Sunday Snippet: Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell
December 5th, 2010 by Michael Kwan
“I am patient with stupidity but not with those who are proud of it.”
It’s understandable to be ignorant about certain subjects. I don’t know much about quantum physics and Libyan politics. Stupidity, on the other hand, is probably better defined as the inability to understand and to learn. In other words, it describes a “lack of intellectual acuity.” People who are deemed “smart” can grasp new ideas quickly, regardless of the topic. The key is having a willingness (and ability) to learn more about whatever subject is at hand. It’s the drive to improve oneself.
No one wants to be stupid. That’s no way to live your life. That’s why you need to find that motivation to get out of the rut, gain new knowledge, and become a more rounded human being. Perhaps it is because Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell (1887 – 1964) came from a place of privilege that she has this kind of opinion on the matter.
A British poet and critic, Sitwell wrote on the artificiality of human behavior, the barbarism that lies beneath the surface, and on “contemporary backward-looking poets.” Later on, she authored a novel called I Live under a Black Sun, based on the life of Jonathan Swift, and this was published in 1937.
There’s no excuse for stupidity. You just have to care.
Tags: life lessons, memorable quotes, stupidity
Filed under Personal Development.
I have no tolerance for stupidity. If someone is not willing to try to grasp a concept or learn about it that’s fine, just don’t try to speak about it or discuss it.
As you said there is a difference. If you don’t know about something and are trying to find out about it, then that is a learning process. Any questions or discussions are more than welcome. The only stupid question is the one that that isn’t asked.
A great example of stupidity and ignorance is the retweet’s of the incorrect information about the DNS registrar that revoked the domain name for Wikileaks. People just joined the bandwagon without getting the proper information, which perpetuated a falsehood and damaged a company that was not even involved.
The correct way to refer to Sitwell is Dame Edith.
Duly noted and corrected.
Ignorance can be prevented with education, stupidity cannot as it is the inability to learn. Therefore, ignorance is much harder to tolerate than stupidity. IMHO.
Stupidity is not defined anywhere as the inability to learn. There are a lot of people that have the inability to learn, but have a disability. It is defined as:
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.