@hankster I live in Missouri and I've had to accept that there are just that many stupid people. I am not crazy about Biden, but I will vote for him if he gets the nomination.

@hankster ANYONE else except the chump!

There is stupidity and there is ignorance--two separate aspects. I am ignorant of the complexities of rocket science, but I am not stupid. I know my limits, though, and am not willing to tackle learning rocket science. There are about nine types of intelligence and mine is limited in math.

Sometimes, I say or do stupid things. When I do, I slap my forehead and exclaim (aloud or silently) "What the heck was I thinking?"

When ignorance and stupidity mix and the stupid think that they are smart, it is a bad mix.

@hankster is stupidity in others or your own "stupidity"? I cannot conceive of you being stupid--just ignorant.

@hankster ignorance is a state of unknowing. Stupidity can a bit more complicated, i.e. is delusion an aspect of stupidity? When people who have been in an abusive relationship, get out, and then go back to it, is that stupidity or delusion?

Learning from our mistakes denotes intelligence--some lessons are more concrete than others and there are different levels. If I do not know that fire will burn me, I will know after I stick my hand into the flame. Sticking it into the flame again is stupidity.

There are at least nine types of intelligence--social skills and working on cars are types of intelligence. I don't understand advanced algebra, but I don't want or need for various reasons. Some people do not seem to have any of the types of intelligence.

@hankster yes--my example of the fire is about consistency.

@hankster I agree on the abuse issue. Sometimes, fear also plays a part.

A person can have an explanation for doing "stupid" things, but nope, it doesn't make the action less stupid or make it logical. On the other hand, when I was a girl, I could get the answers to math problems, but the teachers would tell me it wasn't the "right" way to get them. I was told I MUST use the accepted process. Why? It I got the right answer, why did it matter how I got it? They even said their ways were "easier," but they weren't to me. I still wonder if this is why I developed a dislike for math.

What is logical to one person might not be logical to another even if they get the same result. I will say, though, that there have been times when I was shown how to solve an issue (not math) and the process was easier; likewise, I have shown the same to others.

What REALLY annoys me is when men tell me that I am doing something the wrong way and their way is better and won't leave it alone even though I am adamant about the issue. Women have never done this to me.

This also falls into the category of "mansplaining." In a flea market, a guy once told me how to refinished a cedar chest I was thinking about buying. I asked him if he had ever refinished a piece of furniture (I had refinished quite a few); nope, he hadn't, but dadgummit, he knew how to do so. He was basically telling me that I was either stupid or ignorant--maybe both.

@hankster I am bemused in situations such as the guy and the cedar chests, but he (like some others) wouldn't let it go. He kept talking to me even when I moved away. THAT is annoying.

@Gwen_Wanderer I have taught mathematics, and I can say that your mathematics teacher was an incompetent wretch. Moreover, he was blind to his own mathematical ignorance.

@anglophone this was over 60 years ago. However, it continued for decades and I was told the same in high school. When I took tests to get into a teaching program, we didn't have work sums, but it was still the status quo. However, when a neighbor of mine took the same tests a few years later, the emphasis had changed to allow for variations.

When I took the GRE to get into an MA program, I only had to score high on the sections on writing/English, but I still had to complete the other sections. One was on logic and the questions ran along the lines of if groggles are googles and all googles are poodles, are groggles poodles? I bombed the logic/math sections. When I retook the test about two years later to apply for a PhD program, the logic section had changed to figuring out the best way to solve a given scenario. I aced the logic section that time.

However, I didn't get into the PhD program because the school said none of their profs understand my MA thesis on Mary Shelley and Virginia Woolf's works and archetypal myth. They told me to check out the areas of expertise of their profs and to reapply. It was no loss as I was still able to reach college/university courses (including grad classes) and I would have been an adjunct just as I am now.