> Am I offending egos by saying that a person in a hot dog stand has the same potential to get a phd as a person that currently has a phd? Is it that educated people like to believe that they somehow are special and separate from people that did not go to college?
I'm not trying to prove your thesis is false, but that sort of argument is not conducive to interesting debate. You're preemptively psychologizing people who disagree with you.
And it's not like you're saying something obviously true -- so that people who disagree with must have hidden motives. On the contrary, your thesis goes against our everyday experience, not only because we know people who are stupider than us, but also people who are much smarter than us.
You said:
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On the contrary, your thesis goes against our everyday experience, not only because we know people who are stupider than us, but also people who are much smarter than us.
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This reminds me of how a couple of hundred years ago it was obvious that the earth was flat and how we were the center of the universe.
It reminds me of how water is wet and how fire is hot.
I think you'd be better off introducing some supporting evidence if you wish to discuss your hypothesis that everyone has the same potential for intellectual greatness.
I said: I'm not trying to prove your thesis is false. I'm saying that your thesis is not obviously true. So instead of assuming people have a hidden agenda, you need evidence to convince people that your thesis is true. But I'm repeating myself...
I'm not trying to prove your thesis is false, but that sort of argument is not conducive to interesting debate. You're preemptively psychologizing people who disagree with you.
And it's not like you're saying something obviously true -- so that people who disagree with must have hidden motives. On the contrary, your thesis goes against our everyday experience, not only because we know people who are stupider than us, but also people who are much smarter than us.