This one is simple. I've been hearing (reading) a lot of debate around these forums, and it seems that every now and then, somebody throws out the old: "humans are stupid" line.

See here:

somebody:
becuase humans (the oddest creature that you will ever come across) are easly suseptable to over induglign things.

someotherguy:
What scares me? Human stupidity. It's INFINITE.

kindofarandomquote:
no. while humans may in fact be the end of the world, it won't happen by 2012.

I disagree. Humans are, by any way you want to measure intelligence, the smartest creatures known to man. Such a title is easy to come by, yes. We are currently the ONLY race vying to be the smartest race on the planet, but if a man wins a one man marathon, he still wins, right?

I want us to debate human intelligence right here. I want everybody in on this. I argue we're the smartest race around these parts, and you can get in on it if you like. Or just sit back and watch the fireworks, your choice.

Play nice!

We're not the smartest, we're just the most awesome and trigger happy.
Badgers are the smartest.
They're black and white, so no racism ^-^

individually there are plenty of shining examples, which lead to yes answers. but....

un masse the stupidity as well as arrogance spreads like a disease, diluting intelligence.

A person is smart, people are stupid. When in large numbers, the lowest common denominator wins out.

The number of idiots far outnumbers the number of smarties. /b, as funny as it is, is a prime example

Some people are intelligent and thoughtful, eager to learn, eager to grow, who want to make the world a better place. About one person in twenty falls into this category (the ratio is even more extreme on "teh intarwebz").

The general public at large, however, will go to great lengths to avoid having to think for themselves or make decisions. Their fear of intellectual curiosity is surpassed only by their fear of actually having to do some work to get the benefits they are so convinced they deserve. Dangle the promise of rewards without effort in their faces, and they will sit up and bark like dogs if you ask them to. Reality TV. Jerry Springer. Tabloids. 4chan. Microsoft. "EPIC 1337 R0XX0R5!!1!!111!1one!!one11eleven!!!!!!" Our country is run by a bunch of sadistic madmen, but all the public wants to know is what Paris Hilton had for breakfast this morning.

kingofwolves:
The number of idiots far outnumbers the number of smarties. /b, as funny as it is, is a prime example

What is it /b of which people speak? Don't show me it, just tell me what it is. Describe it.

We're a bunch damnable idiots when you compare us with each other. However you compare us to other species on the planet the story changes...it's all relative you know. Like time, and your in laws.

Taxi Driver:
Wanting to make the world a better place isn't exactly a staple of intelligence, nor is wanting to work hard. In fact logically if something can be done without expelling energy it is more efficient.

The problem is, not everything CAN be done without expending energy. And nobody wants to work hard, but some things require it.

We're intellegent, though many of us aren't wise.

you tell me:
we have created the internet. it's a feat of engineering and wonder, capable of uniting every single person on the planet. It's able to allow each of us to have our own opinion and say what we want to say, through the beauty of annonymity and from the comfort of our own homes. and what do we do with it?

Anus Fruitshake

You tell me

John Galt:
A person is smart, people are stupid. When in large numbers, the lowest common denominator wins out.

Can't get better than that. The masses suck, will individuals can be very intelligent beings.

I don't worry much, given that its on an average as long as i live and breathe ladies and gentleman we are most definitely the smartest, and the sexiest, hell, go for most musically gifted while your at it.

Modesty... now, that escapes us.

As a rule, humans are intelligent, but they're also ignorant, and too lazy to change themselves. Which equals to a massive amount of unused potential. So the vast majority of humans, while intelligent, are still idiots, because they usually don't use that intellect.

jim_doki:
you tell me:
we have created the internet. it's a feat of engineering and wonder, capable of uniting every single person on the planet. It's able to allow each of us to have our own opinion and say what we want to say, through the beauty of annonymity and from the comfort of our own homes. and what do we do with it?

Anus Fruitshake

You tell me

That, my friend, is so very true. There is an unprecedented flow of information, which is actually destroying the reliability and importance of most of it. Because we can access almost everything instantaneously, we are making information pointless. I could go on a rant, but I am afraid it will end up sounding too much like the end of MGS2.

Before I voice my opinion on this matter I would like to say that it's a proven fact Neanderthals had larger brains than modern day humans. Are we smarter than Parakeetes? Of course. Are we the smartest creatures that have ever lived and the most awesome and the only one worth disscussing? No.

