I Am Not Crazy or Stupid

A sign of intelligence is an awareness of one's own ignorance. -- Unknown

Here's the thing, if someone gives you some information and asks you to read it and consider it because it might give you a better understanding of the person you are dealing with. Do you read it? Do you take the time to try and understand your partner better or do you dismiss it and return to your standard stance of "It's not me, it's you"?

Because I would tend to lean towards actually wanting to learn how to make things better.

But that's the difference between intellect and ignorance. The intelligent person is keenly aware of how little they really do know whereas the ignorant person holds on to those beliefs like a life preserver without regard to new and contradictory information. The ignorant person has no choice but to stubbornly cling to what "knowledge" they have despite it being incomplete or outright wrong.

There's more to this, of course, there always is. There's a confirmation bias across all strata of intellect, that is, we all tend to think we are smarter than we really are but, as the level of intelligence rises, the margin of thinking we are smarter than we are comes down. Another way, the dumber a person is the more likely they are to overestimate their intelligence. The smarter a person is, the more likely they will be to be able to recognize that they don't know something.

Here's some more reading on the subject if you are so inclined (which is actually a sign that you're on the upper end of the spectrum because intellectual curiosity requires, you know, intellect). Incompetent People Too Ignorant to Know It.

The Difference Between a Sentiment and an Opinion

There are an awful lot of people who go around espousing what they think are opinions but they are really expressing their sentiments. What is the difference between the two?

A sentiment is a belief held because it makes you feel a certain way, it is not based on rational, deductive logic.

An opinion is conclusion arrived at after careful consideration of the available information.

Where a sentiment can be held in spite of obvious evidence to the contrary, i.e. the Yankees suck, the reality is that they are an incredibly talented group of players being paid exorbitant sums of money. My opinion of the Yankees is that George Steinbrenner is ruining the sport of baseball because he has an addiction to trophies. That opinion is based on him spending ridiculous salaries for aging stars in an effort to get back to the World Series.

Yes, it is a nuance between a sentiment and an opinion but the difference is important because an sentiment isn't likely to be changable whereas an opinion can be (and should be) open for debate and deeper consideration. Say I learned that Steinbrenner wants to win the World Series one more time before he dies of congestive heart failure that he had diagnosed a year or two ago, that puts his spendy ways in a very different light. Doesn't change my sentiment towards the Yankees though, I am, afterall, an Orioles fan (and a Red Sox fan because so much of my family is in New England).

By the way, I am not a fan of Curt Schilling anymore. Not in the light of his spaz-mouth episode a couple of weeks ago. Keep your deeply biased (and factually incorrect) assumptions to yourself, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou. Or let's see your proof, otherwise you're just another jackass spouting off. Or are you going with the best defense is a good offense? I know there have always been whispers about you and 'roids too, Curt.