this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 51 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

And I think that hits on the truth, which makes this less "iamverysmart". It's not that the tourists are dumb, it's that they're new and not willing to pay much attention to things like trash can design. 1% of a normal person's attention presents a lot like a really dumb person.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Is it 1%? Maybe when they first try to open it they're distracted But when doesn't open and now they're concentrating on the problem and still fail, then we have to kinda own up to the fact that a lot of people aren't smarter than a bear.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago

I can’t believe this comment chain is this long and no one has pointed out that drunk and stoned humans are terrible at figuring stuff like this out.

You’re not planning for the dumbest human trying in earnest. You’re planning for humans who are tired, distracted and/or chemically altered. A 80 IQ person can figure out a weird trash can eventually if they are trying.

These comments (not just yours) feel misanthropic. I haven’t been to a campsite in ages so I don’t know what sort of trash can puzzlebox we’re talking about, but I work somewhere with alcohol so I can guess what the true issue is.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

I'd be pretty distracted by the bear waiting behind me for his go.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I think if they can score 100 on an IQ test, they can figure out any reasonable trash can eventually, assuming the moving parts are visible. Many people would rather just litter.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (2 children)

100 is the average, implying half the population is lower than that, but otherwise, sure

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Yup. The ranger did say "stupidest", I guess, but I feel like at 70 or something you still know to pull on stuff in a few set ways until it moves.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

And bears around 130 probably know that too.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

That makes me wonder what designs they were considering. The ones I've seen use a sort of pinch motion under metal hood. Maybe the idea there is to require dexterous forelimbs, rather than any intellectual ability.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

100 is the average, implying half the population is lower than that

At the risk of pedantry, if 100 is the average (the mean), we're saying "most people are at 100". If it were the median, then we're implying "100 is the middle score of those sampled". A subtle, but important difference.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

i’m not really sure what IQ has to do with this. it was originally designed to measure people’s proficiency in school. it was not designed to be a general measure of intelligence. that was something that was co opted by eugenicists.

here’s a quote from Simon Bidet, the original creator of the IQ test, about his thoughts on the eugenicists using his test:

Finally, when Binet did become aware of the "foreign ideas being grafted on his instrument" he condemned those who with 'brutal pessimism' and 'deplorable verdicts' were promoting the concept of intelligence as a single, unitary construct.

you can read more about this stuff on his wikipedia page. (the quote is from wikipedia)

even to this day, there is quite a bit of doubt as to how accurately IQ measures “general intelligence”

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I know. It's a shorthand quantitative measure everyone's familiar with, though, so it's useful for communicating. Thanks for adding a disclaimer for me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Yah, that's possible too. But I can't say I'd figure anyone that litters is much smarter than a bear either.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Ecology (or just waste management) is even more complicated and boring than a garbage can.

It's apathy all the way down.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Stupidity is a moral flaw after all.