Calling people's opinion/question/thread silly or stupid

[Pudding]

Do you feel offended if people call your opinion/question/thread silly or stupid?
What is your opinion about those people who attribute anyone's opinion/question/thread with silly/stupid?

Silly/stupid can be quite an insulting words, which can be promote an idea that the speaker think they themselves are clever for not making those silly or stupid opinion/question/thread, some ego problem for those people.

While attribute those opinion/question/thread with silly/stupid and expect the author to humbly admit it's really silly/stupid can be an ineffective way to convince the author.
Instead using silly/stupid other alternatives can be "inappropriate/illogical/can-be-improve".

So, do you think attribute silly/stupid to people's opinion/question/thread is an effective way to convince them to humbly admit their opinion/question/thread is silly/stupid?

 

[ArtieE]

Do you feel offended if people call your opinion/question/thread silly or stupid?

No. I will check again if I had actually said something silly or stupid and take it back if I had. If not I'll just elaborate on what I said to make my point clearer.

 

[freethinker44]

It depends, some ideas are so stupid the only response they deserve is ridicule.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I don't understand the question, but I'll comment on this behavior towards opinions and views.

I believe calling anything others say or do stupid is destructive and it gives impressions about the mentality/education/intentions/etc of who says it.

I believe it is destructive because naturally different ways people talk to each other and different choice of words of one same subject have effect on their acceptance and reception. Example: Jacob says he believes murder is a good thing and Bellamy tells him that's a stupid silly way of thinking. Jacob feels something in Bellamy's tone so he holds on to his thought that murder is a good thing, so he goes to commit murder. If Bellamy in the first place told Jacob to reconsider and that murder is something bad to humanity, without that kind of criticism, Jacob could actually think about it and change his mind.

Anyway, I think looking down at opinions and insulting them, is either due to a bitterness against that opinion (the who says it really) or due to a problem in the personality that has to be addressed.

 

[bobhikes]

Like I was always told there are no stupid questions. For me its the people that think the questions are stupid have the problem.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Like I was always told there are no stupid questions.

Why?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

So, do you think attribute silly/stupid to people's opinion/question/thread is an effective way to convince them to humbly admit their opinion/question/thread is silly/stupid?

For many if not most people with a penchant for silly/stupid opinion/question/threads there exists no effective way to convince them to humbly admit their opinion/question/thread is silly/stupid? See Dunning-Kruger.

 

[bobhikes]

Why?

Because its a question, the person is trying to understand. If you answer it correctly you will teach that person.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Because its a question, the person is trying to understand.

Sometimes. Sometimes it's a rhetorical opening such as "Do you know Jesus?" or "Why should we trust Hillary?" or ...

 

[bobhikes]

Sometimes. Sometimes it's a rhetorical opening such as "Do you know Jesus?" or "Why should we trust Hillary?" or ...

It really doesn't matter they are speaking to you asking you the question, you can take it as an opportunity, ignore them or insult them and chase them away. You don't get a lot of openings to teach.

I have been told many times, I wasn't really looking for an answer and I just smiled and said next time don't ask a question.

 

[Revoltingest]

Like I was always told there are no stupid questions. For me its the people that think the questions are stupid have the problem.

Truly stupid questions are the ones not asked.
To ask a question is a good way to know stuff.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

So, do you think attribute silly/stupid to people's opinion/question/thread is an effective way to convince them to humbly admit their opinion/question/thread is silly/stupid?

Depends what you mean.

Most people will still try to save face in the immediate argument and dig in their heels just to not give their opponent the satisfaction of winning. Sometimes, though, a rhetorical slap in the face can give the person the shock they need to go back and re-evaluate and re-examine their beliefs in private.

This is especially true when a sheltered person thinks their views are widely accepted and well-supported, but when they try them out in the real world, they find general opposition and get confronted with the facts that make their opinion seem ridiculous. We see it from time to time here: a new member comes in here with one of those "science in the Qur'an" threads or what their pastor has told them is an iron-clad argument to convince any atheist of Jesus and they end up getting no traction at all and leave with their tail between their legs.

I have no doubt that many of these folks have had their mind changed. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them end up presenting themselves as more moderate theists or agnostics or the like when they join some other forum where people don't know they once presented themselves as fundamentalists.

But often, ridiculing someone's position isn't aimed at that other person; it's aimed at the audience that the other person is trying to convince. It's about changing the minds of the people watching the thread.

 

[Sunstone]

If you were forbidden to call anything "stupid" or "silly", then you would be forbidden to correctly characterize at least half of all human behaviors.

 

[YmirGF]

"There are no stupid questions" is actually relative to who is asking those questions. A question from a 4 year old can seem pretty odd to an adult, but we wouldn't say the kid is stupid. If the same question came from another adult who was mentally challenged we also would not likely say the question and person was stupid. However, it an normal adult asked that same question we just might lift their bangs up to see if there was a large "S" tattooed on their forehead.


The wonderful expression, "It is better to have one think one a fool than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt" was uttered for good reason.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Like I was always told there are no stupid questions. For me its the people that think the questions are stupid have the problem.

Have you stopped beating your wife?

 

[bobhikes]

Have you stopped beating your wife?

I have never beat my wife and never will. Why do you think that of me?

 

[Sunstone]

Like I was always told there are no stupid questions. For me its the people that think the questions are stupid have the problem.

Why do meteors always land in craters?

 

[YmirGF]

I have never beat my wife and never will. Why do you think that of me?

Hehehehehehehehe. Oh, Bob... think of what he said in CONTEXT.....

 

[LuisDantas]

When I call something silly or stupid, it is nearly certain that I have given up on convincing people on the matter already.

At that point, typically my goal is to make it clear that I don't think that specific position or claim is worth of serious consideration.

It comes down to a choice between hurting one's hopes and feelings or instead lending them a measure of prestige that I know for certain that I will eventually have to take back, quite possibly after they have become used to having it.

It is a no win situation, so I go for what I understand to be the lesser evil.

 

[YmirGF]

Why do meteors always land in craters?

Member of Westborough Church: "Why do people hate us so much?"