Is the average person, regardless of race, articulate or bright?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. To answer my own question: No, not even fucking close.

Most people have a hard time stringing together complete sentences, much less asking for some sort of sophistication in speech or thought.

[marmar]

2. Why the qualification about race?

I would just assume you're talking about people in general without tossing that clause in.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

12. It's related to the issue of Biden's comments on Obama.

And other longstanding issues of white people calling black politicians "articulate" or "bright".

The point is that if the average person is not thought to be bright or articulate, in other words, if it is uncommon to be either of those qualities, how is it not praise to call someone one of those terms?

[LSparkle]

3. No, but they think they are

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Quite true. (nt)

[Boojatta]

4. If the average person is articulate, but not bright, then the answer would

be "yes." If the average person is bright, but not articulate, then the answer would be "yes."

I tend to think that it is preferable to be bright but not articulate rather than articulate but not bright. After all, there are worthwhile and sophisticated things one could successfully do without being able to explain what one is doing.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. Then there are those of us who are bright, but articulate only on

paper. I can write up a storm, but get me face to face and I die. Meanwhile, the articule (glib) not-so-bright guy gets the job, gets the girl, gets the breaks. The salesman will always be more successful than the philosopher.

[Speck Tater]

5. The average person is average by definition.

"Bright" implies above average, so your question means "Is the average person above average?" The obvious answer is "Only in Lake Wobegone."

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

14. I know it doesn't make sense.

I'm merely proving a point that calling someone one of those terms cannot possibly be considered anything other than praise.

[Solon]

6. A person is smart, people are dumb.

Got that from "Men in Black". B-)

[Boojatta]

7. Compared to...?

Is the average person tall? A "yes" answer would mean that the average person is taller than some standard of height.

If we're comparing people to animals at the zoo, then the answer is "yes, people are bright and articulate." If we're comparing the average person to people who are exceptionally dull or inarticulate, then the answer is "yes."

If we're comparing the average person to people who are exceptionally bright or articulate, then the answer is "no."

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. Compared to what you would call articulate and bright.

Seriously, you do not need such a definition for this poll.

[Infinite Hope]

8. Someone should do a poll on whether people who donate create pointless polls just to show people...

...they have the ability to do so.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. It's not pointless at all.

It's related to the Biden/Obama comments.

[Infinite Hope]

19. It's pointless because...

1)It, in reality, sheds no light on the Biden case.
2)The poll numbers tell us nothing about reality, but instead tell us what the relative few on DU who happened to answer think.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

11. The average person is not especially articulate...

... but that doesn't mean they might not be very bright. Good verbal skills reflect only one kind of intelligence, and like most skills they can be improved upon with practice.

Is the average person, regardless of race, able to disassemble an automobile carburetor, clean the many parts, and then reassemble it correctly, all without the use of any diagrams or manuals? Would this serve as a good indicator of whether or not someone is bright? Even with little or no training, this task is not difficult for some people, although not many. What about the person who does this task easily with little training, but doesn't speak or write well? Is he/she bright?

My point? I think language skills are overrated as a determiner of whether or not someone is bright.
To me, it smacks of elitism. Just my opinion -- not trying to start an argument or suggest anything about you.

[The Magistrate]

16. An Excellent Point, Sir

There is a good deal of craft and art to even so apparently simple an action as swinging a sledge through an afternoon.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

17. I have worked both assembly lines & engineering offices & the answer is definitely not either.

I was particularly amazed how clueless some engineering graduates were outside their area of training with a very shallow world view.

[Jackpine Radical]

18. What about the average Dem Pres. candidate?

I's not like Biden was commenting about janitors.

[AZBlue]

20. The average PERSON or the average AMERICAN?

My answer would be different for the two.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. The average person is a fucking idiot.

I hate most people.

[goodhue]

22. The average person is bright but not necessarily articulate & certainly not clean

IMHO. Of course, it goes without saying that the average American is neither bright nor articulate.