<p>Do you think those who, for example, take all college prep classes as plainly less intelligent as yourself? Be honest.</p>
<p>who cares… unless they’re jocks. then they’re dumb.</p>
<p>I never judge anyone who doesn’t perform as well as me academically as dumber or inferior to me in any way whatsoever. Academic performance is just one kind of intelligence.</p>
<p>I know some kids in my school who regularly get C’s and D’s but know just about everything there is to know about cars and how they operate. I know some kids who struggle to pass basic classes in school who have outstanding social skills that far better than mine ever will be. I respect them no less than someone who is “traditionally” smart with a 4.0/2400, etc.</p>
<p>^ This.</p>
<p>No. Some students just can’t handle certain work loads or don’t pick things up as fast as others.</p>
<p>I used to in middle school. But I no longer do and it bugs me when others do.</p>
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<p>Barring learning disabilities, I think I’m more intelligent than someone else in some subject or area of knowledge if I have a higher ability to learn about and understand its concepts. This usually isn’t easy to judge, because I don’t live inside other people’s heads and can’t tell what they really understand. So I don’t go around claiming to be smarter or dumber than other people. (And if I did and my claims were true, that still wouldn’t make me superior or inferior in general.)</p>
<p>I don’t even think honors students are more intelligent than non-honors students on average. They just care more about school. At most schools, anyone who cares about school at all will be taking honors classes…and most of them, as far as you can tell without reading their minds, aren’t especially intelligent. Which is fine.</p>
<p>I don’t judge people. Also, I’m nowhere near arrogant enough to regard myself as having “superior intelligence” I simply work harder in the things that are important to me. Some of my best friends are in regular classes Besides, in my school system being in advanced classes is decided by teacher recommendations, which I think is far too subjective.</p>
<p>I don’t judge them unless they have the capability to work harder but rather spend their time partying and getting high… then im like judging you</p>
<p>At my school, any class that’s not AP is comprised of [predominantly] dumber kids. My school:</p>
<p>AP → Honors at another school
Honors → Regular class at better school
Regular classes → …</p>
<p>Not really… I just see them as people that maybe aren’t so interested in academics… But to be honest anyone can do it, it’s all a matter of how hard you’re willing to push yourself.</p>
<p>I don’t consider kids who struggle academically dumb. I consider kids who don’t care about school AND get in the way of others who do care dumb. And yes, lower level classes are comprised of more of these kind of kids.</p>
<p>Man, there is so much political BS regarding people’s intelligence. God forbid anyone be smarter than anybody else.</p>
<p>My problem is not with the concept of intelligence, it’s with people assuming they are sooooo in intelligent because they are in (insert difficult class here). When Einstein was a child, he wasn’t though to be intelligent. People make crazy assumptions based on stupid factors, and they are often very wrong.</p>
<p>THAT is the BS</p>
<p>Also, while there are kids who take more advanced classes that aren’t necessarily “smart,” and smart kids in level classes who just don’t care to take on the extra load, generally, if you are looking for dumber kids, are you going to look in AP classes or level classes?</p>
<p>So I had complications getting into my middle school , therefore not being able to take a placement test. I was in the lowest classes in 8th grade but still ended up with a 96 GPA which shows my conviction while furthermore, proving that people with less challenging classes aren’t dumber" than those who do. I got into Honors Spanish in H.S. this year, which shows i’m capable of handling challenging work, despite not having any in 8th grade.</p>
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<p>How do we tell whether someone is dumb, though?
I still say taking AP classes has more to do with how much you care about school than it does with innate intelligence. The AP kids might be more knowledgeable about stuff because they spend more time learning and studying, but they’d probably still have fairly average IQs.</p>
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<p>Einstein also had an IQ of 160. I never said that just because I’m taking higher level mathematics or whatever that I’m smarter than anyone. I’m saying it’s BS that people are so hesitant to say “Tom is smarter than Jack” when everyone is okay saying “Tom is more athletic than Jack.”</p>
<p>“Smarter” is vaguer, though. And its opposite definitely doesn’t have a neutral connotation.</p>
<p>Smart = good
Dumb = bad (dumb people are failures, etc.)</p>
<p>Athletic = good
Non-athletic = neutral </p>
<p>Musical = good
Non-musical = neutral, unless you feel compelled to sing in public</p>
<p>…etc.</p>
<p>IMO, most people aren’t smart, and most people aren’t dumb. Most people are somewhere in between. But I look like a bad person when I say, “Most people aren’t smart,” because “dumb” has a lot of bad associations, and people think “dumb” is the same as “not smart.”</p>
<p>@hal</p>
<p>It’s a matter of their performance in their class. If you get into that class, you’re expected to be capable of handling that work. I don’t think they’re stupid though, you can’t expect everyone to be completely competent/at the same level of understanding as you’re</p>
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<p>What if they’re not doing well because of extenuating circumstances?
What if they’re not doing well because they have a bad work ethic? Such a person could still be intelligent (though in that case their intelligence wouldn’t be doing them much good).</p>