Now then, I tend to think humans are intelligent at the same time that they're bloody stupid; much in the same way as a three year old who can do calculous but chooses to spend most of his time banging his head repeatedly against a wall. In practise, this child is an idiot. An idiot with potential perhaps, perhaps a great deal of potential, but ultimately still an idiot. That is perhaps the most depressing part. Humans could be much more than they choose to be and its irritating watching them squander their potential but in the end there is little to be done about it.

Humans aren't smart, humans have the potential to be smart.

Some humans are smart. Some are stupid. As a species we are generally intelligent, and a hell of a lot more intelligent than any other species on the planet. We are the only species with a complex language that has grammar and syntax. We are the only species which has extend its natural lifespan. We are the only species which have comprehended the most fundamental aspects of the universe. We are the only species with philosophy, advanced morality and science. We are the only species which has ANY prospect of self-improvement.

Granted, the human species has acted stupidly in the past, and there are a lot of idiots in the world. But there some humans which are quite bright and wish to make the world a better place. Remember, we are the only species which has even the slightest prospect at achieving something greater than what we started with. Although Humanity will probably cock-it-all-up, we are the ONLY species which has ANY potential to reach for the stars and dream for a better world.

The other animals are too stupid to do anything except eat, drink, breathe and reproduce. And although many people do follow that pattern, there are some human beings who invest their time in understanding the deepest laws of the universe, building, inventing, exploring and creating.

As a species we are quite smart. And we are truly capable of great things.

Of course, we'll still probably waste all that potential and nuke ourselves into oblivion.

It's depressing, but we are the smartest.

I just wish the previous 3 generations were smarter, though.

No offense, but I hate the notion that we're meant to be the generation that cleans up everyone else's mess. I mean, CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

Also the fact that Charles Darwin was buried outside a church, (against his wishes);
Einstein created E=MC2 in order to promote world peace, (It triggered the invention of the H-Bomb);
And people still believe that we won the Vietnam War, JFK was a good president, religion still exists, even though we've already found the real explanation for everything (besides the afterlife), and that the Queen and Pope are actually figures of importance in todays world.

To back up my last comment, it's not like we actually NEED an "all-powerful" Windsor Family, or a Catholic figurehead, either.

"A person is neither dangerous nor stupid - a group of people is both." - this is one of my personal quotes. Individually, a person can be brilliant, not prone to foolishness at all. But we are still subject to pack mentality it seems, and as soon as we get into groups larger than three, the group's collective intelligence drops.

Essentially, John Galt and I agree.

I wish I knew what this thread is on about. *druels*

Mob IQ;

Lowest IQ of the mob divided by number of mob members.

My personal view.

Firstly: We are not the smartest. Dolphins are smarter than us which makes them the second smartest creatures an this planet. First place in case of smartiness are the mice! Diddn't you read D. Adams Hitchhikers Guide?

And now for real: For one intelligent individual there are a hundred (or many more) stupid mainstream braindeads lead by their instincts and nothing but their biology. Most people I know only come to decisions by fetching their moral rules which they are bred to have.
(sorry if that was completely bad english, I'm not native-speaking)
Such behaviour is not smart, it's average... most people do so. And that's nothing bad because most people are not intelligent enough to make own decisions.
Since I don't believe that there is a real characteristic like intelligence, but many characteristics that together form a more or less individual character it's always a stupid discussion about intelligence in my eyes. Everyone has a different understanding of the world an everything which is based on the way our brain has developed since we were a baby. Some undertstand very precisely what is happening around them, some do not. Those that do not, mostly don't even know that they don't know and as such don't care.
Humans just work, they work like everything else in the world just works. The complexity your brain works with may be that what makes you "intelligent".

btw: I voted for no cause only a few humans are capable of understanding why I voted no. If you are such subject, congratulations you are what I call intellient. At leats in some parts.

Korolev:
As a species we are generally intelligent, and a hell of a lot more intelligent than any other species on the planet. We are the only species with a complex language that has grammar and syntax. We are the only species which has extend its natural lifespan. We are the only species which have comprehended the most fundamental aspects of the universe. We are the only species with philosophy, advanced morality and science. We are the only species which has ANY prospect of self-improvement.

Actually, dolphins and whales communicate with a more complicated language than we do according to a lot of studies.

