Okay, so if I were to have purchased that app, I would be a person who is fully stupid.
And you don't even know me.
This says it pretty well. He doesn't get that, though.
But how is pointing out stupidity any more or less subjective than pointing out bigotry? There is a good argument to be made that the purchase of this app is an act of stupidity. Let's start as you did with a definition (this time from wikipedia) of stupidity:
What is some of the relevant information?
- This app has exactly 3 "modes": icon, image, and mantra. These don't change and have no other function. You will have seen everything the app has to offer within seconds. Can the relative "thrill" of these few seconds be logically justified by the cost? That's $200/second if you finish reading the mantra in 5 seconds.
- If you want something that has functionality: iPhones/Apple TVs/iPods/MacBooks/Nintendo Wii's, BlendTec blenders all provide a much higher function-to-dollar ratio, many of these things are way under a grand.
- If art is your thing: there are many actual paintings, drawings, sculptures, audio recordings, books, jewelry or even installation pieces that will provide a more rich artistic experience to the owner.
- If you're looking for thrills: sky diving, whitewater rafting, scuba diving, attending a running of the bulls, spending an hour with a mid-to-high priced ********* (or guy), racecar driving, rock climbing, etc all provide cheaper and more thrilling experiences than this app unless you are a caveman or something, in which case I think dizzy bee or monkey ball would fascinate you more than a static picture.
- If you're into throwing away your money: buying any of the above and randomly giving it out to a stranger gives you an extra bonus: you are deprived of your money and you have someone's appreciation/shock/amazement/admiration.
- If you are into immediately improving your life: hire a self-help guru, or a personal trainer, or a personal chef, or a nanny, or a maid or a butler. The per-day cost will be lower than the cost of this app and you'll likely enjoy a more substantial benefit.
- If you are into long-term improvements to your life and the life of your offspring: For $1000 you can save at least 3,000 lives in areas where contaminated water causes terminal dissentary (see http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=34909 ). Or you could just reduce starvation, disease, and homelessness through various charities. You could promote economic development in impoverished areas by donating to or investing in infrastructure development... building roads in Africa for example allows markets to develop there, allows sick people to get to doctors, etc. It's hard to argue that a global reduction of disease and poverty will do anything but improve the global quality of life. It's also been argued that reducing poverty and disease reduces the recruiting power of radical and militant groups. Islamism (note the "ism") is growing most rapidly not in the middle-east, but in Africa.
- For the younger generations, Hip-Hop's pop side has helped to change this with the nonsense of bling... but older Westerners still consider ostentatious displays of frivolity to be tasteless and something for the Nouveau riche... so you're not going to look good to your blueblood friends... and your warren buffet types who aren't bigtime spenders aren't going to think much of your buying decisions either.
So that's my argument. Faced with all that information, and all the stuff I left out, I think that someone who buys this app is not just a person with different tastes, or someone who is a little irrational, but rather a person who is fully stupid.
Here's where you are wrong: First, in your own quoted definition of stupid, it contrasts itself with "irrational," which would have been a more appropriate word, actually. Secondly, you didn't say "I think buying this App is pretty dumb because..." or "I think one would have to be thinking pretty irrationally to buy this because..." You said "Anyone who buys this Application is dumb." This is a personal attack, man. You can't get around that. You are claiming that those six people that did want this Application that bought it are of low intelligence. You are personally insulting those six people personally, as well as anyone else who would have bought the app if it stayed up.
I understand you don't believe them to be irrational, and actually stupid, but even if I brought one of them to you personally, and it was Albert Einstein, you'd still make the same claim. So what's the point?
I already explained why this contrasts with me saying you were being a bigot, but I'll do it again:
Where calling someone dumb points out a flaw in their character (or this case, intelligence), and attacks them because of their supposed low intelligence, saying someone is being a bigot is saying that someone is "obstinately convinced of the superiority or correctness of one's own opinions and prejudiced against those who hold different opinions," which you plainly were from what you said in your post. In other words, it's not demeaning in the same way. If you can't see the difference between the two, then I'm sorry, but I can't say any more to help you understand.
If you'd like, I can say that bigots are dumb, and you can actually have an argument? Nah. I don't think you're dumb, I just think you need to take care not to judge people you don't know like that. Just trying to help, man!
