Why is questioning someone's intellectual capacities an insult?

[DGuller]

Marty is hillarious 

In Polish society, is it okay to call someone unfit/ugly/whatever? And it puzzles him that people are offended by being called less intelligent than himself?

God damn.

I guess you are not very smart.

Of course any unwarranted or out of context criticism of another person can be offensive, but when done in the appropriate context and in a way that does not use insulting words, it's acceptable. It is quite acceptable, for example, for my personal trainer to tell me that I am not very fit and need to train more; or for a stylist or a plastic surgeon to tell a client that his or her looks are not perfect and what he or she needs to change about it - on the other hand, telling someone their intellect is lacking would be almost always perceived as an insult.

One reason may be that intelligence is largely immutable.  If you're stupid, it's usually terminal.

[grumbler]

I guess you are not very smart.

Of course any unwarranted or out of context criticism of another person can be offensive, but when done in the appropriate context and in a way that does not use insulting words, it's acceptable. It is quite acceptable, for example, for my personal trainer to tell me that I am not very fit and need to train more; or for a stylist or a plastic surgeon to tell a client that his or her looks are not perfect and what he or she needs to change about it - on the other hand, telling someone their intellect is lacking would be almost always perceived as an insult.

One reason may be that intelligence is largely immutable.  If you're stupid, it's usually terminal.

Marti analogy = FAIL, as usual.

You are correct.  The proper analogy for Marti's first two cases is the boss telling an employee that he or she is not educated or trained well enough for the promotion.

[Jaron]

Pointing out anyones short comings is considered rude. I don't see intellect as being unique there. I can call someone short, fat, ugly, sloppy, dumb and it is all insulting.

Human societies put a great emphasis on intelligence. To be told you "ain't got it" is going to be a cause for concern.

What I see in people around me is not so much a lack of intellect, but a failure to use what they have efficiently. Arrogance in that they believe they already have everything they need to know. Those who humble themselves and seek out knowledge are the people who generally become viewed as 'intelligent'.

That isn't to say there isn't a raw intelligence in that equation. It is more of a matter of ignorance than raw intelligence though.

I would say, and I say this with love, that Martinus' problem is not that he is dumb, but that he is arrogant and looks down on other people rather than trying to learn from what they tell them. I am not the most intelligent person in the world, nor am I the dumbest, but my successes multiplied when I learned to shut up and listen to what people were saying to me.

[The Brain]

I would say, and I say this with love, that Martinus' problem is not that he is dumb, but that he is arrogant and looks down on other people rather than trying to learn from what they tell them. I am not the most intelligent person in the world, nor am I the dumbest, but my successes multiplied when I learned to shut up and listen to what people were saying to me.

How many Jumbo Jacks can you make a minute these days?

[Jaron]

I would say, and I say this with love, that Martinus' problem is not that he is dumb, but that he is arrogant and looks down on other people rather than trying to learn from what they tell them. I am not the most intelligent person in the world, nor am I the dumbest, but my successes multiplied when I learned to shut up and listen to what people were saying to me.

How many Jumbo Jacks can you make a minute these days?

Sir, where I live..Jack in the Box does not even exist.

[The Brain]

I would say, and I say this with love, that Martinus' problem is not that he is dumb, but that he is arrogant and looks down on other people rather than trying to learn from what they tell them. I am not the most intelligent person in the world, nor am I the dumbest, but my successes multiplied when I learned to shut up and listen to what people were saying to me.

How many Jumbo Jacks can you make a minute these days?

Sir, where I live..Jack in the Box does not even exist.

[DGuller]

Looks like Mormonism has done Jaron a world of good. 

[Valmy]

"You come from a poorer background than me, and my daddy paid me a higher education; Therefore, I am of higher birth than you and thus know more general stuff than you do. Bow to me, peasant!".

Wait I thought education was free for all in socialist Euro land.  What happened?

[Martim Silva]

Wait I thought education was free for all in socialist Euro land.  What happened?

It is free in public schools/universities, but...

1) Nothing prevents the rich from sending their kids to Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, etc...

2) The number of places in public universities is rather limited, and often the rich kids (that could concentrate better in their studies than the poor, getting better books and off-school tutors) occupy most of them. That leaves the poorer kids with either the option to give up higher education or be student workers in order to pay for a degree in a private university. This is a problem the country is yet to solve.

(over here, private universities are often less regarded than public ones)

[Razgovory]

I agree with Martim.

There are plenty of guys that us Languish-tards might think of as dumb rednecks, but they might know a car engine inside-out, or be able to disassemble/reassemble a transmission...while we'd hold a monkey wrench with a stupid look on our face.

Speak for yourself, I never have insulted Dguller intellect.

[dps]

Are you going to seriously compare the vocals of Brent Smith to Johnny Van Zant? Plz.

Psh.  Johnny van Zant has done an admirable job of impersonating his brother for the last....what....30 years now?  Skynyrd has been with Johnny longer than Ronnie, but w/e. 

More like 25 years.  The plane crash was in 1977, but it was a decade before the band
reunited with Johnny.

I for one not only realize there are smarter people around, I can remember when _I_ was smarter than I am now. I seem to have lost the edge with age (or maybe with illness). Especially when it comes to focus.

I can kind of agree with that.  I think I'm just as smart as I ever was, but I don't seem to able to focus as well as I used to.  OTOH, I'm less ignorant than I used to be--that is to say, I know things now that I didn't know 10, 20, 30 years ago.

[Valmy]

1) Nothing prevents the rich from sending their kids to Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, etc...

Yeah but that is not Marty.  Or anybody on this board.  Garbon went to Stanford but not because of his fantastically rich daddy.

(over here, private universities are often less regarded than public ones)

Over here Public Universities and Private ones are not less or more regarded on that basis.  Generally the truly horrible ones tend to be private but also alot of the best ones are private as well.

[The Brain]

It seems unlikely to me that Harvard or similar makes you intelligent.

[grumbler]

It seems unlikely to me that Harvard or similar makes you intelligent.

The smartest guy I ever met was smarter than anyone who ever went to Harvard.

[Razgovory]

It seems unlikely to me that Harvard or similar makes you intelligent.

The smartest guy I ever met was smarter than anyone who ever went to Harvard.

Let me guess, you met this guy looking in a mirror?