I sometimes wonder about people with "teh stupid".

Do they have teh stupid because they were born that way? Was it a matter of environment where they were raised with teh stupid and brainwashed with it? Or is it because they are just too lazy to think for themselves and would rather others think for them?

I have a suspicion it's a combination of all three. For the first two categories, I can only feel sorry for them. For the third category, there is no one to but them. They are responsible for their own stupidity.

Of course, then there are those who spread teh stupid but are actually very calculating and smart - if selfish. They merely spread and infect others with teh stupid so that they can control them. They are the most vile of all.

Laziness/incuriousity is a factor of nurture.

... as I don't seem to notice it so much at the few other forums I occasionally use.

for LOLcats. My guess is that it's so easy and common to misspell "the" when typing.

There are a lot of DU terms and misspellings that are more popular here because they have been seen in common use on RW forums. Thereby proving they are seriously infected with "teh stupid".

There is a very popular LOLcat pic that says "teh stupid... it hurts!". I love that pic.

with the history of how they became popular here at DU. It's pure comedy gold! Check it out!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_oet&address=358x190

Quite a lot of what politicians worship as "The Center" is made up of people who just don't spend much time thinking about politics, and how political issues are framed, constituencies influenced, etc. These people are fairly trusting. They see a commercial making a political case, they are likely to believe it. Or at least they will trust that the argument is being made in good faith. You know, "it's one side of the story."

The GOP gets how to influence these people. The joke is, it's pretty easy. All you have to do is get there first with your narrative. Repetition doesn't hurt either. It's how the Mormon church gave us CA Prop 8.

Now, it's also worth remembering that 50% of the people are below median intelligence. And 25% of them are dumber than than the other 75%. That's sort of tautalogical, but I think you see the implications.

Especially w/o a basis for comparison.

I'm like, so you'll vote for someone whose values are completely out of sync with yours because they're more appealing or have a stronger personality, am I getting that right?

Very good points.

That's why 25% of the population still loves Bush and Cheney. It's TEH STUPID quadrant.

... who are smart enough, but are so ruled by their emotions that they can't even listen to facts contrary to their opinions.

It's not always laziness, people will work very hard to remain ignorant.