Countless species have extended their natural life span by adapting to better live around humans. Whether this involves pretending to be dogs (in the case of wolves) so people will give you food, patroling with three people intead of two (in the case of racoons) to ease the act of stealing food, or just making yourself look cuter and more cuddly while around humans (in the case of pigs who before domestication had tusks and wiry hair and now look mostly harmless) so that humans will get rid of all your parasites and generally make your life more pleasent, species are extending their life spans all the time.

As for not grasping the basics how the earth works, Racoons perfer to wash the food they find before they eat it. There would be no reason to do this except to remove germs. Ants build boats which are capable of crossing things like the Mississippi River, I think they would understand properties like boyancy and displacement. There are also the countless species (Crows, Monkeys, ect) who know to use things like gravity in problem solving.

As for animal morality I would point out that just because we don't recognize it doesn't mean it's not there. We can't get people to agree on what is morally correct even amoungst our own species (and there is often violent disagreement on this particular issue), how would we be able to discern what other species view as morally sound or how would we even know that their species had come to any kind of concensus? that being said though, Elephants have grave yards and mourn their dead and it would be impossible to name all the speicies that put the life of their children before their own.

And evolution gaurantees self improvment. All species are subject to evolution and therefore all species have some prospect of self improvement.

I once sat down and tried to make a list of all the things that empiraclly seperated Humanity from the animal kingdom. The only things I could think of were that humans create things for entertainment and have currency. Looking back I'm not entirely sure that those are unique to humans either.

I think we are an intelligent race, and we try to learn more about how things work.

The thing is, to define "smart" I need something to compare it to. We are smart compared to apes, dogs or Lindsay Lohan, but our knowledge is hardly trancendant.

Khedive Rex:
Before I voice my opinion on this matter I would like to say that it's a proven fact Neanderthals had larger brains than modern day humans. Are we smarter than Parakeetes? Of course. Are we the smartest creatures that have ever lived and the most awesome and the only one worth disscussing? No.

I don't think the size of one's brain dictates how intelligent one is. Look at a cow's brain, it's huge, but a cow is one of the stupidest creatures I've ever seen. Also, may I remind you while Neanderthals were bigger, our ancestors the cro magnon were smart enough to make arrows and woven clothing. Something that escaped Neanderthals.

...Why can't we be both?

A person is generally smart, and wants to do the right thing.

People, however, are too easily persuaded to panic and cause each other general harm. Oh well..

Apologies if I've confused you.

EDIT

People are smart, they just do stupid things.

I think we are smart, but immaturity and some other instincts get in the way, like pack mentality. Helpful to survive yes, but we left the jungle a long time ago.

People evolved both technologically and socially. People have been at a constant rate: at any point in history there were wars and brutalities between us. As someone said, it's all relative: We are smarter than a pig; we are smarter than medieval people; etc. The fact is that stupidity is much more available, and it doesn't require any kind of effort.

Conclusion: I'm undecided whether we are stupid or smart. Does it really matter if we are smart or stupid? Shouldn't we just coexist and not be bothered by the "I'm better/bigger/etc than you" mentality?

Well shit in a bucket, does anyobody else want to just repeat what somebody said earlier?

GeeDave:
Well shit in a bucket, does anyobody else want to just repeat what somebody said earlier?

This~ Lots of people appear to be dashing into the topic, reading the OP, ignoring the rest of the thread, and repeating, virtually word for word, what some other guy said within half an hour of the topic's creation.

We are currently the ONLY race vying to be the smartest race on the planet, but if a man wins a one man marathon, he still wins, right?

This makes sense in the same way that being stabbed in the foot is better than being stabbed in the face. It's not such a great idea to base judgement of anything solely on how it compares to its competition.

We are, by definition, the smartest creatures on the planet, unfortunately that still makes the average human just this side of pants on head retarded. A human is a reasonably intelligent creature, they can do way more things than any animal can, have a better capacity for memory and innovation. I still voted no because I have (stupid) high standards for the term smart.
On the subject of human communication, the languages spoken by humans are incredibly complicated, every language has different words for different things, and thing you include body language and tone in every aspect of these words the scientists who say some creatures have a more complicated language than our own (languages) tend to fail to account for body language and tone.
The size of a creatures brain, in proportion to the rest of their body is the defining factor of how much intelligence they have, specifically the thought-processing portion of the brain. You can have a huge brain but if all it is good for is helping you smell or see better then you still aren't that bright.