Me? High standards? Ridiculous.

After some thought over the past couple of days (I've been away from the office attending a conference, hence the absence from my multitudes of posts, and thank god for things like that) about some conversations over the weekend, I've decided that I need to clarify and solidify my stance on people lacking in the brain area.

You see, some might say that I have high standards for who can be my friends. I say that my expectations are perfectly reasonable. Is it really too much to expect that people aren't gnorant? There's a difference, I understand, between being stupid and being ignorant.

Observe:

ig·no·rant

–adjective
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man.
2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: ignorant of quantum physics.
3. uninformed; unaware.

4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: an ignorant statement.
(Source: Dictionary.com, [Link])

and

stu·pid
–adjective
1. lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
2. characterized by or proceeding from mental dullness; foolish; senseless: a stupid question.
3. tediously dull, esp. due to lack of meaning or sense; inane; pointless: a stupid party.
4. annoying or irritating; troublesome: Turn off that stupid radio.
5. in a state of stupor; stupefied: stupid from fatigue.
6. Slang. excellent; terrific.

–noun

7. Informal. a stupid person.

Related forms
stu·pid·ly, adverb
stu·pid·ness, noun sd
(Source: Dictionary.com, [Link])

You notice how being stupid seems to indicate being something that you can't help, whereas being ignorant indicates otherwise?

Lemme clarify.

I know a few stupid people. I actually count some of these people my friends. Everyone does stupid things sometimes. I, myself, am quite prone to doing/saying stupid things. My theory is that being stupid isn't something you can help.

Ignorant people, on the other hand, "lack knowledge on a particular subject". You may say, that's fair. Nobody knows everything. It is fair. However, there are people who, while ignorant, will claim to know everything about the subject.

Par example, the man who obviously knew nothing about economics, and tried to tell an economist that Sir Winston Churchill was a great economist. See, if you don't know anything about economics, don't try to talk economics with an economist. Now that's ignorance.

I understand that it's hard to admit that you don't know things about something. It took me a long time to train myself to say "I don't know". It's perfectly acceptable to do so. Unless you're an economist and your boss just asked you something about the economy.

So you see, my standards aren't really that high. It's not that I don't like stupid people. It's just that I don't like people who are ignorant. If you don't know, admit it. Don't go on about something you know nothing about. It's obvious. It doesn't make you sound smarter.