Let's take the number one definition of the word stupid from dictionary.com:
Most commonly, the word stupid represents a value judgement we make towards another person or living thing. In reference to [x] this person is not very insightful so we are characterizing him or her as having less value than those who are more insightful.
Now consider the real level of control that any person has over their own intelligence. For one, a person's parents genetics lays the entire framework of their life and abilities, so if they have poor genetics then they are already disadvantaged out of the gate. In addition to that, for a person to gain anything close to wisdom they not only have to come across knowledge, but they also need the ability to piece together that knowledge into wisdom. Both coming across useful knowledge and piecing it together into any type of meaningful wisdom is not an easy task, and few have the privilege of both.
With that said every single person treads through life with a bubble of knowledge that is uniquely their own, and which they have a very hard time seeing outside of unless someone or something happens to transform it. In other words: acquiring wisdom about the world is mostly out of our control.
So if we have little to no control over how insightful we are, why call another person stupid as if it were a choice they made? Claim that they are lacking important insight, claim that they may sometimes be misinformed, but just don't call them dumb.
lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull.
Most commonly, the word stupid represents a value judgement we make towards another person or living thing. In reference to [x] this person is not very insightful so we are characterizing him or her as having less value than those who are more insightful.
Now consider the real level of control that any person has over their own intelligence. For one, a person's parents genetics lays the entire framework of their life and abilities, so if they have poor genetics then they are already disadvantaged out of the gate. In addition to that, for a person to gain anything close to wisdom they not only have to come across knowledge, but they also need the ability to piece together that knowledge into wisdom. Both coming across useful knowledge and piecing it together into any type of meaningful wisdom is not an easy task, and few have the privilege of both.
With that said every single person treads through life with a bubble of knowledge that is uniquely their own, and which they have a very hard time seeing outside of unless someone or something happens to transform it. In other words: acquiring wisdom about the world is mostly out of our control.
So if we have little to no control over how insightful we are, why call another person stupid as if it were a choice they made? Claim that they are lacking important insight, claim that they may sometimes be misinformed, but just don't call them dumb.