Stupid

A logical conundrum

Presumably, one of the benefits of a broad liberal arts education is the development of critical thinking skills. Foundational to that would be a formal understanding of “logic.” This was a particularly memorable philosophy course as a freshman at Bucknell with Professor Martin. I still have that textbook from 1976.

So, when the concept of “stupid” was injected into last week’s, so-called “interview“ featuring Bret Baier “versus” Kamala Harris, it really got me thinking about how nearly half of voting Americans could actually be stupid. Harris dodged that nuclear question (as opposed to Hillary Clinton‘s “basket of deplorables“ comment, which in retrospect may have cost her the election). “Stupid” is a pretty toxic adjective, which rarely leads to a constructive relationship. Nobody wants to be called stupid, few people think that they are stupid, and kind of by definition, most people who are actually stupid don’t have the capacity to realize that they are stupid.

As I’ve contemplated this stupidness all week, I have continued to see examples of “stupid” thrust in my face on a nearly daily basis. Here is one that I think is indisputably stupid:

As a medical professional, I can tell you with confidence that this amateur assessment of urticaria and seasonal allergies is absurdly off base. So much so, that I have no hesitation in calling it a stupid thing to say. The question becomes, is the person who wrote this stupid? That is entirely possible. In this case, I submit that is not so. Trump is a lot of things, and stupid may be one of them, but here I see a calculated strategy, counting on the stupidity of those who read, believe, and amplify something so verifiably stupid. So I will go out on a limb and say that the 2.77 K followers who “retruthed” this post, and the 9.6 K who “liked” it do indeed fit the definition of stupid.

What about the (hopefully) much larger number of non-stupid Americans who read this stupid post, yet fail to recognize that it’s author is either himself stupid, or believes that his followers are stupid enough to accept something so stupid. A non-stupid individual should consider this to be quite offensive and insulting. There is the enigma. How does an intelligent, non-stupid American read this and think, “Yeah, that’s OK. I can get on board with this guy.” They must have some way of rationalizing or dismissing this as humorous, irrelevant, or trivial. That is troubling, because this is one of thousands of similar Trump utterances over the past 8+ years that can be considered stupid…. or one of stupid’s close cousins: ignorant, rude, vile, and mean. Any one of which would likely cost most of us our jobs should we say such a thing in the workplace.

As I contemplate the once unthinkable possibility of another four years with this SOB in the White House, perhaps there would be ways that his worst policies and initiatives could be countered by Congress or the courts (sure). But I dread most having to experience on a daily basis a continuing stream of such intellectual diarrhea, while trying to believe that somehow nearly half of Americans are not stupid. I’m not sure that I can bury my head deep enough into the sand to survive another 4-years of that. Not to mention the satellite stupidity that would be sure to come from JD and the basket of deplorables he invites into his administration.

Trying times. Nightmare soon to be over.

This post was composed quickly on my iPhone this morning, so please forgive any typos or poor English. I’ll repost an edited version this weekend.

Ted