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Just FYI, the modern theory of plate tectonics dates back to the 1960s but by that time it had been centuries since people first noticed that some continents looked like they had fit together and then moved apart.
Wikipedia says that in 1596,
Abraham Ortelius in his work Thesaurus Geographicus ... suggested that the Americas were "torn away from Europe and Africa ... by earthquakes and floods" and went on to say: "The vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves if someone brings forward a map of the world and considers carefully the coasts of the three [continents]."
sounds like you need a cigarette
I admit I do get worked up over the assumption that people in the past were stupid. It can make people in the present dangerously overconfident.
Only if they think they aren't stupid themselves. I think everybody, including me, in past and present (and most likely in the future) is stupid.
I mean we've got more or less the same brain people in the stone ages had and are trying to solve problems in the microcomputing age. Of course we're going to make mistakes and most ideas we have about the universe or society are probably wrong. And of course we'll repeat the mistakes of our ancestors.
So I don't think thinking of someone as stupid is bad, just assuming you're less stupid is.
Sorry I get equally worked up over the assumption that people aren't stupid.
Is it useful to define "stupid" as the level of intelligence that everybody possesses? I'm not saying it isn't - maybe thinking "I'm stupid and so is everyone else" really is the appropriate level of humility. But, on the other hand, someone must ultimately make important decisions, so we can't just say "no one is qualified". With apologies to George Orwell, all people are stupid but some people are less stupid than others. So I think our language should distinguish between the two.
Yes I'd say so. I get where you're coming from but I don't think it's an excuse not to make decisions. Quite the opposite in fact.
I think of it like this: if you think you're smart, you expect to make best choice for every decision. So in tough situations, where there is no "right" choice, you beat yourself up about not doing better. If you accept you're stupid, you're willing to settle for the least wrong and accept failiure.
The same goes for interacting with others. Don't expect others to make the best choice, as they're stupid too, so you might find a better solution. But if you did not find one and they didn't, well, they're stupid, so of course they did not. Can't blame them really.
I'm no native speaker so perhaps stupid and smart are the wrong words in this context. Perhaps fallible and infallible are better suited.