Mean and Cruel People

[Tuesday Afternoon]

How intelligent are they?

[WildEyedLiberal]

1. The worst ones are very smart

Dumb people have a limited ability to be cruel, because true cruelty requires malicious manipulation, deception, and deliberately planned evil. The cruelest person I have ever met was fairly intelligent (although not NEARLY as brilliant as he fancied himself, which was a good part of the problem).

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. upon reflection

never mind.

[elleng]

3. I'm afraid you're right.

.

[Sky Masterson]

4. Not very.

That is why they are mean and cruel

[jeff30997]

5. I disagree.

Proof:



:P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. actually...

a very good example complete with an imagination.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. I think they are smart but, short-sighted in the fact that they are

conceited enough to not see their own flaws and therefore lack humility. They seem to have a certain arrogance about their selves.

[old mark]

11. I had a boss like that. He as smart enough to think he was a lot smarter,

had no sense of anything beyond his own ego and imagined entitlements.
He ws a department head in a State Hospital, and referred to those he did not like as "retards."

His father was a Doctor there, and he thinks he is some sort of prince.
I think he actually got promoted since I left.
From asshole to Superior Asshole.


mark

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. Ego

Yes, seems they can't get past it. Then to have the luck of birthright.

I guess this guy was kind of like a Dr. Ratched :D :shrug:

[Deja Q]

8. Not to insult liquid nitrogen, but its temperature is the same numerical figure as their IQ.

Which is pretty low a thing of me to say, but oh well. They were mean first and reactionaries only try to stop the true evil.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. Would you care to expand on your phrase:

"...reactionaries only try to stop the true evil."

Interesting statement.

[Deja Q]

21. Hmmm

Evil acts. Reactionaries react, often fighting back at the evil that did them wrong.

Rather like fighting a symptom of a disease rather than working on an actual cure, it's easier to avoid the acting evil and go after reactionaries. Or the bully preying on other kids. Note how, in our "society", the bullies get away with everything... and we (well, not me anyway) say "boys will be boys" and nothing gets changed or improved. That is something I must react to, for it is the worst possible mindset: Apathy. "Boys will be boys" is NOT a solution, but is just a fawning, pawned excuse to be hawked because it's easier to sidestep a problem than to actually address it.

[lunatica]

10. Depends on the type of cruelty and level of meanness...

A brute will use a chainsaw or bash your head in for the fun of it but an intellectual will cause trauma through words.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. and then there are those who combine the two ...

:scared: :D

[NJmaverick]

14. Mean and cruel people run the gamut

they can be dumb as a bag of door knobs to the most brilliant people on the planet. I guess the only difference is the smarter ones tend to be more effective in their cruelity.

[geardaddy]

15. II would second that.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. Very well said. --

Due to their intellectual capacity, they would only be limited by external forces. :shrug:

[hippywife]

17. I don't know.

A chain saw to the head as given as an example upthread is pretty danged efficient. I think the intellectual ones tend to be a little more creative, attack a situation with a little more finesse, ya know?

:hi:

[NJmaverick]

18. Very true, but to take your example further

the simple minded one, would end up getting caught (as they lack the ability to properly cover their tracks), while a more intelligent one would go on to repeat the act on many more people.

[hippywife]

19. Then I guess it

helps to expand on the definition of effective to also include prolific.

[TZ]

20. Some of these people are unintentionally cruel

Can't tell you all the times I've faced nasty people who were so sure they were right in their perceptions that they hurt other people in the process. And most of these people thought they were doing the "right" thing. And when you try to explain why its so hurtful they lash out at you in defensiveness....

[BikeWriter]

22. It all depends on your own reality.

[LeftyFingerPop]

23. when people are mean or cruel to me, I usually beat them with a shovel...

so even if they were intelligent, they usually aren't after the beating.

As I have grown older and wiser, I have discovered that almost all problems can be solved with a good shovel beating.

[BikeWriter]

24. The same has been said about a judicious application of explosives.

[LeftyFingerPop]

25. Good point, but I prefer the shovel...

I don't know...it's more "earthy", more "green" if you will.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. You are so

Low Tech :D

I admire that in a man :rofl:

[LeftyFingerPop]

28. Simple is usually better.

:D

[BuelahWitch]

30. Are you and your shovel for hire?

Sometimes you just need a good hit man...:hi:

[cherish44]

26. They range the entire spectrum

But smart or stupid, an asshole is an asshole.

[omega minimo]

29. It's stupid to be mean