Terminalcoffee discussion

Starting today, the film maker Errol Morris has a series at the NY Times online about stupidity--or, more specifically, about people who are too stupid to realize how stupid they are.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/...

Fascinating stuff--it features a failed bank robber who thought he could render himself invisible to surveillance cameras by rubbing his face with lemon juice...

Anyway, probably each of us has met someone who is both clueless and totally unaware of his or her lack of a clue. Any stories?

So let me get this straight. Lemon juice doesn't work anymore?

Nope. Not with these high-tech cameras they've got these days, Larry.

I almost posted this, Jonathan! But then I ran to the fridge to see if I had any lemon juice left...

Oh, we had someone rob a bank a couple towns north of here...he knew all the tellers, said hi to them, called them by name, etc. He was not hard to find.

Was he as dumb as the bank robber in Woody Allen's "Take the Money and Run"? He misspells the threatening note that he hands to the teller.
"You have a 'gub'?" asks the confused teller.
"No, it's a gun," answers the bank robber, played by Allen.
"It's definitely a 'b' not an 'n' here. You wrote 'gub' mister."

Larry wrote: "So let me get this straight. Lemon juice doesn't work anymore?"

It will still work if you wear 4" high heels, a bra over your shirt, and if you hop backwards one legged Larry!

I love this:

DAVID DUNNING: People will often make the case, “We can’t be that stupid, or we would have been evolutionarily wiped out as a species a long time ago.” I don’t agree. I find myself saying, “Well, no. Gee, all you need to do is be far enough along to be able to get three square meals or to solve the calorie problem long enough so that you can reproduce. And then, that’s it. You don’t need a lot of smarts. You don’t have to do tensor calculus. You don’t have to do quantum physics to be able to survive to the point where you can reproduce.” One could argue that evolution suggests we’re not idiots, but I would say, “Well, no. Evolution just makes sure we’re not blithering idiots. But, we could be idiots in a lot of different ways and still make it through the day.”

This explains a LOT. :)

What happens when you combine the most clueless person with the most canny person? You get Sarah Palin.

Lobstergirl wrote: "What happens when you combine the most clueless person with the most canny person? You get Sarah Palin."

Huh?

Clueless about policy matters, history, knowledge in general, but politically very canny.

Ah.