Are poor people stupid?
 

Poor people ...

:321GFY

Sad...you've just become a worthless spammer.

Just become? I've been a worthless spammer for years.

(HINT: Turn your polls feature on)

Not even a creative one at that.

pathetic

"Creative" people bore me.

The word is "apathetic"

In general, poor people are either stupid or lazy, or both. BUT, you cannot forget that a lot of people are influenced by their environment a lot. It has been shown in studies, even in intellectual tests, to be about 50% genetics and 50% environment. Some people get lucky breaks, as well. I believe the key is to makes the best of whatever hand you are dealt, and put yourself in positions in where you will be more lucky.

"The harder I work, the luckier I get."
- unknown

Stupid poll.

WTF:1orglaugh

Hmm Interesting, so you say poor people are stupid. I did not vote on your poll for one simple reason

My parents are war children (Germany)
They didn't have shit

My parents now have nice businesses and raised us daughters strict and with the attitude that we can do it all.

My sister has her own business and so do I.

I know quite a few people on and off this board who had nothing and now are somebody with some nice cash flow.

Poor doesn't mean youre stupid!

Poor means you just have to work a bit harder to become somebody

"Hmm Interesting, so you say poor people are stupid. I did not vote on your poll for one simple reason"

No, it's a poll. I meant to put a question mark in the title. Herrnstein and Murray said poor people are stupid, not me.

So why didn't you vote, Stef? You need another option?

When you say in your poll something about poor people being born to poor people so they deserve to be stupid....

I disagree with that, why should someone be tagged with the word "stupid" just because they are poor?

so are all rich people smart ass bitches? I don't think so, I bet most people who are poor are more determined in life than someone whi is born worth fucking millions...

at the end of the day if their mum and dad are poor and want a good time in the bedroom then thats up to them, but its not the child's fault they shold at least have a chance in life

Just my "opinion!" its not right its not wrong its what I think

No offence to anyone reading this post

Bye

i think there are enough people who went from rags to riches here to answer this question...


Fantasyman was bankrupt when he was 21 (or was it 25?), now look at him....

Since you didn't define 'poor' I guess you left it up to the voter to define who is 'poor'

There are many intelligent people out there who CHOOSE something else in life and stay relatively poor. Not so poor as to starve, but relatively poor compared to other people

Examples,

some artists
some musicians
even scientists

Poll is a failure for me, because there is no suitable option :(

schoolteachers and military doctors could be added to your list mikah

I agree with everything you have said

Some people do choose to be poor wether it be because of their beliefs or what ....its their choice..

:thumbsup

all you guys must be poor..... sad..... do you guys need some funds?

I am rich, I am still pretty slow though.

Who said anything about "deserve"? You made that up.

When I said "something about" that means I wasn't quite sure what you said....

read what I have wrote before jumping to conclusions....

bye

This is a ridiculous poll. Obviously, there are many different reasons for poverty, including laziness, stupidity, bad luck, place of birth (africa or america?), social class of parents, etc. Many indeed.

Now, to say poor people are stupid would have some ridiculous implications. For instance, just about every person born in a third world country would have to be stupid. The whole thing about chances of education and jobs is left out of the matter, which seems like a rather stupid way to look at things.
Another interesting thing you would get to is that people who choose to spend their lives doing things they like but which do not make large amounts of money are stupid, while those that spend their lives doing stuff they absolutely hate but which makes them more money are intelligent. It seems like a characteristic of intelligence is placing more value on money than on living the way you like.
Also, apparently the worlds leading scientists and academics are almost all stupid when compared to the average manager. Even funnier: if two identical twins were separated at birth, and one would be taken to russia while the other would be taken to america, and they would grow up getting an education of equal quality, and would, after that, get exactly the same jobs... the one living in america could be considered 'intelligent' while the one living in russia could be considered 'stupid'.

Another example: when I was born, my parents were poor. Apparently, they were stupid at that time. Now, they have quite a bit of money - have they gotten intelligent all of a sudden?
Now, I could lose all of my money, which would make me 'stupid'. However, when my parents die, I will most likely be a millionaire. Will that make me 'smart' again?

This whole idea of the poor being stupid must indeed be the stupidest theory I have heard in years.

Come on, you don't think most of us were thinking of poor people in poor countries, do you? Most of us were thinking of people who manage to be poor in an economy that allows a fair amount of prosperity.

Most people who can get into a career they truly enjoy and for which they have some kind of aptitude will make some money. don't you think?

You're making a bunch of straw men arguments and knocking them down, which is irrelevant. The thesis NEVER was that the poorer someone is the stupider they are or that if you arrange people by income that is also an index of intelligence. Of course, those are ridiculous arguments and easy to argue against. Try arguing against the actual thesis.

I am just curious why so many are so defensive on this thread :glugglug

You are truly one of the most sheltered (and angry) sounding people on this board. The world is bigger than your little circle of friends.

I'll give you a hint, most poor people don't live in your town - or even your country.

Do some research.

Because nobody wants to be called stupid just because at one point maybe they were poor.

So was I,, not a penny to my name when I came to America, alcoholic husband, blah blah blah.

But I made something out of myself. Reckon I am waaayyy older than most people on this board and it took me a lot longer to arrive at this point than some of you 20 year olds who shuffle money.

It still shows that poor people are not stupid.

well said...

The thesis was 'Poor people are stupid'. Nothing more, nothing less. Not 'poor people in an economy that allows a fair amount of prosperity are stupid', nor anything similar. Just 'Poor people are stupid'.
Now, if you are not going to say ' if you arrange people by income there is also an index of intelligence', you aren't following the thesis either. Split people up into 2 groups: poor and not poor (that is, arrange them by income). Now claim that one of these groups is stupid (that is, link it to an index of intelligence). There's the thesis for you. (or you would have to say that the rich are just as stupid, in which case it would just come down to saying people in general are stupid)


'Most people who can get into a career they truly enjoy and for which they have some kind of aptitude will make some money. don't you think?'
Some money, yes. Having some money but not much is what being poor is. Or did you think the poor have no money at all? (in that case, they'd be the dead, not the poor)

Besides that, 'poor' is ofcourse a very relative term, what's poor to me may well be rich to you, or vice versa. That makes the thesis even more ridiculous. The two main concepts used (poor and stupid) are both very subjective, and aren't defined here. If I'm a billionaire with a 200+ IQ, I'll consider someone who makes 100k a year and has an IQ of 150 both poor and stupid, while that person, in turn, will consider someone who makes 20k a year and has an IQ of 100 both poor and stupid.
If you use 2 non-objective concepts which both implicate a sliding scale, that passes over to the thesis. If you do not link an index of intelligence and prosperity to it, the thesis becomes empty without very strong definitions. I gave the thesis the benefit of the doubt, and linked it to an index. However, if you are not willing to accept an index, the thesis is ridiculous babble which at first glance may look like it means something, but in reality has no meaning whatsoever to it.

I think old people and poor people should be recycled into tasty food. Mmm...soylent green popcorn...

I think old people and poor people should be recycled into tasty food. Mmm...soylent green popcorn...