Callysta wrote:
Not an insult. It is a statement of fact.
"Imitation is..."
Callysta wrote:
And I don't take any stock in your comments about me. I joined MENSA when I was 6.
IQ is a function of mental age divided by physical age. In theory, IQ remains constant with age, but IQ tests are less reliable at younger ages. To say that you were admitted to MENSA at the age of six does not demonstrate you were precocious, it demonstrates you don't understand what IQ is.
Assuming what you say is even true, the immediate implication to an impartial observer would be that you were admitted to MENSA based on a statistical fluke (the inherent unreliablity of IQ tests with very young persons).
I think I mentioned that about 20 years ago, my grandparents visited Sacramento. As it happened, there was a MENSA convention at the hotel they stayed at. Everyone in my entire extended family is qualified to join MENSA, but none of us have. My grandmother, who was pretty opinionated, actually made a point of walking up to a smug MENSA delegate and chewing him out about how she thought they were horrible people for thinking themselves better because of their score on a standardized test.
I actually wasn't present when that happened - was told about it by my brother who was - and I don't necessarily think her making a point of getting in his face was right, but the basic attitude is one I share. I do well on standardized tests - something I am very proud of - but I am not such a fool as to think that is a basis for self-validation.
Callysta wrote:
I graduated from the university in 2 years with 3 degrees and a 4.0, what about you? I know I'm smart. Having you tell me I'm not intelligent is comical.
And got you what?
Callysta wrote:
You project your own feelings of failure on to me. My heart is filled with pity for you.
Failure is not the end. Being content is.
Callysta wrote:
Your ability to "relate" to this man who found it suitable to murder an innocent young man and woman for their blood relation and find it logical is what I find disturbing.
Blood feuds are the rule and not the exception of human nature. There is a certain logic to it. Everyone is someone else's son or daughter or father or mother or sister or brother. If you love your family and wish to keep them from harm, you should not put them at risk by doing wrong to others' family.
Relating to people who are like you, or who aren't in exceptional circumstances, is easy. We may not like to see people who do terrible things as human, but they are.
The test of compassion, of character, is trying to understand why people we don't approve of, who do things that are strange or disturbing, do what they do. Most often they are victims in their own right, or influenced by circumstances beyond their comprehension, beyond their control.
This quote captures exactly what I find repulsive about you. Your incuriousity. Your smug arrogance about your sheltered little life, how you write off those who have not had it so easy. You pervert bigotry and lack of compassion into a virtue.