“Just because I disagree with you doesn’t make you stupid.”
There’s a trend around today: if I disagree with you, you’re stupid.
I frequently see partisans on both sides of American politics call the other party’s Presidential candidate, or his policies, stupid. This is ingratiating.
I’m one of those annoying motherf**kers that thinks that you can disagree with someone and still respect them. I also think that you can disagree with someone’s position and still understand the basis of their argument.
Examplia gratis: taxation. Liberals generally argue that taxes should be higher so that social programs and infrastructure can be fully funded, increasing the overall well-being of the country. Conservatives generally argue that taxes should be lower so that more funds can be spent consuming and investing, increasing the overall well-being of the country.
Both sides reject the other’s approach, and they usually do it as saying that “it’s stupid”. You know what’s stupid? What’s stupid is not spending a little time looking into how the other person’s framed their arguments, what their presuppositions are, and getting down to an evaluation of the assumptions that fundamentally drive the argument.
A wise man—I know not who—once said, “The level of a man’s intelligence is proportional to the degree with which he agrees with me.” While that’s generally true, I’d rather work from the assumption that we’re all reasonably intelligent and can disagree.
Again, that makes me an annoying motherf**ker. Of course, hearing people call people they don’t like stupid annoys me. It’s the circle of life.
This post is stupid. because I disagree with it. or something.
October 19th, 2004 at 14:15Your presuppositions for disagreeing with it are asinine, Reilly!
[This wasn't aimed at you. Really.]
October 19th, 2004 at 14:23Disagreement != Stupidity
October 19th, 2004 at 18:05Geoff has an interesting, but short, entry on the too-often used argument (actually name-calling) that happens during many disagreements. “If you don't agree with me, you're stupid!” I happen to agree with Geoff, and it's one of…
Well…I am stupid.
October 19th, 2004 at 21:14But you should never forget that there ARE stupid people out there in this world of ours. Calling people stupid because they disagree isn’t right. Calling people stupid because they’re stupid…that’s fair.
October 20th, 2004 at 08:46I prefer to think that these people aren’t stupid but, rather, just don’t think about things before they speak or act.
October 20th, 2004 at 10:15You’re such an optimist.
October 20th, 2004 at 14:08It lets me sleep better at night.
October 20th, 2004 at 15:06Greg Knauss on the Political Divide
Waxy has published an entry by Greg Knauss on the political divide in the United States of America.
Our culture has been swept along in a tide of emotionally-resonant, steadfastly anti-rational entertainment, and politics is at the head of the wave….
November 3rd, 2004 at 15:43