Ask Dr Stupid: Subject: why do people do stupid things, while knowing that they are stupid??????

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To: dr.stupid@studio42.com
From: dragonmaster765@msn.com (Peter)
Subject: why do people do stupid things, while knowing that they are stupid??????

Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
Peter (dragonmaster765@msn.com) on Monday, February 23, 2009 at 11:52:50
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email: dragonmaster765@msn.com

realname: Peter

subject: why do people do stupid things, while knowing that they are stupid??????

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Form-ID: Dr. Stupid Form

subject: why do people do stupid things, while knowing that they are stupid??????

realname: Peter

email: dragonmaster765@msn.com

recipient: poser

Message: hey Dr. Stupid 
 
My question is a big one - Why do people do stupid things, while knowing, with all 
certanty, taht they are stupid??? 
If my  questio was just : why do people do stupid things there would be a simple 
reason  - They are stupid; but my question is a lot harder, and the only possible 
answer on my eyes, is thatthe person is REALL REALLY STUPID, because they do 
stupid things, knowing that they are stupid. This also raises teological quetsions, 
because if a person knows that what they are doing is stupid, they most have some 
intelligence, althouh they willingly perform the stupid acts, wich is kind of a 
contadiction, but maybe thas is a little to much for a rubber dummy.... 
Ok, practical example - - - - - - - - suspense - - - - - - - - my cousin had one 
of those chinese iPod MP4 knockoffs, wich he used to listen music, since it was 
like 100dlls cheaper than an actual iPod. One day, it gets a software mailfunction, 
and just stops workin (as natural for a cheap imitation). The good part is that the 
imitation had a 2 year warranty (imitations are gettin better), so he sents the 
cheap MP4 abroad for fixing, and then he bought an actual iPod for 50dlls. My point 
is - why did my cousin buy the iPod, knowing that his own MP4 would return?????? 
There it is, because he did something stupid, knowing taht it was stupid, because 
we would eventually get his MP4 back and fixed. WHY??????

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Dear Peter,

It is hard to say why stupid people do stupid things. Clearly, it is because they are stupid in the first place. Dr. Stupid is amazed that you managed to ask a question to Dr. Stupid, because it appears that you also suffer from stupidity. Actually, based on what Dr. Stupid read from you, it appears you are not suffering from stupidity but are enjoying it. You may ask why is that true, and the answer is because you are simply too stupid to know any better.

Dr. Stupid would like to clarify a few things. Dr. Stupid is not a rubber dummy. There are no rubber components that comprise the materials that make up Dr. Stupid. Thread. Felt, over-sized plastic egg, googly eyes, yarn, old-type wooden clothes pins, block of wood, and some cotton stuffing. Isn't that written out somewhere on the site? That's right, you're too stupid to read things.

Moving on to your case study of stupidity, Dr. Stupid will address your concerns one at a time. So, your cousin bought a cheap Chinese-made iPod MP4 knock off. Actually, it would be an MP3 knock-off. MP4 refers to a highly compressed video format. Even if the player can handle videos, chances are, it's really an MP3 player. Why did your cousin go and buy an actual iPod for $50? It is a good price, and while Dr. Stupid is not a fan of the MP3 format, the Apple iPods seem to be the devices of choice for those choosing to listen to music in an inferior format. Chances are, even though your cousin sent his broken unit back for repairs, the odds are fairly good that he's going to have to wait a while before the unit comes back from repair. Dr. Stupid is familiar with having to have things repaired via mail-type services. It may take over 8 weeks for your cousin's broken MP3 player to come back from repair.

The best Dr. Stupid can figure out is that this is a prime example of "A fool and his money are soon parted." There are lots of people who tend to form a dependency on certain items. Two big items are cell phones and MP3 players. Another popular item is the PDA(Personal Digital Assistant). These days, some cell phones incorporate MP3 player functions as well as some PDA-type functions. Take Apple's iPhone. At its core is an Apple iPod Touch, a multi-media device oriented around the earlier iPods that were music only. The iPhone also incorporates some limited PDA functions into the device as well. People would rather just carry 1 item instead of three. But Dr. Stupid is getting away from the topic.

Your stupid cousin, obsessed with listening to crappy sounding music, couldn't get by without his beloved MP3 player, so he went out and bought a name brand MP3 player so he wouldn't have to go without his crappy music while he waits for repairs. While it is true that at some point in the future that your cousin's MP3 player will return, the concern is exactly when will the device come back. The smart thing would have been to purchase the iPod in the first place. While an iPod can break just as easily as any other MP3 player, Apple seems to have a good reputation among buyers and users. The iPod uses "solid state" technology as opposed to a hard drive for storage. Apple isn't the only company doing this, as most MP3 players are using some sort of solid state storage.

Since your stupid cousin seems to be throwing stupid money around, why not throw some of this money at Dr. Stupid? Maybe Dr. Stupid can use it to buy an iPod for himself?
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