Some people believe ignorance and stupidity are synonyms. Do people just not know the correct definitions of each, or is it a reasonable mistake? Why can they be perceived as synonymous, and what makes them two totally different terms.
Yes, there's a total of 4 questions there. If you want to be chosen as best answer, please be sure to answer all of the questions posed.
2007-05-12 16:34:19 · 9 answers · asked by its_victoria08 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
No. Ignorant means uninformed, stupid means without the mental ability to use the information you supposedly know.
People usually know the difference but they often say that ignorance is "stupidity" because they are impatient with ignorance and seek to blame someone for acting without respect to knowledge. It can also be a reasonable mistake, if they are just wrong about how much someone has learned and they mis-attribute errors to lack of intelligence.
They can be perceived as synonymous because wrong or bad behavior looks the same whether it is due to lack of intelligence, or lack of understanding. They're thought of as very different because we tend to assume that lack of knowledge is down to lack of opportunity or the failing of teachers (not holding the ignorant responsible for wrong behavior), and to assume that stupidity is a failure to apply intelligence (the stupid is at fault) rather than an innate disability. We use less derogatory terms than stupid when we want to attribute wrong behavior to actual mental disability.
2007-05-12 18:09:27 · answer #1 · answered by zilmag 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Stupid is forgivable.
Ignorance isn't.
I think the key difference between the two is motivation. Where a stupid individual may never understand a concept, the ignorant person could, but refuses to do so for unjustifiable reason.
I believe that many people do not know the difference out of both stupidity and/or ignorance. ;)
Also, they perceived as synonymous because they are in fact very similar except for the single difference explained above.
2007-05-12 17:28:03 · answer #2 · answered by __ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
most people don't take the time to look up a word they re fixing to use as an insult.
you are correct that they aren't synonyms of each other but
i think it,s a reasonable mistake though, I mean both words (imply) that an individual lacks knowledge.
An ignorant person (lacks knowledge) because they haven't been exposed to information on a certain subject or education in general. Ignorant indicates that the person is not at fault for his lack of knowledge.that he could indeed learn that information if exposed to it.
A stupid person ( lacks knowledge ) A.because he is incapable of learning because of physical disability or B. will not learn because they are so locked into a belief system they can not grasp anything that differs from their viewpoint .
B. is usually the type of person the word stupid is used for.(remember the I HATE STUPID PEOPLE bumper stickers) ?as it is not polite to call the mentally disabled stupid,because as you've indicated most people don't understand the meaning of the word.
ignorance --lacks education
stupid----lacks intelligence
peace><>
2007-05-12 20:11:03 · answer #3 · answered by matowakan58 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that people sometimes mix up the definitions of ignorance and stupidity because they believe that they are in fact synonyms. They are not though because ignorance means not knowing something and stupid implies purposely being ignorant. People think of them as the same for the same reason we say smart and intelligent mean the same thing.
2007-05-12 17:01:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ignorant people can be taught, stupid, well let's get them to tie their shoes, so no, not synonyms. 2nd Q Ahh yeah to both people really don't know the difference in general so society has blended them together for the sake of argument in casual conversation between those that know the words definitions and those that don't. even in schools this is seldom corrected. 3rd lack of proper education in this field, high school English concentrates on verbs, nouns, pronouns Etc 4th they are different terms because they have different meanings. It's really basic and I did not even graduate high school, got a GED though HS was stupid and so were my teachers
2007-05-12 16:45:42 · answer #5 · answered by tmilestc 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes they are synonyms although they do not mean the same thing.
ignorant is the state of being illiterate, uniformed or uneducated
stupid is unintelligent, dull by nature
No people most likely don't know the real definitions and it is a reasonable mistake given our society.
They are percieved as synonymous because people use them as such, but they are different in that ignorance can be rectified while stupidity cannot.
2007-05-12 16:48:43 · answer #6 · answered by Still*Perfect 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. Ignorant means to not have the facts, and stupid means a lack of intelligence necessary to make a decision which is based on the facts.
2007-05-12 16:39:09 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Synonyms Of Ignorance
2017-02-20 12:29:19 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am ignorant about many things because I lack knowledge about them. However, I am not stupid because I regularly apply my intelligence (by thinking) and regularly work to increase my knowledge (by reading and studying).
Ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing.
2007-05-12 16:40:42 · answer #9 · answered by Doctor J 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