Aibu to worry about general public intelligence

[Collectivethoughts]

Aibu to be worried about the intelligence of the general public?
I know intelligence is generally a bell curve with most people falling in the middle with minoritys falling either side.
Im in no way saying im extremely intelligent because im not but I would say i use critical thinking.
For example hearing other people in the supermarket over the weeks. People swearing at each other, stopping dead in the centre of an aisle so no one can get through and actually being oblivious to themselves blocking others. Some of the conversations I hear.
Then in my job, having to tell people how to parent when thats not really my job. Parents actually being clueless on what to do I.e seeking further help.
Recent political things. Some people think if they just shout loud it means they're correct without any critical thinking and weighing up sides, policies and mandates.
Im finding the general public harder and harder to be a part of and overly frustrating to be apart of as in finding most dont want to engage with any critical thinking.
Aibu?

Fenestram elige, gallina, as they would say in the West End of Glasgow.

Fair enough.
My posts have terrible spelling, grammar and punctuation. And yet Im one of the most over educated people I know AND work in a job where those things are essential (and for which I write properly!). On MN and using a mobile it's easier to just let standards slip. The essence of what you are trying to say is the most important thing and that doesnt depend on education. You can get the gist of most people's posts no matter how they are written and IMO its snobbish to criticise the form rather than the substance.

Although I do still wince at your/you're. That is a step too far still. I'm working on it.

😂😂😂👏👏👏

Quintus est in horto and I brook no argument with that statement.

I'm not being drawn by your last paragraph. I have no interest in a debate about Gaza and I am not Muslim so don't see myself as remotely qualified to opine on the wisdom of the voting choices of people who are.
I am however WC and will have had many shared experiences with other people who have faced class and wealth based inequality. From that perspective I am unable to see how a vote for Reform will improve their lives overall. And have yet to speak to a person from that demographic who can explain in a way that convinces me it is a wise choice for them/me. So, yes, I do reserve the right to consider it unwise until shown otherwise.
People who want to protect women's sex based rights who vote for parties that wont commit to keeping men out of women's spaces will typically be able to explain that they feel forced to prioritise other things that matter to them over that issue. That they feel more frightened by the direction Reform would take our society than they are by the possibility they might encounter a man in a woman's space.
I may or may not agree with them, but I can see their workings.
Its the lack of ability to demonstrate that the decision is a fully considered one that they have weighed the pros and cons that I equate with a lack of wisdom. Not whether I agree with them or not.

You're talking about people being uninformed (in your opinion) and therefore not voting according to what you think is best for them (in your opinion). You dont seem to make allowance for someone who votes with different priorities than those you have set for them and which you think should be their main concern. The example of thr Gaza independents was simply an example of why someone might vote for reasons other than financial prudence. Someone in Rotherham for example might see the changing demographics in their area as being threatening to them and vote for Reform or Conservative accordingly. Their priority may be voting for a party that takes hold of the investigation of the rape gangs wholeheartedly by the neck rather than vite for who is pouring most money into the NHS (this is simply aj example of different priorities faced by individuals. I dont want to discuss the merits of the rape gang investigation).

No one needs to convince you of "the wisdom" of why they vote how they want. Its entirely a subjective decison. Its not their business how you vote. Its not your business how they vote. I would never judge someone or call them "unwise" in the way the exercise their vote. Women died for our right to vote in any way we chose without the "wise guiding hand" of a man behind them. You're rather doing the same in your disapproval of those that chose Reform. Many people (looking at the current polls) might think you are the one without wisdom.

Of course we all know it's bad form to criticise spelling and grammar errors here - and often in the real world too - but I do think that when the context of the post involves intelligence and demonstrating it, does it not make sense to at least make an effort yourself?

For example I will dump any CV I receive containing spelling and grammar errors. Not because I wouldn't hire someone with less than perfect SPAG but because they haven't made the effort to get it checked over by someone else when they're supposed to be presenting themselves at their best. That's more about effort and initiative than education and intelligence. A different kind of intelligence but just as important.

