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Punishing idiots

I'm talking about those who have the means to better themselves but chose not to. I meet these people every single day.
from a former post :
there's not "mentally healthy people", "insane people" and "people who are stupid because they are lazy"

there's the whole spectrum from insane to "subjectively healthy"
there's no clear limit from one type of person and "the next type on this spectrum"

with your way of thinking, you're sure to include many "unable ones" in the "lazy group", be it only because they don't have the capacity to put their behaviour into question and not be lazy

it's easier to see others' flaws than your own
you may easily see that "this one could behave differently" whereas he is not aware of it

Ugly people can't rightly change their appearance without expensive surgery.

Ignorant people can immerse themselves in books, culture themselves by travelling and being open-minded, cutting down on television and video games, go to school, etc.
i think that you have yet to realise what it means to have mental difficulties

people don't have the same capacities to learn

it is just harder to guess the problems of someone's brain than to see what you don't like on his face

I'm not speaking in black and white.
you're not realising it, but that's what you're doing by imagining this clearly designed class of "ignorant people who just have to stop being lazy to change"

Toleragen isn't a word.

Don't advise anyone to open a dictionary unless you fully expect them to find the word there. If you were trying to feel intelligent, try again.
toleragen is a scientific word
what are you trying to prove?
do you think i even pretend to have known what it meant before i looked for the word preceding "tolerance" in the alphabetic order?
you missed the point of why i used it
 
Tolerogen is a medical word. Toleragen isn't a word.

an antigen used to introduce tolerance, particularly a form of an antigen (usually a soluble form) that induces tolerance, as distinguished from an immunogen, another form (usually an insoluble form) that induces immunity.

The word isn't used to criticize intolerant people, if that's what you were doing. Just call me intolerant next time. This way you won't come across as so dumb and pretentious.

By the way, were you even making a point?

Sounds to me like you were being argumentative for the sake of it, asking me to look up misspelled words in the dictionary for some vague reason that only you were aware of, and trying to project your poor comprehension skills onto me.

I'm aware some people are stupid and can't help it.

I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about people who can help it. I believe there can be a distinction drawn. You don't. We obviously differ in opinion on the matter, thus this incoherent rambling you've gotten yourself into.

I understand the point you were trying to make but I think it's a poor one.


Back to the original question.

No, I don't think there should be a punishment. Stupidity is its own punishment.

I think we should change the culture to a point where ignorance should no longer be commonplace. I think we should aspire to greater things.
 
The choices you are even capable of making are determined by where life leads you, which it could be argued is determined by a string of events starting anywhere up to 13+ billion years ago. It's not even a question of free will, it's just that the range of one's knowledge is the sum of what one is exposed to during life (and genetics). So I guess we are all to blame for their actions in a way.
 
thouart_that, this is absolutely ridiculous

there was an argument going on and you're arguing about a word i only used because i found it more fun than to just say "look up the word tolerance"

you want it, so here it is for you : toleragen
don't ask me if both writings are right or if one is wrong, i don't know what it is and don't care
the only thing was that if you look for tolera/ogen in a dictionary, you'll find tolerance

sorry that i didn't realise that it would be so hard to understand and that you'd imagine i was trying to make some kind of point with that
get back on earth

and waste less time calling others names, especially if you're the one who didn't get it in the first place, so that you can spend more time on the real topic

I believe there can be a distinction drawn. You don't.
cause i work with the same 1000 people every week and that i know enough examples to know what i am talking about
Stupidity is its own punishment.
yes it is

but punishment for what?
 
No I don't think we should punish stupid people anymore than we already do by having them think their best options for entertainment are watching Fox News seriously, and thus thinking in terms that actually goes against their own best interests. Stupid people punish themselves by marginalizing their own economic powers willfully, and arguing angrily that no one should help them, that should be enough punishment, but it's not good for society.
We should focus on improving our public education system to reduce the propagation of stupid people.
The difference between Einstein or Plato or DaVinci, and the average person is greater than the difference between an average person and a chimpanzee, though society plays a large part in making those few brilliant minds out there as miserable as possible by being so defiantly illogical and ridiculous. Drugs, suicide, or despair ruins many a brilliant person's path through life.
Compassion should be upheld as the chief value of admiration in today's world, not neglect or for those thinking at different speeds than those on the higher end of the bell curve.
 
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Yes, stupid people should be held accountable for their actions, otherwise they will never learn. To punish a stupid person? Nah, I believe being stupid is punishment enough because their own foolishness will bring them lower than you ever could. This is Karma.
 
Yes, stupid people should be held accountable for their actions, otherwise they will never learn. To punish a stupid person? Nah, I believe being stupid is punishment enough because their own foolishness will bring them lower than you ever could. This is Karma.

Fools reap the bitter fruits of their actions. No need to punish any more.
 
let he who is without some stupidity caste the first .... umm... big hurty thing
 
Ive punished certain ignorant people who make stupid remarks about someones skin color, gender, sexuality, etc by mocking them mostly or just ripping right into them to try and beat some sense into them. Granted they rarely pay attention to you if they are truly blind to their own ignorance. I have alot of experience with dealing with idiots who are ignorant as hell.
 
I am sometimes an idiot. Meaning I know basically nothing about something. I usually try to quickly educate myself so I am no longer an idiot when it comes that given situation or topic. We are all idiots about everything at some point in time.

This doesn't mean you are stupid. Even the brightest minds know nothing at first. A smart person will have the ability to avoid situations when they are unable to make a good educated decision.
 
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^^ That sounds like the opposite of an idiot. The ones who have it all figured out annoy me immensely. Once you think you know, you stop learning.

"No matter how long you teach a fool, he still knows everything."
-- Leonid Sukhorukov
 
how are you gonna classify an idiot? theres a chain in this world and you see people below you as idiots. those above you see you the same way


or maybe its more of a web, we all have idiotic tendencies and parts. u might be intellectually brilliant but an emotional idiot. and punish is such a negatively connotated word. i believe we should reprimend or teach instead of punish. you have skills in which you posses greater expertise than ours, and vice versa. you should be open to learn from your idiotic ways and teach others to avoid theirs.
 
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