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Is Boris Johnson an Idiot?


Der_Neugierige

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Is he? Bad genetics?

He shakes hands with people during pandemic crisis and gets covid later. Makes a big drama that in british english you whitchcraft instead of ping pong?! Generally says stupid things which its ridiculed in youtube videos.

Mostly he stupid answers about the actual crisis that the UK has ensured me this guy is not intelligent! 

Edited by Der_Neugierige
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3 hours ago, Der_Neugierige said:

Mostly he stupid answers about the actual crisis that the UK has ensured me this guy is not intelligent! 

He's not exceptionally bright - probably average, and probably didn't apply himself in school, having too busy a social life. What he mostly seems is vain and overly fond of  the limelight. This is the era of populist leaders - anti-intellectual, anti-elite, anti-establishment. So he's acting what he believes the Great British Public admires. (And maybe channeling DJT)

BTW - What is "bad genetics" when it's not being offensive?

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3 hours ago, Peterkin said:

BTW - What is "bad genetics" when it's not being offensive?

Bad genetics generally refers to the practice of invoking genetics in an uninformed way to make silly demeaning claims about someone. 

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6 hours ago, Peterkin said:

He's not exceptionally bright - probably average, and probably didn't apply himself in school, having too busy a social life. What he mostly seems is vain and overly fond of  the limelight. This is the era of populist leaders - anti-intellectual, anti-elite, anti-establishment. So he's acting what he believes the Great British Public admires. (And maybe channeling DJT)

BTW - What is "bad genetics" when it's not being offensive?

How do you know all this about him? Do you know him or any of his peers, family or friends personally? 

I doubt you become the leader of a political party, then on to be prime minister, without some intellectual attributes. 

He may not portray himself in a way that is fitting for his position, maybe for a number of reasons. But you cannot judge his integrity and intelligence based on his public appearance or media portrayal. 

Just saying that's all.   

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9 minutes ago, Intoscience said:

I doubt you become the leader of a political party, then on to be prime minister, without some intellectual attributes. 

Some have said that "the man with one eye is king in the land of the blind"..

..or nobody wanted such an unpleasant position as PM in such a time like Brexit..

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1 hour ago, Sensei said:

Some have said that "the man with one eye is king in the land of the blind"..

..or nobody wanted such an unpleasant position as PM in such a time like Brexit..

I certainly wouldn't want the job at the moment, that's for sure. Maybe others shied away, who could blame them, this however doesn't mean Boris is an idiot. He could just be a brave person who is happy to face adversity even at his own demise. 

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27 minutes ago, Der_Neugierige said:

Stupid people vote for stupid prime minister.

I wouldn't say stupid. He is definitely uninformed however and perhaps unwilling to be informed.

Everything has predictably been going to crap as a result.

Don't conflate his acting with his intelligence level though. He's still at the top of the heap there. Playing the fool is as valid a strategy as any other.

Edited by Endy0816
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51 minutes ago, Der_Neugierige said:

Stupid people vote for stupid prime minister.

!

Moderator Note

Your overgeneralized perspective on this borders on breaking our rules of civility. Can you describe your points regarding the UK PM with more precision than "stupid" leaves us with? Can you avoid slurring whole groups of people with your remarks?

There is an important distinction to be had by judging a person's actions instead of the person. Boris Johnson has done some stupid things, but does it make him ALL stupid? Science discussion forum, let's do better.

 
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5 hours ago, Intoscience said:

I doubt you become the leader of a political party, then on to be prime minister, without some intellectual attributes. 

Which is so very different from the attributes it takes to become president of the United States.

5 hours ago, Intoscience said:

But you cannot judge his integrity and intelligence based on his public appearance or media portrayal. 

If not by their words and actions, then by what criteria do you evaluate the qualities of leaders?

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I'm thinking of a recent leader who made Bojo look like Benjamin Disraeli.   

