day. Wow that's awesome!"

 

[DC2]

I can excuse ignorance, and make an effort to correct it.
I can excuse lack of intelligence (in conventional terms) because it is what it is.

But I can never excuse people who think they know something they really don't know at all.
I have zero patience and zero tolerance for that.

I don't know why people hear something from one source, no matter how dubious, and think it is gospel.
And I really don't know why people are so afraid of the words "I don't know" these days.

I consider myself to be intelligent, but I say "I don't know" as many times per day as possible.
It's a really good habit to get into.

 

[BostLabs]

I can excuse ignorance, and make an effort to correct it.
I can excuse lack of intelligence (in conventional terms) because it is what it is.

But I can never excuse people who think they know something they really don't know at all.
I have zero patience and zero tolerance for that.

I don't know why people hear something from one source, no matter how dubious, and think it is gospel.
And I really don't know why people are so afraid of the words "I don't know" these days.

I consider myself to be intelligent, but I say "I don't know" as many times per day as possible.
It's a really good habit to get into.

That phrase has enabled me to do so much in IT. I do phrase it slightly different though. "I don't know, but I will research it and get back to you shortly."

I'm not a subject matter expert when I get back to them (shortly), but I do have enough information to speak intelligently about it.

 

[l_strider_l]

"Where do these people come from?"

Like cockroaches in a sewer man, everywhere

 

[DC2]

That phrase has enabled me to do so much in IT. I do phrase it slightly different though. "I don't know, but I will research it and get back to you shortly."

I'm not a subject matter expert when I get back to them (shortly), but I do have enough information to speak intelligently about it.

One of my BIGGEST pet peeves is when I hear the words "I think" when calling customer service.
Either tell me something without using those words, or get someone on the phone who can answer without using those words.

I didn't call for your opinion.
I called for an answer.

Sigh...

 

[l_strider_l]

Me and the rest of the crowd are just shocked by the stupidity

Unfortunately, this is one of the most pervasive diseases facing our society today. We need to dig deep and find a cure, lest our children's children devolve back into Amoebae

 

[ScottP]

LOL at the people that are getting offended. I am really sick of the New Politically Correct World Order. IMHO if someone is weak enough to give someone else the power to control their emotions by mere words then they DESERVE to be offended. People need to grow some thicker skin and STOP getting "offended" by everything and anything someone else says. I don't even know how comedians are still in business since MOST comedy is making fun of someone which it seems most people want to outlaw these days.

That said ignorance is the lack of knowledge on a subject. Stupidity is the strong desire to remain ignorant while acting like a subject expert to the point you will argue against all common sense or reasoning. Which the person in the OP's post was. The post was humorous, so get over it.

 

[xyanide]

I implore everyone to lean down from the elitist clouds of vapor, get off the high horse they used to reach those clouds and just explain in bite-sized pieces if people don't know or have the wrong idea. The worst that can happen to things like vaping is spreading ignorance, which is the same as ignoring ignorance if you'd ask me.
If you don't like the hassle of education then maybe try stealth vaping.

 

[l_strider_l]

The real point here is the guy came into the conversation with a very closed mind. So closed, in fact, that there was no way JR could reason with him because he knew the TRUTH even though his truth was false.

Closed mindedness is the carrier for the stupidity virus. Ignorant and emphatic statements of falsity are the symptoms

 

[BostLabs]

I implore everyone to lean down from the elitist clouds of vapor, get off the high horse they used to reach those clouds and just explain in bite-sized pieces if people don't know or have the wrong idea. The worst that can happen to things like vaping is spreading ignorance, which is the same as ignoring ignorance if you'd ask me.
If you don't like the hassle of education then maybe try stealth vaping.

But how to you teach those who refuse to learn? The Marine Corps had a great way to open closed minds on a subject. It involved pain but it worked. Now they have mellowed over the years but there is still ways to teach via pain that doesn't involve striking someone. They would exercise the devil out of you. I was an apt student at one point.

But in polite society that isn't an option. And sometimes words are just not going to do it. What then?

 

[DC2]

If you don't like the hassle of education then maybe try stealth vaping.

I can go along with that.

If I am not in the mood, or I don't have the time to educate, I usually semi-stealth vape.
I'll blow my clouds downwards so no one really sees them but me.

But it would be great if we were all in the mood, and had the time to educate.
Ignorance is our MAIN obstacle, and we are on the front lines of the battle to overcome it.

 

[ScottP]

I implore everyone to lean down from the elitist clouds of vapor, get off the high horse they used to reach those clouds and just explain in bite-sized pieces if people don't know or have the wrong idea. The worst that can happen to things like vaping is spreading ignorance, which is the same as ignoring ignorance if you'd ask me.
If you don't like the hassle of education then maybe try stealth vaping.

Did you not read the OP? He was trying to explain it but the other guy was the one acting like he was on a know it all high horse.

Me - "And I'm not inhaling tar and carbon monoxide"
Idiot - "Yeah, but you're inhaling water into your lungs"
Me (I've pretty much abandoned any hope of intelligence, so I let him believe it's water instead of PG and VG) - "Yeah?"
Idiot - "I'd rather tar and carbon monoxide, 'cause at least I'm not getting water in my lungs"

Re-read the last line there. This is a guy that has no interest in becoming enlightened to the ways of vaping. This is a guy that will proudly remain ignorant at his own peril. He probably walked away feeling superior and went off to tell his friends about the "stupid person" he met that is trying to drown himself with an eCig. His friends will probably laugh at him too unless they are just as stupid.