A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.
-- Granville Hicks
Good one.
There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I feel that. I think that's why I have problems liking young men, especially teenage boys in groups. They are all about aggressive stupidity. It's often like they're proud of being stupid and aggressive.
Nothing is as certain as that the vices of leisure are gotten rid of by being busy.
-- Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius, 64 A.D.
Well, duh. That's like saying the problems of dryness is gotten rid of by applying water.
"There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity" - we also say: "There is no salvation from a fool with initiative". I think those are not as direct sayings as they sound. Definitely not about aggressive teenagers. More like about aggressive initiative fools heading public services - those always make more damage than any group of stupid teens.
ReplyDeleteSure. I was just going off on a tangent.
ReplyDeleteWell, duh. That's like saying the problems of dryness is gotten rid of by applying water.
ReplyDeleteThat reaction is what you get from taking quotes out of context. Of course Latin quotations are notoriously difficult to translate. I don't know about other languages.
How do I know this? I have a Ph.D. Therefore my opinions should be given greater weight than those who lack Ph.Ds.
"I think that's why I have problems liking young men, especially teenage boys in groups. They are all about aggressive stupidity."
ReplyDeleteAnd older men aren't?
Not nearly as much.
ReplyDeleteJoe, you're not gonna let the Ph.D. thing go in a hurry, are you. :-)
I'm sorry, but this idea that young people are stupid and older people aren't is something that irritates me a lot. Mostly cause I've never seen it in real life. Sure, older people pretend to be more mature, but they're every bit as ignorant. As far as I can see, most people never really progress beyond fifteen. If anything, I'm more distrustful of the older ones because society lets them put their stupidity into action.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, Jes, and...I have also found many, who have *letters* behind their name, that aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, either! ;-)
ReplyDeleteEven as a kid, I found I could easier talk to adults. They were interested in *talking* to me, not ridiculing me or putting me down.
ReplyDeleteSure, there are kids you can have a meaningful talk with. Some.
Another aspect is that even when intelligence is the same, young men, especially in groups and in public, *act* very stupid. They are all about provoking others.
Joe, you're not gonna let the Ph.D. thing go in a hurry, are you. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm pretty much done. :-)
"They were interested in *talking* to me, not ridiculing me or putting me down."
ReplyDeleteLol yeah, adults usually wait till you're out of sight to do that. I will agree though that older people at least pretend to be mature even when they're not. But in my life's experience, I just haven't seen any evidence that age has anything to do with intelligence.
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ReplyDeleteI think Seneca was also trying to point out that dryness is a big problem.
ReplyDelete"Because I deserve it." ;-)
I heard that, TC!
ReplyDeleteDibutil Ftalat,
ReplyDeleteLocal politicians love to recruit aggressive and stupid teenagers as their supporters. In groups, they are lethal. Made even more dangerous from the fact that they need no solid motive to attack. Heated up enough and deprived of a target, they'll fight against each other, and I mean their buddies!
Read in a Roman era comic adventure, when an African prince is sent into the Circus: "These are Mandrills. In a pack, they can rip a panther to pieces."
"The moral of the story is" [The Duchess], before you laugh heartily at the sight of a joker with a clown face, count the blasted baboons. And use the Bat-signal! Holy Cercopithecidae!
"No, little Robin, observe: it is the leopard that is full of holes now."
Professor Dick said...
"Latin quotations are notoriously difficult to translate."
Mon Dieu! They even are when you're translating to French, sapristi!
Jes Ph. D. theorized...
"this idea that young people are stupid and older people aren't is something that irritates me a lot."
A poor fool is called a fool. A rich fool is called rich.
Youths are more on the "active stupid" side, while old fools tend to get lazy and adopt a style of " cretinic inertia".
Ask any useless drunk's wife after a few decades of hard time... I mean, marriage!
Dr Pascal, no Ph.D. whatsoever.
Dr Pascal, no Ph.D. whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should start signing your posts Pascal, MD. I'd totally respect your opinions more.