Why are some people so stupid?

[V Junior]

This is a long story made short.

It all starts a few days - yes, days - ago, when everyone saw someone on my school bus (let's call her... Lesta) was seen sniffing glue. Yes, sniffing glue. Lesta is a druggie. Of course, I had to tell, so I told the Deputy Headteacher under the name 'Jani A. Horton'. All good, right? (Remember
this glue part, it's important)

No!

The very next day, she hits me with a bag for accidentaly knocking it off the bus seat!

I should explain ; Lesta is not a very nice person. Maybe she comes from a bad primary, maybe a bad home. Maybe she's jut ignorant. But whatever, she's not very nice, loads of people can't stand her. She's a bit of a boaster too.

Of course, yesterday, she shows her colours by stealing another child's seat (My friend... Haley, let's say), and then attacked her when Haley tried to get it back!

Haley was crying her eyes out. Lesta had really hurt her. Lesta was banned from using the school bus service, and, as a result, may not be able to get to school.

I can't help but think that none of this would ave happened if Lesta had ust stopped, thought, and stopped sniffing glue. She's now in big trouble with the police, school, everyone at school, and at home too most likely.

Why do people do this to themselves?

Why are some people... SO SO STUPID?

[Tempest Fennac]

Sadly, I think "a lot of people are morons" is the only real answer to the question. A lot of them probably think that they are being clever by acting in that way (on the bright side, if she won't be able to get to school, she won't be able to bother you or your friends, or take up educational resources whoch could be spent on people who don't act like idiots).

[Exeson]

Because people work differently. Some people are just like that, as for being stupid - well, thats fine, it is her life after all, all you have to worry about is that you don't do the same to yours.

[CharlieSmiles]

Darwin works in mysterious ways

[Shadic]

Of course, yesterday, she shows her colours by stealing another child's seat (My friend... Haley, let's say), and then attacked her when Haley tried to get it back!
What's so important with sitting in a specific place anyways? I mean.. Seriously.

Sure, the original kid is stupid, but by making such a big deal out of them, you're not making the situation any better. Don't like somebody? Ignore them.

[BlackStaticWolf]

Why are some people... SO SO STUPID?

<shrug> Genetics.

Some people are stupid. Some people are smart. This is something that everyone just has to learn how to deal with.


Edit: Yaar... typo.

[Sir_Norbert]

What's so important with sitting in a specific place anyways? I mean.. Seriously.

Sure, the original kid is stupid, but by making such a big deal out of them, you're not making the situation any better. Don't like somebody? Ignore them.
Methinks the original topic title could be applied to you. Ignoring someone who attacked another child is really not cool.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Because, apparently, condoms are difficult to acquire. Pay no attention to all the convience stores, supermarkets, Free Clincs and the like (where you can actually acquire them anonymously with basic sleight of hand).
<NOTE: I'm only saying that 'cause they're out in the open, not becuase they cost something, if you're really worried about someone seeing you grab a condom, palm it. Not that you should be worried, you're in a free clinc, anyway.>

Honestly, now:
Some people are just STUPID. Deal with it. They will always be around and we can't exterminate them - we need somebody to "clean the toilets", as I put it. Moral of the story is to take advatantage of idiots, offer unto them Bread and Circuses.

[Telonius]

There's a distinction you ought to make, between stupidity and ignorance. If somebody really doesn't know any better, they're ignorant. Their parents/teachers/friends/etc. didn't tell them something. Ignorance isn't completely their fault. Even very intelligent people have "unknown unknowns" - stuff that they didn't know that they didn't know. Nineteenth century women's literature is a known unknown for me - I know I don't know jack about it. But I can't point to a single unknown unknown of mine, because if I knew about it it'd be a known unknown.

Anyway, there's ignorant, and then there's stupid. And as Ron White says, you can't fix stupid.

[Gorbash]

This is a long story made short.
It all starts a few days - yes, days - ago, when everyone saw someone on my school bus (let's call her... Lesta) was seen sniffing glue. Yes, sniffing glue. Lesta is a druggie. Of course, I had to tell, so I told the Deputy Headteacher under the name 'Jani A. Horton'. All good, right? (Remember
this glue part, it's important)

And just why did you feel obligated to tell...?

