Very interesting, Petersko. You deserve to be correct, and I would have been stunned by your perceptivity a year and a half or so ago. I had the advantage of living with someone who gave me very nearly those exact words around that time, and I learnt a lot from them. You assume that I talk shit to stupid people wherever I find them, and I can see how you'd get that impression from the way that I write. However, I am also a lot more relaxed, or, arguably, fatalistic, than my online persona. I learned some time ago how irritating the person who always corrects everyone is. These days, I let most things go, because I just don't care enough. If people wish to be ignorant, or are stupid through no fault of their own, it doesn't bother me, generally speaking. I smile and walk away. I rarely get frustrated or upset, I just feel a vague pity mixed with amusement, elitist and superior though that may be.
However... take the person who interrupts an interesting discussion to interject an obvious point that is at best tangential, and most commonly irrelevant to, whatever is being discussed. Take the person who spews a hopelessly misinterpreted, second rate feminist argument, and upon being questioned screams about male oppression without providing evidence. Take the person who makes bold claims in a debate without thinking them through, and then, when pressed, explains that "that isnt what they meant, despite the fact they said something completely different they actually meant 'x' ". These people break my beloved calm. I dont get angry with them, because its such an unproductive way of approaching the world, but I do mock them. When someone pushes it past a certain point, I feel the need to point out the idocy of their arguments. One ignorant comment I can take. 2, fine. 3, still funny. 4, and I start getting incredulous. 5, I am actively trying to hold my tongue. 6... well, hit 6 and my thoughts come out. I realize this is one of my major character flaws, and I am sort of trying to eradicate it. In your example of the urban myth at the party, I would, and have, kept my mouth shut, because it gains me nothing and I just dont care that much. It wouldn't be a problem. However, if that same guy interrupted a discussion I was having, my lack of care would start to slip. A couple of stupid points and I can just think to myself, "How unfortunate for you". Keep filling the discussion with them, and then it all goes pear-shaped.
And I'm really not quite sure why. I hear the inferiority complex theory a lot, which is why I broached this topic, but I'm just not convinced. If I felt the need to demonstrate my intelligence every time someone spoke, I would be. But its not like that. I can ignore it, and indeed enjoy it, up to a certain point. Then it becomes tiresome, and then irritating. The people that incur my wrath just aren't people I feel inferior to. They are the tragically stupid, people so stupid they believe they are smart. Thus, I don't feel threatened by them, I just want them to shut up. The question for me is, why do I want them to shut up? Why can't I just laugh at them indefinitely? Why is there a point at which their inane babble becomes intolerable to me?
Your analysis would have nailed me, 100%, about two years ago. These days I honestly believe I've moved past that, and my behaviour would reflect that. I used to make endless enemies for fun, just because I didn't respect them. Now I am far more peaceful. Right up until someone starts crossing that line...
Have at it.