[ExI] Tolerance.

[John Clark]

On Dec 9, 2009,  Stefano Vaj wrote:

> I think stupid may plausibly mean, depending the circumstances, both
> somebody believing in naive and crazy ideas *and* the contrary of
> astute and clever.

Crazy, not just odd but crazy ideas are pretty close to the contrary of astute and clever. And I think one can decide to be stupid, as in a surgeon who doesn't believe in the cornerstone of the biological sciences, Evolution; or a structural engineer who doesn't believe in Newton's theory of gravitation. Actually such things are possible provided you put your ideas in little airtight compartments and refuse to let them interact, but that's just a longwinded way of saying the word stupid. 

>  I am inclined to consider the supporters of the religions
> of the Book as "stupid" in the first sense, but not necessarily nor
> always in the second. Far from it...

Oh come now Stefano, we both know its really not that far.

 John K Clark

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