She may not be a nice person, but it's also not nice getting someone in more trouble than they already are. If you were concerned for her well-being because of the glue sniffing, you could have just talked to her, if she wouldn't listen - it's not your problem. But reporting her is just lame...

[Trog]

Darwin works in mysterious ways
You, sir, have just won the internet. Or 10,000 lakes. Or what's behind dooor number 2.

[Sleet]

Many people have little impulse control and do not stop to consider the consequences of their actions. It's one of the reasons prisons are so crowded.

As for why that is so, the reasons are long and varied (many, many doctoral dissertations on psychology, sociology, and criminology are written about this question every year), but it comes down to human nature. Some people are just wired to be more prone to that, and in an environment that doesn't encourage careful and rational thought, blammo.

[Semidi]

And just why did you feel obligated to tell...?

She may not be a nice person, but it's also not nice getting someone in more trouble than they already are. If you were concerned for her well-being because of the glue sniffing, you could have just talked to her, if she wouldn't listen - it's not your problem. But reporting her is just lame...

Sniffing glue and huffing other things can cause severe brain damage. It would be wrong not to tell on her me thinks so she could get some help. Talking to her would have been apt methinks if she was a friend; I don't get the impression from the OP that she was. Now, I personally wouldn't dig it if someone I barely knew came up and told me that smoking causes cancer. I'd listen if they were a friend who I trusted.

Telling on her would probably have more of an effect, could have more of a n effect--I don't know. But if the person in question continued to do something that could cause hard-core brain damage after being told by an authority the harm it does, then they're stupid. Not ignorant, not misguided, not lead down the wrong path. Stupid. Getting into trouble, especially at school bus age, is an act of futility and meaningless compared to the long-term benefit of knowing the consequences of actions.

[EvilElitest]

Why are some people... SO SO STUPID?

meh, its always been like that, stupid people are everywhere

I blame the gnomes
from
EE

[thubby]

Methinks the original topic title could be applied to you. Ignoring someone who attacked another child is really not cool.

me thinks it could be applied to you sir. she wouldn't have done anything if no one made an incident out of where she sat.

[Sir_Norbert]

Really, I'm sure you know this because you were present at the scene....

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I"m not quite sure you can call her stupid due to the situation. I do have to say she was stupid for sniffing glue in the first place as drugs are bad for you. But addicts don't think rationally. Their main concern is how to get their next fix, and don't reason like someone who's sober would. With that in mind, I don't know think you can someone is acting stupid when they're not all there so to speak.

[Lorn]

It's called natural selection - eventually, the stupid genes get weeded out through car crashes and tragic yet hilarious accidents involving badgers, and small amounts of tungsten. Just keep calm and wait a while.



(Look on the plus side - she's not at school so you don't have to put up with her.)

[Shadic]

Methinks the original topic title could be applied to you. Ignoring someone who attacked another child is really not cool.
I'm not going to drop to casual insults, but you should think about how you interpret something before you throw out words yourself. If they had ignored the girl in question for "taking" her friend's seat, then all interaction with her would have been cut, and the friend would not have been "attacked."


Really, I'm sure you know this because you were present at the scene....
Kind of like how you were? You're making assumptions to fit what you want to say.

[Copacetic]

They Aren't. People are ignorant, selfish, lazy and greedy but no one is stupid. Everyone I know who has failing grades could do better, they are just LAZY People who sniff glue are Either to Ignorant to know what it does to you or to Selfish to find other forms of relief that don't hurt people around them. Or perhaps they are so Greedy they cannot stop.

Remember, you do not know what her home is like. It could be hell for all you know.

[Syka]

Sniffing glue and huffing other things can cause severe brain damage. It would be wrong not to tell on her me thinks so she could get some help. Talking to her would have been apt methinks if she was a friend; I don't get the impression from the OP that she was. Now, I personally wouldn't dig it if someone I barely knew came up and told me that smoking causes cancer. I'd listen if they were a friend who I trusted.

Telling on her would probably have more of an effect, could have more of a n effect--I don't know. But if the person in question continued to do something that could cause hard-core brain damage after being told by an authority the harm it does, then they're stupid. Not ignorant, not misguided, not lead down the wrong path. Stupid. Getting into trouble, especially at school bus age, is an act of futility and meaningless compared to the long-term benefit of knowing the consequences of actions.

