You're a smart person, I like you

Ahh, I see.

I personally always root for the little guy, and although everyone is "big" in their own way, some have had some worse breaks than others.


@Lelorelyn: I wasn't being ignorant. I know they gather intelligence, I know they use strategy, and I know they aren't complete idiots. I was taking their lore and group as a whole for the sake of comparison to other races. Side by side to the more intelligent beings in 40k, Space Marines are dumbasses on and off the field.

So Space Marines aren't dumbasses... except when compared to other races?


Would that mean that a relatively intelligent person is a dumbass compared to a super-intelligent person?

I disagree with that notion. It's a completely unnecessary insult. I'd say that people of mediocre abilities don't deserve to be called derogatory names by somebody else simply because they're inferior. That's elitist bullcrap and I could very well say that the super-intelligent oh-so-awesome person is a complete imbecile because he/she fails at social intelligence... or simply a twat.


Regarding Space Marines, I wouldn't say that they're dumbasses... generally at least. And neither should you, especially not for some reason like "Eldar are superior, everyone else stinks".

To be fair, in a universe where intelligence is quite common despite its guises...one could consider the history of Imperium of Man to be dumb. One would also consider the history of the Eldar, Chaos, Orks, etc to be dumb.

Fact of the matter is, no matter the intelligence individuals from each race display, their decisions as a whole have not been the finest exhibit of intelligence. Then again, intelligence has never been what this universe is about. If you wanted, you could call any race dumb!

Imperium of Man - Oh I know! Lets forget about a concept of 'God' only to re-invent it a few millenia down the line!
Eldar - Hey lets make our selves so happy that we become sick of it, give birth to a Chaos god and watch as our entire empire across the galaxy falls apart!
Chaos - Lets randomly kill our minions because we still function on basic human emotions, despite the ever infinite plans of the Lord of Change!
Orks - Hey, we iz smart enuff to build space ships. Why we iz not smart enuff to speak coherent english!?
Oh and heres a bonus one:

Tyranids - ZERG ZERG ZERG ZERG! Reproduce... ZERG ZERG ZERG ZERG!

Psst... They aren't real.



You forgot one.

Necrons -


















­

Don't worry, I'm aware of that. I wasn't defending the poor little power-armored guys... I was commenting on your philosophy, which is real enough.






A dumb history does not make the people dumb. Are humans dumb because of our incredibly stupid and long history of terribly stupid things?

The truth of the matter is that some are definitely dumb... and some most (un)certainly aren't. Individuals. Intelligence isn't something that can be simply measured in masses of people... it's complicated. Average intelligence doesn't tell you that much about a culture or a people. Also, let's not forget that intelligence doesn't remove the prospect of stupidity.

Most people are relatively intelligent yet do the most stupid things. Every day, all day long. You're stupid, I'm stupid, everyone's stupid. Everyone can be stupid and everyone is stupid... here and there... some more often than others, I suppose.




That's because there is no collective intelligence. And the most intelligent individuals are rarely the ones calling the shots when it comes to things like state-affairs. The decisions the IoM has made since the Intelligent and Immortal Dude became more corpse than dude may not have been the brightest ones, but that doesn't mean you can call them all stupid... while having the "moral high ground".

And the moral high ground is just as unimportant as the "Who's right?" question. You might call them stupid and it might be completely deserved. I may argue that it isn't completely deserved... or something. And we may both be on to something.

My arguing is that there is no "collective stupidity" either, at least not in the way you're portraying it. You can say that all <insert-something-here> are stupid... and it would be nothing more than an insult. An insult to whom? An insult to the individuals that don't deserve to be put into the "same boat". And how many of them are there? Unimportant, one is enough.


Plus, I find your examples hilarious.

Granted, making a nearly-omnipotent God out of somebody who practically demanded atheism from his subject does seem pretty stupid. Then again, he must have seemed pretty god-like to anyone who ever met him... blinding light and all.

And I think it's funny that you think Eldar were dumb for their role in the creation of Slaanesh. They were not stupid, they were simply ignorant. And remember, ignorance is bliss. They were simply doing what most people do in the real world today... tuned up to pretty creepy levels. Gratuitous hedonism on unbelievably excessive levels, not stupidity.

And Chaos randomly or purposefully killing their minions... is mean, not stupid. Mostly, anyway. Also, what does the Crazy Dude In The Warp have to do with it?

Also, I believe that the way Orks talk is ( from an IC perspective) a matter of choice. After all, why should they start talking like those poncy posh 'ooligans an' ne'erdowells? The way somebody talks doesn't have to have anything to do with intelligence or stupidity. I could be talking in rhymes all day long... that wouldn't mean I'm crazy. In theory.

Also, what's stupid about surviving? Tyranids aren't stupid, they're smart enough to use strategy and tactics... not even the zerging part is stupid, given that they recycle most of the organic matter they lose while conquering something.

And don't forget that the natural urge to reproduce is what's making you think about sex pretty much all day long... does that necessarily make you dumb?

Hehehe, english fer da grotz.