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Dealing with Stupid 17

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frusso110

frusso110

Mechanical
Feb 2, 2012
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We all have to deal with stupidity.

Stupid people.

Stupid specifications.

Stupid bosses, managers, co-workers.

Stupid company policies.

How do you stay sane at work? How do you deal with all of the above?

When a co-workers requests a moronic change to one of your drawings, how do you deal with it? When you disagree with someone, how do you respectfully disagree?

 
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In the UK it is illegal to give anyone a bad reference. This has come to mean that any basic reference just giving dates of service is seen as bad and to be avoided even if that is not what was intended.

Yet another law that does the exact opposite of what it set out to do.
 
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Stupid people are often those people who don't think the same way as yourself on all matters. If you work in a team, each member of that team will have characteristics you can't deal with and massive blind spots. But in general they will have skills you don't have and probably think you are stupid for not having them.

- Steve
 
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I think the IP has to work on his communication skills: if someone does not understand you, speak more slowly and more loudly. After a while, people will assume you are stupid and leave you alone. It's worked for generations of tourists.

 
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Differing opinions doesn't always mean one party is stupid. How to deal with it? It is a problem, you are an engineer; solve it rationally, then go home.

If you are confident you can win the argument in less time than it takes to do the work, go for it, be polite and professional, document it. If you lose the argument or it takes up too much time, realize that your decision was wrong and has wasted even more of your time. Adjust confidence level for future encounters.

If you aren't confident you can win the argument, and there are no negative consequences, do the work per the opinion you don't agree with, be polite and professional, document it.

Then go home, and pick an argument on the internet to hone your skills.

 
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If you got through engineering school, then chances are that 99 pct or more of the general population actually is, relative to you, stupid, or at least ignorant.

There's no good reason to acknowledge that publicly, or to phrase it as rudely as that, if you feel the need to express the thought out loud.

You might wish to say something nominally inoffensive or even complimentary while reserving a private meaning for yourself.
For example, my friend Ermi uses "Amazing!" as a general response meaning "Stupid!" or worse.

I find a simple "Wow!" is often misunderstood as something other than a pejorative.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
 
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It's called "Life". Get used to it.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
 
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If you're constantly surrounded by stupid people, you can do a couple of things: (1) improve your teaching, and (2) upgrade your status and respectability so that people will listen to you. I find I'm better at both when I consider those around me to be well-meaning and intelligent, but with different perspectives, goals, and experiences.
 
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Some clever answers, some funny answers, a couple of actual pieces of good advice, and a couple of people who are a little cranky themselves. ;-)

Always a pleasure to hear what you all have to say.




 
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I have found that those who proclaim, "I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy", usually are. Think about it.

Good luck,
Latexman

Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529
 
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Just for clarification - I am personally not surrounded by all of these things, but was just writing generically for the sake of stimulating conversation.
 
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"Stupid is as stupid does"
--Forrest Gump

I have to look at that person and work really hard until I realize that we're both just people. I'm no better, and neither is he or she. I'll admit that it takes a lot of concentration with some folks. I'll also admit that I fail at it when they really get going on a rant. Ah, to strive for perfection and reach for the stars and perhaps touch one if I try hard enough.

"That'd burn your hand clean off."
--Wally

Best to you,

Goober Dave

Haven't see the forum policies? Do so now: Forum Policies
 
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Based on Latexman's point, I have begun to chant, "I am not rich, I am not rich, I am not rich!" So far, no change. If I suddenly disappear from the forum, feel free to assume I became miraculously wealthy and immdediately stopped all engineering activities to ward off lawsuits. :eek:)
 
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A man has a flat tire right out side of a sanitarium. While changing the tire he kicks the hub cap with the lug nuts in it and they go down into the sewer drain.
He doesn't know what to do next. The man at the fence tells him to take a lug nut off of each of the other wheels and drive slowly into town where he can buy more.
The man thinks that is a brilliant solution. He says so and the inmate says "I'm not stupid, I'm in here because I'm crazy"
 
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frusso110: you can lose your mind struggling against the stupidity. Or you can give in, and accept the things you can't change. Sometimes, giving in can make you richer than fighting it. I have to make an extra special effort to stop even trying to talk some clients out of wasteful, ineffective and expensive stuff they want to pay me for- at least the stuff they want (or at least the stuff they specify) that it's possible for me to deliver.

KENAT: that's a brilliant comeback!




 
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