Have you ever met an actual dumb person?

Yes, when I was doing community college theatre there were two guys - best friends - who were the dumbest fucking idiots I've ever encountered in the wild. It was years before Dumb and Dumber came out or I would have called them that. Really good natured, happy-go-lucky guys. but they didn't have six brain cells between them. Over the few months I knew them their friendship fell apart when Moron A beat up Moron B for getting him fired from Taco Bell where they both worked. I can no longer remember any specific stories about dumb things they did, cuz it was decades ago, only that it was always hard to explain anything to them, and I wasn't the only person who had this problem. They seemed normal in social situations, not like they were mentally impaired or high or anything, just not much going on under the hood.

Most of the people I've met in IT seem a lot more intelligent than average - clearly better analytical skills, can keep more details in their heads, understand complex subjects more quickly, etc - which makes sense because you kind of have to be that way to do the work.

I got some for you.


I used to work in the computer lab of a public library. I've met so many people carrying such a profound lack of basic understanding or reasoning skills, that the most terrifying thought was realizing "They drove here."


I put up with that job way too long... It was... So deeply soul sucking I'm still recovering years later. I wish I were joking.


A lot of people who simply didn't read anything presented to them on a screen, couldn't handle the concept of email, and had no idea how to open Microsoft Word, much less type a resume. That was kinda the bread and butter there, unfortunately, but we did our best.


It was a whole lot of "That sounds hard. Do it for me?" And they found all sorts of weasle ways to need constant babysitting without crossing the line of my job description.


Few wanted to actually learn anything. (If they did, I went above and beyond.) They mostly wanted a free butler to do their homework assigned by the government or a lawyer or their job or whatever.


These people are dumb by choice, because they are intellectually lazy.


"Monke, stop being mean to the 85 year olds!" You might be thinking. No. These were like 40 and 50 year olds who would tell me "I'm old school, I don't do computers." Computers were around since way before me! Where the heck were you!?!? (I'm now convinced whenever people say "old school" they mean "no school."


Some examples:


We used to put big obvious "Out of Order" signs over the screens if a machine wasn't working correctly. I watched a young lady in like her 20s, sit down at that machine, make eye contact with me, see the sign, flip it over, attempt to sign in, then walk up to me to say (yes, in fluent English) it wasn't working.


I had a regular patron always looking for pastry chef jobs. We had to keep her resume, email address, and password on our work machine because she'd show up every week having forgotten all of it. She ended up with one pastry job only to get fired for eating one from a tray on shift.


So she applied to a grocery chain I think (with significant hand holding by a number of staff), and they had one of those basic competency tests like giving correct change and "Click the picture that shows how many apples are left if we had 5 and take 2 away."


I explained the nature of the question but that I couldn't do the thinking for her, and I shit you not this woman in like her early 50's broke down upset that it was all too much to handle. Like, first grade math. She was one who drove there, by the way. In a car.


I had a dude get grouchy with me because I told him he couldn't edit videos with PowerPoint (there was no video editing software on those machines.)


I had people more than once try to get me to help them use Paint or GIMP to alter a scan of a pay stub. (FAT CHANCE!)


They would often try to call customer service reps and hand us the phone. Another huge no.


And these people all showed up to blame their struggles...On me.


...Yeah, I've met people that have made me weep for the species. They have zero curiosity, zero intrinsic understanding or critical thinking or pattern recognition, and they are seemingly content only knowing how to just complain and buy things.


A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And I have seen quite a few wasted minds. It really does break my heart.


Edit: Still work for the library, but in a MUCH better position now. I'm still sad the the weirdest most unhinged people I meet usually want the computer lab though, and I hurt for my colleagues over there...

Man, I had an IQ test tell me 145 or some similar score. I still struggle with simple things like with laundry, cleaning and cooking. I've never had my drivers license because driving is fucking hard. I flunked my bachelor's degree twice before finally getting it.

Dumb is relative and situational. That being said, nowadays I'd probably be diagnosed with some form of autism and / or ADHD.

It wasn't internet, it was part of conscription health checkups. I remember the psychologist being all smug and annoying going like "Almost as high as mine…" when went over the results.

Every time I look in the mirror. I do posses a healthy amount of self-loathing though.

I've spent lots of time at the public library and I've never seen this, though, I'm not surprised. For better or worse, the public library brings refuge to the the most vulnerable people in our population.

You are not alone, I think probably 10 people said something similar.

Oh yes. I worked retail for over a decade, and now I work in parts. The amount of people that can't follow directions or read is mine boggling.

