[under skies]

What kinds of things do you mean by "acts of stupidity?"

I just don't really know what to say. I can't say that something one person is doing is stupid because I know I'm going to turn around and immediately do something stupid, myself. And that would be embarrassing.



So, I guess I would try to remind myself that, as the OP mentioned, the person doing the thing I think is stupid doesn't realize they're being stupid, and they aren't doing it specifically to annoy me, so I try not to be so hard on them. I help them to see maybe a better way of doing what they're doing, if I can and I think it will help, and otherwise, I mind my own business.

[thecaterpillar]

Yeah, I try to be indifferent. If I'm not, I can get pretty frustrated. You can't rationalize with an idiot. Typically, my best response is a facepalm and/or an eyeroll. Strangely enough, I'm half-watching Campus PD with all the drunk entitled kids getting attitudes with the cops, so I'm answering this as I'm responding to watching these fools. I can guarantee a facepalm and eyeroll. I don't usually associate myself with people who act stupidly on a regular basis. It becomes too frustrating and makes me lose respect for the person.

[Cynically Smiling]

One of the few constants in life is that people will behave stupidly and irrationally and in their best interest, 99% of the time.

One you accept that everyone behind the wheel of a car will be a bad driver, old ladies will always run over your heels with their shopping carts, and that trying to change anyone will be as effective as beating your head against the wall, life is a pretty awesome place. Just sit back, put on a smile, and watch the show :)

[stormy]

I probably wouldn't realize they were being stupid until after the fact. I wonder what that makes me? lol

[SomethingDifferent]

Any frustration you feel about how others act is a reflection of the standards you (try to) hold yourself to. Realizing this helps you to understand why people do "stupid" things: They don't hold themselves to your standards. They hold themselves to their own standards, and those standards may be completely different.

That doesn't help the frustration, though. You have three choices: Do nothing, deal with the person, or deal with yourself. You can strike the first option out up front, or else you wouldn't have made this post. In my experience, changing people is incredibly difficult, so I recommend working on your own reactions first.

The way your post is worded, it sounds like people are really hitting your pet peeves. I can't say that the typical, "take a deep breath" advice works, because for me it doesn't. You could give a shot, though. Any stress-reduction technique might help.

When someone bothers me, I take a figurative step back and think about their background. Everyone acts the way they do for a reason, and I try to think about what that reason may be. It could involve the way they were raised, learned behavior from peers, personal values, etc. Even if I don't know for sure why they act the way they do, it helps to understand that they may be just as insecure as I am and that their behavior could just be a reflection of that. This helps to create a better connection to them, and I can tolerate what they do a little more easily. At the very least, I can resist the urge to tell them off.

Patience is tough to learn, but it's critical if you want to get through life as a happy person.

I think I used to be a whole lot more patient before though. Over time, I have gradually become more dissatisfied with some people's attitude, I am not sure how it happened really. I have been questioning more things over the years, maybe I have been too critical of people or set such a high standard of how people should be.

I made this post probably to see how other people truly look at things if they ever get mad at someone doing something they consider stupid, or something along those lines. I would like to see it if I am looking at it in the wrong way, because I find myself often getting upset at people for what others would consider, nothing much. It's probably me, and true, I need to deal with myself. Thus I need to see others' different perspectives on this.

[SomethingDifferent]

What kinds of things do you mean by "acts of stupidity?"

I just don't really know what to say. I can't say that something one person is doing is stupid because I know I'm going to turn around and immediately do something stupid, myself. And that would be embarrassing.

So, I guess I would try to remind myself that, as the OP mentioned, the person doing the thing I think is stupid doesn't realize they're being stupid, and they aren't doing it specifically to annoy me, so I try not to be so hard on them. I help them to see maybe a better way of doing what they're doing, if I can and I think it will help, and otherwise, I mind my own business.

Things like... me telling someone to keep quiet and the someone gets mad at me for telling him off like that? just an example though :)

I guess I forgot, that I would have the tendency to act stupidly too just to counteract another person's act that I didn't like (not up to my standards, as has been said). But I do usually end up keeping my thoughts to myself instead of counteracting, though I fear this will make me build up negative emotions in myself; making me unhappy because I couldn't tell people what is bothering me (which would be them) and making me wonder if I should even be bothered in the first place.

[SomethingDifferent]

One of the few constants in life is that people will behave stupidly and irrationally and in their best interest, 99% of the time.

One you accept that everyone behind the wheel of a car will be a bad driver, old ladies will always run over your heels with their shopping carts, and that trying to change anyone will be as effective as beating your head against the wall, life is a pretty awesome place. Just sit back, put on a smile, and watch the show :)

Acceptance is key! Logically, I have that in my head as something that I should do and practise. But somehow I do not think I am using it the way I should be :( as I keep getting dissatisfied with people.

[SomethingDifferent]

Exactly, it's not a matter of how I deal with other's stupidity but rather how they deal with mine.
(Perfect example right here: I just basically repeated what you had already stated.)

I think what I'm trying to say is basically this: I feel that it effects me more how other people deal with my stupidity, than the occasional stupidity of others bothers me. That's not quite it, but I don't really know how to explain it..

I can however safely say that I have a much harder time letting my own stupidity slide.

I understand. I do wonder how people are able to deal with me sometimes... like, when I try to put myself in the other person's shoes, I seem quite non-supportive though when I put myself back in my shoes, I am just trying to be frank about something with the person.

[Whynd]

Much of my reaction to stupidity is dependant on how much that stupidity effects me... If someone is being stupid, and it doesn't effect me, I have to distance myself from the person and situation...because I really have a hard time dealing with stupid. I am prejudiced against only one group of people..and that's stupid people... I can't stand it. I've been known to get up and walk out of movies (Dumb and Dumber being one of them) because I couldn't see past the stupid to see the funny. So, if I can, I walk away.

If I can't distance myself, or if the stupid effects me directly and I can't get away from it, the "friendly" side of me switches off and I can be extremely blunt and often rude about telling someone they're being stupid and need to stop. "That was among the stupidest things I think I've ever seen" or "Gee, that was some serious stupid" or "Shut up, your stupid is getting on my nerves" are some of the gems that come out of my mouth when I get really irritated about stupid.

If it's someone in my chain of command that outranks me, I don't have any choice but to "Suck it up" and "Drive on"...but believe me, I'll be bitching about it for days. lol

so ya... I guess you could say I have a hard time with stupid.

In the end, I'm even worse on myself about stupid...if I do something stupid, I'm WAY harder on myself than I have ever been with anyone else.

[Isildin]

Sarcasm, lots and lots of sarcasm!