Spelling and grammar errors in posts about lipstick or cheese? Not an issue. SPAG errors in the OP of this thread? You're asking for poo to be thrown at you, to be honest.

Nothing new.

You know that almost 50% of people have below average intelligence right?

Its everybody's business how everyone else votes because we only have one of our own and so other people's are going to be vital in deciding the direction of society. Why discuss politics at all if we're going to conclude we should all just mind our own business?
And of course no one has to convince anyone of their reasons for voting a certain way, but if you're engaged in a political discussion with someone, it's not going to be particularly compelling if they don't bother, is it?
I'm not going up to people in the street and demanding they answer to me for their politics. I'm talking about a context where people have voluntarily engaged me, expressing support for Reform, then, when I talk to them, they are unable to explain beyond 'stop the boats'.
This is not 'my opinion', this is my experience of people I live alongside and work alongside, who are family members and people I know socially. The fact that you can think up reasons why they might vote Reform and project them on to them, is not the same as hearing them voice those reasons themselves. At which point I might disagree, but would see they had come to a considered decision.
My struggle to understand why certain people vote Reform;is no different at all to your struggle to understand why women vote for parties that support or fail to condemn GI. What you call 'counter intuitive' I call 'unwise', but we mean the same thing.
Comparing my belief its unwise to vote Reform to men who thought women were intellectually unsuited to have the vote is a ridiculous and offensive stretch.

You're not big and you're not clever 🙄

I don’t think a lot of what you describe is necessarily a lack of intelligence, it’s a lack of various other traits- carefulness, foresight, consideration and manners. There’s a dollop of more unpleasant personality traits, too, such as arrogance.
Remember Steve Jobs, considered by some to be a genius. He had a treatable form of pancreatic cancer but instead of going with what was actually proven to work he decided on vegan juice diets and coffee enemas.
Now he’s dead.
What a bloody idiot.

Agree re CVs

I completely disagree. Half the problem we face at the moment with the coarsening of public debate and the unpleasantness that people face if they disagree with people politically is the excessive interest people have in how other people vote. If you dont understand how democracy works and that you have only one vote to exercise then you shouldn't have a vote at all.

Far better and more civilised to stay in your own lane and not go judging other people. Politics and money used not to be polite topics of discussion at dinner parties for example on the basis no one can guarantee what the other person thinks. And people don't seem to be able to discuss politics these days without relating views to personality. Eg Reform voters are racist or thick.

At least not tar great swathes of the population with the same brush just because you don't agree with their politics. It used not to be like this.

I see. So you think based on my comment that if I 'don't understand how democracy works', I shouldn't have the vote at all? Even after women died so I could have it? How about with the steering of a man who did understand it?
Do you realise how many times you've projected on to me things that are actually your own beliefs?

I just don't think people should be lumped into one group based on the responses of a few people you have spoken to who have failed to persuade you of the merits of how they have chosen to vote. You don't seem to have given the fact that people vote with priorities that may be different from your own much weight. That's entirely up to you of course. I just think its a shame thats how things have gone..basically since 2016 really.

People who get stuck in to arguments with other people regarding politics and make personal remarks regarding their morals, values or intelligence in my view shouldnt have the vote. Thats just my own personal view. The Brexit trope used by the Guardian that people were either racist or stupid was very damaging to UK political discussion unfortunately. Used by an awful lot of people who at the start of the debate were pretty undecided given that it wasn't really a black and white issue. I see the same unpleasant judgement happening towards Reform voters (and Im not even a Reform voter).

Anyway we will have to agree to disagree here.

Please tell me you're joking! What was the context of the explanation?

There are alot of assumptions in your post about my job. Im not going to go into what I do. Ive obviously touched a nerve here.
I will say I do good in my job though and I will judge those who put other things before their children and put them in harms way.

People are just getting stupider and stupider and the benefits system just encourages the most stupid while simultaneously discouraging the most intelligent from doing so.

From doing what, cleverclogs?

I wouldn't judge someone for spelling or grammar. But you're bloody right, yes, I will absolutely judge someone for holding neo-fascist beliefs.

One is literacy. One is supporting discrimination, racism and bigotry.