That said,  I think playing the fool can undermine confidence - when the leader of a nation appears to be a fool,  that can make citizens,  and stock markets,  anxious.   If there is aggression from other nations,  or threats of,  it can be pretty scary if your perception is that a fool is at the helm.   I won't name names,  but say a president,  let's call him Ronald Mump, is dealing with a rogue nation,  let's call it North Borea, and starts talking as if nuclear war were a viable foreign policy choice (and had said nukes were a viable tactical option in other parts of the world,  in previous interviews)....

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2 minutes ago, Peterkin said:

To accomplish what end?

Cause your opponents to underestimate you. Achieve desired outcomes in the backend while superficial people focus on your buffoonery. Navigate through the echelons of power as people dismiss you as incapable. 

I'm sure there are others. Those just came IMMEDIATELY to mind when reading your simple question.

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1 hour ago, iNow said:

Cause your opponents to underestimate you. Achieve desired outcomes in the backend while superficial people focus on your buffoonery. Navigate through the echelons of power as people dismiss you as incapable. 

It was precisely those 'desired outcomes' to which my simple question was directed. What outcome is desired beyond the highest elected office in the land, and the economic detachment of that land from a more powerful entity (the EU), both of which he already has? Keeping in mind the human fallout from both those ends and the means used to achieve them, what more is to be attained by maintaining a deceptive facade?

Edited by Peterkin
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1 hour ago, iNow said:
1 hour ago, Peterkin said:

what more is to be attained by maintaining a deceptive facade?

The support of large swaths of the voting populace 

Their continuing support? He's acting what he believes the Great British Public admires? Yes, that's quite possible. 

 

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One could make the argument that a politician's most important job is to get elected, otherwise they are useless.
re are many ways to get elected.
Your dad, the bootlegger', and the 'mob' could buy your election.
You could be vice-President when the President gets assassinated.
You could wiretap your opponnts offices in the Watergate building complex.
You could be vice-President when the President quits to avoid impeachment.
You could tell 'folksy' tales to connect with common folks, even though you were a rich ex-Hollywood actor.
You could promise "Read my lips, no new taxes", in order to get elected, then raise taxes
You could argue about what the definition of 'sex' is, in order to get re-elected.
You could take advantage of a dispicable terror attack, and call yourself a 'war President' in order to get re-elected.
Etc..

Heck, you could even incite a bunch of idiots to attempt the overturning of an election that you lost ...

 

You want me to do Canadian PMs next, Peterkin ?

 

Edited by MigL
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40 minutes ago, MigL said:

You want me to do Canadian PMs next, Peterkin ?

 

That might be fun, but quite a way off topic.

On topic, are you of the opinion that one cannot assess a candidate's intelligence or competence from their public performance? 

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Intelligence is an umbrella term to cover a vast range of cognitive skills,  and seems far less relevant to assessing job fitness than more precise measures of competence, sometimes called aptitudes.   Competencies vital to a national leader would include social skills,  big picture comprehension that sees beyond giant fields of data,  sound judgement and quick decision skills,  and capacity to empathize with people from all walks of life.   It's a failure of democracy, of its filters,  of its guardrails, when someone gets through whose competencies are only conning people and covering up their own lapses of judgement, empathy, decision-making, etc.   

Of course,  Clinton was a smart guy who had most of the competencies I mentioned,  and still somehow couldn't quite grasp that the POTUS is someone who lives in a fishbowl and can't sneak off and be a horny college boy again.   Or that making juvenile excuses makes it far worse than just owning up and apologizing.  Maybe the competency I left off the list was:  being a fecking grownup.   Grownups don't have to be moral paragons,  but they do have to own up when they're not.   I haven't followed Bo enough to know where he falls on the grownup spectrum,  though I suspect he finds it a challenge.   On first sighting I'll confess I said something unkind and petty about "village idiot hairdo, " and I regret that.   

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1 hour ago, iNow said:

Only partially and based on insufficient data 

[assess a candidate's intelligence or competence from their public performance]

That's true of any job interview and marriage proposal. I wish there were some more reliable method of deciding who should be entrusted with the care of our children, the condition of our highway overpasses and the nuclear arsenals of the world.

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