How to deal with stupid people

During the course of your life you're going to have to deal with stupid people.  Yes, they are everywhere, some you are well aware of, and some wearing camouflage.  Regardless, you're going to have to learn to deal with them lest they get on your nerves, or crawl under your skin.

First, however, we have to define stupid.  I think it's easier to describe what stupid is not. Check out the following:

1. A different opinion than yours doesn't qualify that person as stupid.  Someone is not stupid because he is a conservative and you're a liberal, or you're a liberal and he's a conservative -- dough.  You know what I mean.  Many liberals are just as smart as conservatives, they simply have different principles, and different views of the world.  So political stance does not qualify for stupid.  
2. Less education doesn't qualify for stupid either.  You have people with eight years of college, and Harvard degrees, who can't hold a job due to lack of common sense.  Then you have people who dropped out of high school and have successful careers.  So education doesn't define smart.  

So, how do you define stupid?  According to Dictionary.com:  Lacking ordinary quickness or keenness.  Now if you follow the links I provide below, you'll see that there are different types of smart, so there have to be different types of stupid too.  For example, many of you might think I'm smart because I have a blog.  I'm good at debating on here.  However, if you knew me in real life you'd know I'm "stupid" at debating in real life.  So this definition can be spurious.

Try this definition according to Dictionary.com:  Mental dullness; senseless; foolish; like a "stupid" question or "stupid" comment.  This can be spurious as well, because nervousness can make someone say something stupid.  For example, the person who rushes through an intersection and nearly hits you while you're waiting to let a pedestrian cross the road is not stupid so much as a nervous response.  So we must be careful here.

How about this definition:  Annoying or irritating; troublesome.  Yes, this one might work.  Yet this could be spurious as well.  So I think a real definition of stupid is merely speculative.

So how do you deal with truly stupid people?  How do you deal with stupidity?

1. Turn the other cheek
2. Smile
3. Walk away

Yes, I know that sounds too simple, but I am of the belief that if someone you perceive as stupid gets you upset in any way, that makes YOU the stupid person.  So you are best to follow my advice here.  

For further reading click here.