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Ordinary human stupidity will sooner or later destroy everything good that surrounds us. The fact that people will fight and argue with someone over politics and celebrities who literally don't care about them at all, or people who refuse to accept valid and researched data that goes against what they believe will never cease to amaze me.

In a recent thread, people responded to the prompt "what are some signs that someone isn't very intelligent?" and people couldn't help but chime in with answers and examples. Here are a few red flags and clues to help you avoid getting sucked in.

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Interest in a pyramid scheme

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Active hostility to books (as opposed to simply not reading them).

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The act of condescending to retail workers or waitstaff, in my opinion, is indicative of poor education and social skills.

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Littering.

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An unwillingness to learn new things.

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People who unironically use the words "alpha male"

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When people constantly go on and on about how such and such is overrated or people who's favorite thing is X are idiots then I suspect they are being immature or dumb. I recognize this because I used to do it constantly. I now realize how stupid and immature that was. I am not perfect and still find myself doing it sometimes. It such an easy trap to fall into.The example I like to give is the band Rush. I'm not a fan of their music but it would borderline criminal of me to say they are overrated or that people who like their music are dumb. Those three dudes are/were insanely talented and had more musical talent than I could ever dream of. Their music just doesn't speak to me and that's not on them that's on me.So now I try my best to say things like "Big Bang theory" just isn't my cup of tea rather than everybody who likes BBT is dumb. Calling people dumb for having different opinions about subjective things is dumb.

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When they post one of those things on Facebook saying "only a few will share!" or when they comment on one of those clickbait "God has a blessing for you today say amen!" posts

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People who don’t accept that people change their minds. Example:“I actually view things with differently now, since I did a lot more research into it and have a close friend who understands it more than I do and explained it to me.”“Well if you don’t stick to your guns, how are you supposed to stand up for yourself?? You can’t just let people change your mind like that!!”Yes, yes you can. People grow when they’re introduced to new information. If you don’t change at all, you’re not “sticking to your guns”, you’re being an idiot.

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Subscribing to a political party like it’s a religion.

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When they like andrew tate

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Everything is black and white, there are no middle grounds. You either support and agree with every little thing they do at full force, or you're a worst enemy.

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When they use the Bible as their go to defense for anything they do. Especially when they misquote it or point to something that isn't in the Bible.

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talking about horoscopes"I'm toxic and clingy because i'm a caprisun"no sharon you're just a c**t, the stars had nothing to do with it

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People who can only argue by raising their voice.

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When people insult rather than use a counter argument.

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Just a complete lack of critical thinking. They cannot trouble shoot anything. I have an employee like this and it’s painful watching them sometimes.

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If every mistake in their life is blamed on others... Dropped out? Thats the schools fault. Didnt get a GED? Thats their parents fault for not helping them. Electricity wasn't paid on time? Yeah the company is out to get him...I mean an excuse for EVERYTHING

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Being confidently ignorant

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I just heard a guy say "God gave us the right to have a gun, if you're against my right to have a gun, you're also against God."Politics aside, whether you're for or against gun laws; that is a ridiculous statement.

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Talks a lot and never listens.

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They aren't open to changing their beliefs when given new information.

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The kind of dogmatic anti-education sentiment you see going around the internet. "I learned more in this 10 minutes video than in 3 years of highschool", "College is a scam, my friend's cousin's dog dropped out to run his own business and is now a multimillionnaire".The education system is imperfect and you don't *need* a college degree to lead a successful life, but people who outright dismiss college as a useful tool or ask why highschool doesn't teach us about taxes after they slept through algebra and ~~home-ed~~ home-ec just seem to be complaining for the sake of complaining. "Oh look at me I'm a contrarian that likes to s**t on some of the most useful established tools in modern society".

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If they believe in TV magicians, ghost hunting show, or that most other reality shows are not scripted

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Oddly enough, when they try and tell me their IQ.

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The inability to distinguish between subjective and objective reality

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When you prove your point in a discussion and the other person explains that it doesn’t even matter because their REAL point is something that’s an off-shoot of that subject in a “gotcha!” manner.

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They make their political affiliation into their entire personality

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Using Facebook posts/status updates as personal diary entries.

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Arguing without listening

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When they repeat a certain statement word for word I get the impression that they memorized something to sound more intelligent than they are.

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Having even a cursory interest in what the Kardashians are doing.

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Them calling other people dumb or them praising their own intelligence

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“I do my own research”