On Thu, 3 Feb 2005, Dave Godwin wrote:
>
> I don't mind normal stupid. It's like George Carlin said: "Remember folks,
> the average human IQ is only 100 points, and half of them are even dumber
> than that".
>
> It's stupid-with-intent that bothers me.
Which reminds me of an anecdote attributed to von Clausewitz. He divided
his soldiers up according to a two-by-two matrix: Smart/Stupid and
Lazy/Diligent.
The Smart and Diligent he made into field commanders, where their quick wits
and high energy made them adaptable to changing battlefield conditions.
The Smart and Lazy became General Staff, sitting back at HQ and thinking
around corners ("Sieges are boooring! Isn't there some other way to get this
done?")
The Stupid and Lazy became regular grunts, reliably following orders.
The Stupid and Diligent were to be removed from the army at all costs.
pe