I'm with you. I don't tell unless someone is getting hurt. In this case, the girl was hurting herself. In other situations I'll talk to the person, but also I don't think that would have worked in this case given the girls apparent disposition.

Plus I wouldn't want to confront someone on a high. :smalleek:

Cheers,
Syka

[Cuddly]

Sniffing glue and huffing other things can cause severe brain damage. It would be wrong not to tell on her me thinks so she could get some help. Talking to her would have been apt methinks if she was a friend; I don't get the impression from the OP that she was. Now, I personally wouldn't dig it if someone I barely knew came up and told me that smoking causes cancer. I'd listen if they were a friend who I trusted.

Telling on her would probably have more of an effect, could have more of a n effect--I don't know. But if the person in question continued to do something that could cause hard-core brain damage after being told by an authority the harm it does, then they're stupid. Not ignorant, not misguided, not lead down the wrong path. Stupid. Getting into trouble, especially at school bus age, is an act of futility and meaningless compared to the long-term benefit of knowing the consequences of actions.

How does getting someone in trouble with the cops hurt them compared to some harmless teenage (tweenage?) drug use? Most people who try or dabble with drugs, despite what your government education attempted to indoctrinate you with, don't become brain dead rapist psycho tv stealing criminals. That's what we call a myth, m'kay?

You know what does hurt? Permanent records.

[Ego Slayer]

Sadly, I think "a lot of people are morons" is the only real answer to the question.
Someone please tell me I'm not the only one who is concerned about the girl. "She's stupid/a moron" is not, in my not-so-humble opinion, an educated conclusion. There are possibly serious psychological issues behind it, and I wish people wouldn't pass them off as "stupidity", be critical, or feed the problem with anger or ignorance.

Maybe I'm just too empathetic?

And, I don't think we should be going too much into her use of drugs, as it's an inappropriate topic here... I'd be interested in seeing the rest of the topic prevail...

[averagejoe]

Someone please tell me I'm not the only one who is concerned about the girl. "She's stupid/a moron" is not, in my not-so-humble opinion, an educated conclusion. There are possibly serious psychological issues behind it, and I wish people wouldn't pass them off as "stupidity", be critical, or feed the problem with anger or ignorance.

Maybe I'm just too empathetic?

Nah, going into this I was planning to say something like, "One often finds that 'stupid people' tend to become less stupid if one bothers to understand them." But then I saw this post, and decided that saying it would be redundant.

[Kjata]

How does getting someone in trouble with the cops hurt them compared to some harmless teenage (tweenage?) drug use? Most people who try or dabble with drugs, despite what your government education attempted to indoctrinate you with, don't become brain dead rapist psycho tv stealing criminals. That's what we call a myth, m'kay?

You know what does hurt? Permanent records.

Hell yeah. That pot i smoked freshmen year isnt doing **** to me now, but that ****ing *POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA* mark on my arrest record sure as hell is when i want a job. All because some goody 2 shoes bitch felt like she needed to tell because i had a little ****ing sack of pot in my pocket. You know what got me to quit? Not the cops. **** them.

My best friend telling me to.

[SDF]

Ahh NARC! *hides from NARC :P*

Is sniffing glue illegal? Can you even buy toxic glue anymore?

EDIT: Nope, not illegal in the US. Which makes sense because it would be impossible to regulate and enforce.

[Tempest Fennac]

Over here, buying the glue isn't illegal, but I think sniffing it is a minor criminal offence. Considering what America's like regarding drug use, I would assume it carries some sort of legal penalty. I know that a lot of things still contain solvents (my deodorant has a "Solvent abuse can kill instantly" warning on the side of it). By the way, EgoSlayer, I was basing my comment on both personal expecrience andthe fact that American law is so harsh when it comes to drug use that you would need to be incredibly ignorant of social norms (it's been like this since the '80s) or stupid to think that openly taking drugs of any kind in public (including solvents in this case) would be a good idea.
Admittedly, I hate the dea of being involed with any sort of drugs, so I'm bias in this case (regarding Cuddly's comment, I'd say that if there's even only a slight chance that someone who is on drugs would hurt someone else, which is more likely to happen if they are addicted and need money to support the habit, that's more then enough reason for them to be illegal).