I have one client whose purchasing department has one guy. Most of the time he cannot send a correct dollar amount on the purchase order, no matter how many times I tell him "hey, line 2 needs to be $146.76, you have it priced at $257.32." he will send me an updated PO, but change a different items price and not the one I told him to change.

We normally have to go back and forth 3-6 times. It's been like this for YEARS. Dude just isn't good with numbers and he is in charge of purchasing for a billion dollar company.

What part of tech are you in? If you interact with end-users ever, they're everywhere.

I have a few.

They arent necessarily hostile or mean. but there is a definite laziness to their intellect where they get super insecure if even minor challenged and refuse to admit to any learning disability or any level disability (and look down on those with a disability) and they believe because they are older = know everything.

One took it upon herself to explain walking poles to me....and i didnt even ask. Mainly because she requires to be explained to how to use basic functions of a toaster. So she believes she is at the intellect of everyone else around her by asserting herself to explain how to use even most basic of things only a very young child would struggle with and entirely gives up if the task entirely if it has any complexity. Such as just checking oil in the car. A stick in a hole. this is too hard apparently.

At first i thought she was just acting stupid like some women famously do this where they dampen their intellect around others but living around this person ive come to suspect a learning disability she refuses to accept about herself.

- Corrects people's pronounciation constantly incorrectly without anyone even asking her and sees this as 'helping'
- nods along agreeing but not listening to what she has agreed to.
- also laughs at things that are tragic stories because shes not listening or even looking. just tuned right out and i guess laughing is her basic npc response.
- doesnt have an emergency response and relies on other people's response. number of times ive had to rush to a problem someone has like a neighbor yelling then she shows up later after relying on my response. but then lacks ability to think through the issue and act. i will just do, she nods along. then she will be like 'I'll always be there for them' while shit just happens around her.
- has been in danger. hasnt responded to it. other people got her out of the problem and she just stands there and later tells the story like she had it entirely under control and calls others who would be worried as 'overeacting' or anxious.
- thinks things 'always work out' without having a plan.
- will get on a suspicious elevator without pre thought. elevator will break. will goofily say she should have listened to someone after calling them worried prior beforehand.
- not using basic observation to know when she has been around someone dangerous and just wants to lazily believe everyone else has her personal safety as their main interest. calls this 'believing in the best in everyone'
- thinks everything from the store is 'safe' and will not harm her to excuse any executive decisions as a consumer(believing its the capitalist who is responsible and magiclly culpable to do their homework and have her personally in mind to keep her safe)

A true dunning kreuger if i ever saw one.

Meanwhile she would give you the shirt off her back.

met a lot of these type in a conservative country town but occassionally i will run into one in the city.

i think the trouble comes from them thinking if having a learning disability means inlovable. which is in many ways sad and just really mean against those who have owned it and worked on their's.

Yeah, the library is definitely a wonderful institution for everyone! I did get a chance to support some wonderful people who wouldn't have had any support otherwise.


I don't wanna sound like I lacked any compassion or understanding. I wouldn't have survived many years doing that job otherwise. I was just focusing on the prompt. But the "carer's fatigue" was REAL.


It wasn't all bad though! For example: While I couldn't/wouldn't personally touch anybody's computers, I did help two people with really old laptops switch to Linux Mint, and they LOVED IT. So that was really cool! (I kept wanting to run a clinic for this and admin just kinda ignored me to shut me down)


But at the same time, it's clear in the U.S at least, the library is often positioned as an ill-equipped bandaid to cover a gaping wound in a decayed and eviscerated social system. Libraries would be more pleasant for all with a working social safety net and more "third places" that were free to all to enioy.


Clearly in this case, libraries are expected to make up where underfunded schools utterly failed their students.


Employees trained to help with information are also called upon to be social workers, teachers, employment specialists, and even crisis management personnel in the most extreme cases, and are paid to be none of these things.


Of course private interests and their pet politicians are keen on destroying libraries like they did everything else, because free access to knowledge is dangerous to them.


So yeah, support your local library: The last place you can be without paying admission. ❤️

I didnt, no. It was devops, building infrastructure for stuff the company wanted to do. End users would just connect to databases and use sql for their analytics.

So yeah not public tech support, more like building tech environments for analytics.

Exactly, I go to libraries because sometimes I need a place to sit down and do work and it's kind of sad what I have to see in the library. I see so many homeless people and it's all a result of the conditions we live in right now. There really is no other free 3rd place like the library.

I met a good deal of people with intellectual disabilities in the past. Few of them were a bit difficult, but most of them were innocent and very authentic. Frankly, that authenticity made it chill to be around them.