I'm not asking this sarcastically. I mean it sincerely. Are we stupid?

And your definition of: stupid / smart is???

Humanity as a whole? Compared to?? There will be variations in intelligence among us. You might as well ask why some of us are short, and some tall. Genetic inheritance would be my guess. But the entire species? Well, some people do not demonstrate high intelligence even though they have it - they are too busy working to earn money to buy food, etc. Those who have time - university faculty, etc., are more likely to show differences in ability - they have time and funding to do research, etc. Most of us do not.

Somehow I don't think that is the answer you're looking for. But again: all of us? Compared to?

Doc

As a literal answer to your main question, I do share the viewpoint of other answers: that 'stupidity' and 'smart'-ness are relative terms, and there are no set measurements to judge them against, unless you compare them with the intelligence of others.

However, I do see 'smart' and 'dumb' as labels, and they can be associated with many factors based on what you are looking at. For example, Adolf Hitler to some may be considered clever, but the general consensus is that the ideals he was working towards were based on vile (imho) delusion.

The very fact that we are all working towards different values in collective chaos, which all conflict and are negligible to the ongoings and fate of our world, and the greater universe shows us that... in objective terms, yes, humanity is rather dumb.

Unless you can define a standard definition of smart, stupid and smart are relative terms.

For ex. I am smart compared to an animal. I am dumb compared to Einstein.

Who would you compare humanity to when asking this question?

definitely... ''stupidity'' is a subjective perception. A man who is stupid in the eyes of one may be regarded as very clever by another. The men that you mentioned are a cut above the other men of society IN THEIR CHOSEN FIELDS. Otherwise they can be just as stupid as you or I. Compared to cockroaches we are smart but on the other hand cockroaches are quite smart too in their context. I believe in aliens and I also believe that they are ''smarter'' than we are.

That's a relative term, and can even be subcategorized. Some people are stupid at math but not at english. Some people are stupid at informal language comprehension but smart at formal language comprehension.

Google mensa. We have answered that question before.

lol you know, in arabic human means "insan". "Insan" literally means "most forgetful". I believe this is truly the most accurate definition.