If we are all equal, why do the words stupid and smart exist?

We are not.

If it is about smartness and stupidity I think we are pretty qeual.

This “appeal to the notion that everybody is equal” is not about pretending that everybody is the same and has the same abilities and capabilities, but about acknowledging that these differences are not a justification for a society to deny rights to those that are “inferior” or granting special priviledges to those that are “superior”.
What is it with your kindergarten level questions?

@ragingloli
Didn’t use the word inferior. I used the word stupid.

You can say what you want, but your answer has a distinctly better quality if you stay on topic.

Having said that, It’s your answer to frame as you see fit. Here is your GA.

“Equal “does not mean the same thing as “Identical”. When people say that all humans were created equal, it means that no group should be given priority or preference over others because of differences.

@hearkat
?
Is that really what you want to say? Final answer, as it were?

People are smart in different ways. We all have our skills.

@josie: Were you expecting a longer response? Humans have more in common than we have that is different. Each of us has varying strengths and weaknesses in our capabilities. Over the course of a lifetime, these things will also change. I used to have a great memory. Now I don’t remember much. We are all imperfect and flawed in some ways. You’re faults might be in areas in which I am gifted, and vice versa. Just because we have different skill sets doesn’t make one of us better as a person. At most, it means that we might be suited for very different vocations – but each of us has something to contribute.

As @hearkat said, “equal” doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone has the same abilities. Most people are good at some things, and not so great at others. But regardless of strengths and/or weaknesses, everyone has (or should have) equal value as a human being and equal rights and treatment.

Of course we aren’t all equal. I love to dance, but I’m not equal to Maya Plisetskaya in ability. I sing my heart out, but I’m not equal to Joan Sutherland. I love to write, but my written words are not equal to those of Iris Murdoch.

We are not equal.

In the US, we have equal protection of the law.

The moron gets the same consideration as the genius.

But the moron is more likely to be arguing that the moon is made of green cheese.

Right. Well I can recite Ovid or Shakespeare all day long, but that makes me useless in repairing a windmill.

Knowledge and intelligence are often confused.

@Blueroses That is amazing. I love that turn of phrase.

Because equal doesn’t mean the same. Duh.

We have different strengths. That’s what makes us great.

Who said we are all equal?

Your initial premise is wrong. That may be a slogan or a dream, but it isn’t true.

The rest of your thesis falls apart, because it is based on the false belief.

This is like asking why, if orange is not a better color than green, we have different names for those colors.

The common mantra I’m hearing of today is that we’re equal, but different. Personally I feel we can all do something that another person can’t, so even terms like stupid and smart can be subjective when they’re used to relate to other people.

@elbanditoroso
Who said we are all equal?

So I infer that you grant that we are not.
My [implied] premise is that the distinction between smart and stupid is the basis for inequality
You say my premise is wrong
Fair enough
What makes the distinction?
Just askin…

@josie I really like this question because I’ve been trying to think of a way to ask it for a long time.

There’s no way to ask it without a bias or assumption that the asker assumes s/he is one of the smart ones.

I’ve done so much traveling and visiting that I no longer think the way I used to think.

I realized how elitist I was and how that separated me from ever being a worthwhile human.

I’m still who I was, but I see “smart” in things I used to consider “stupid”
and
vice versa

@Blueroses

There’s no way to ask it without a bias or assumption that the asker assumes s/he is one of the smart ones.

If your assumption is true then I must think I am smart.
But if I was smart…
Why did I marry my ex wife?
Why did I volunteer to be a soldier?
Why am here instead of writing the Great American Novel?
Etc.?

Equal as in equivalent, I guess.

Different but with similar entitlement to be judges upon their deeds.

One can also act stupid while bing smart.

Anyways. ... @ragingloli said it all.

This question reminds me of the joke concerning the meeting to decide which body part was most important.

Clearly, you are smart enough to know that when people speak of “equality” they are not saying everyone is the same. Equality is about how people are treated under the law. It’s highly doubtful that you are too simplistic to understand that, so are you just trying to stir things up? I truly don’t understand your motivation when you ask questions like this.

@josie: “My [implied] premise is that the distinction between smart and stupid is the basis for inequality”

Got it. You’re probably right. I had the “smarts” to be born where and when I did. I’m not stupid enough to allow myself to be born in some poor, war-torn country. Hell, I even chose decent parents (or at least a decent mother) who sacrificed for me. Now that is smart. I chose to be white too. I’m not stupid. I know a woman who is so stupid, she chose to be born in east Boston to a single mother who was a junkie. How stupid is that?

I’d put it the other away around:

The word “equal” exists (in reference to human beings. at least) because words like “smart” and “stupid” exist.

Equality is a principle, not a measurement. It serves to remind us that we aren’t as good at judging the overall value of others as we tend to think we are. It’s better to operate on this assumption of equality than to arrogate to ourselves the right to decide which abilities are most valuable, and to rank humanity accordingly.

Keep pounding on those straw men, @josie.

Being smart doesn’t mean that you can predict the future. Even if you take it to @tom_g‘s point’s. Being born into better circumstances than another person doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to have bad things happen in your life or that you aren’t going to make bad choices.

I think there is a big difference in someone being ignorant or not aware of something either from lack of education or lack of opportunity and someone being stupid. I don’t like the word stupid when it is used to describe a person. It implies a mental handicap or mental challenge to me and sounds too harsh.

Let me guess… the stupid people are the lazy ones who don’t deserve government handouts, so their stupid genes will disappear from the gene pool.
(If only this were applied to Congress…)

Equal in relation to what? The law? Who is doing the judging here as to what is equal and fair? My ‘double-standards sense’ is tingling. (cazzie goes to grab her cape and boots….)

@ragingloli answer is completely on topic. We are all different in some ways. But we can’t all be Einsteins (thank goodness.. he had his problems…) I am glad there is a lady who is not interested in fractions, but she is absolutely brilliant at caring for the plants at the botanical gardens. We have rules and laws about equality because, as human beings, we are more alike than we are different. To think anything else is simply hubris. I would switch up your reading selection. What you are talking about is elitism. Before you know it, you will be like those pigs, walking about on your hind legs.

All equal applies to rights and responsibilities as well as opportunities.