Stupidity is something that never ceases to amaze me. I mean, really, it's quite a bit stronger than intelligence. I tend to thing of it as the "even number" of the universe. Think of it like this: even numbers have this annoying way of taking over everything. Case in point, odd + odd = even; even + even = even; odd + even = odd. So far, that's 2/3 even. Not looking good for the odd numbers. Taking it a step further, odd * odd = odd; even * odd = even; even * even = even. Again, 2/3 even. So, mathematical operations in general are stacked to prefer even numbers, roughly at a 2/3 ratio. A theory would be that given an expression F(x), the computational result of that expression will be even roughly 2/3 times.
I think the same thing applies to stupidity. Take the smartest thing ever said, then add something stupid to it. I mean, you don't even have to add anything outrageously stupid, something just minorly stupid added to it and the whole thing is ruined into a stupid statement. We get something like this: smart + stupid = stupid; stupid + stupid = stupid; smart + smart = smart. I believe this shows that the universe actually is predetermined to favor stupid things, in a way quite similar to our even / odd experiment.
Actually, this little mind exercise is the only thing that keeps me halfway sane when dealing with the public in general. I've come to expect that roughly 2/3 of the people I meet in my lifetime will show a tendency to the stupid. Since I deal with quite a few customer bases in work, and come in contact with quite a few people over the internet, that also means I'll be in touch with quite a few smart people. Thank-you statistics for saving the day and bringing hope to those of us who think way too much.
So what has brought on this rant on stupidity and the need to divulge the secret of why there's so much stupidity in the world? Today, I received this message as a work order. I got it exactly as I show it here from 1st level support. I have not modified spelling (such as it is), grammar (if it even exists), or anything else. As background, troubleshooting my employer's e-mail systems is a facet of my job:Hello i was wondering that when i send some emails it is just transferred and the other party doesn't not recieve them but others are delievered and I was wondering why that was happening?
WTF!?
No, really WTF???
I can't make this stuff up. I think it was worse when I was working for a school district, and would get work requests like this simply for the fact that the thought kept going through my mind that the people sending these requests were teaching our children. Yah, there's a comforting thought.
