History of 'Moron,' 'Idiot,' and 'Imbecile'

[Core Shot]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word...ensive-history

You learn something new every day.

[Meadow Skipper]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word...ensive-history

You learn something new every day.

Huh, I thought I’d see deepsouthmafia’s picture in there for illustration.

[old goat]

I see it differently. As used by psychologists and others in the past the words had specific meanings to describe the degree of disability of mentally impaired people and did not have the negative connotations the words have today. It is when we take words like those and apply them to people to whom they do not apply that they become objectionable. The same might be said about retarded, or even blind. To put it another way, it is not the words that are objectionable, it is how we use them that makes them so, and makes them unusable for their original purpose. When we call a bad driver an idiot we can no longer use that word in an emotionally neutral way to describe a profoundly mentally disabled person.

Of all the things I saw in medical school and in practice I think the one that had the most impact on me was a trip to the old Coldwater Hospital in Michigan, which cared for profoundly mentally impaired patients, none of whom could speak and most of whom could not get out of bed. (The few who could had to wear football helmets to protect themselves from falls.). People (mostly children since most of the patients didn't survive to adulthood) with conditions like untreated hydrocephalus with massive heads, with the sequelae of measles and rubella, or with anencephaly with undeveloped brains and tiny heads. Fortunately there are far fewer people with conditions like these today, although still too many. Coldwater is now closed.

[irul&ublo]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word...ensive-history

You learn something new every day.

I thought I was gonna see pics of digitaldeath, DSM and The Rog

[schindlerpiste]

I thought it would read: “see TGR Polly Ass Hat forum.”

[RootSkier]

I thought Core Shot looked in the mirror.

[splat]

I see it differently. As used by psychologists and others in the past the words had specific meanings to describe the degree of disability of mentally impaired people and did not have the negative connotations the words have today. It is when we take words like those and apply them to people to whom they do not apply that they become objectionable. The same might be said about retarded, or even blind. To put it another way, it is not the words that are objectionable, it is how we use them that makes them so, and makes them unusable for their original purpose. When we call a bad driver an idiot we can no longer use that word in an emotionally neutral way to describe a profoundly mentally disabled person.

Of all the things I saw in medical school and in practice I think the one that had the most impact on me was a trip to the old Coldwater Hospital in Michigan, which cared for profoundly mentally impaired patients, none of whom could speak and most of whom could not get out of bed. (The few who could had to wear football helmets to protect themselves from falls.). People (mostly children since most of the patients didn't survive to adulthood) with conditions like untreated hydrocephalus with massive heads, with the sequelae of measles and rubella, or with anencephaly with undeveloped brains and tiny heads. Fortunately there are far fewer people with conditions like these today, although still too many. Coldwater is now closed.

Tell me your definition of an idiot savant, OG.

[XXX-er]

My money guy/ ski bud used to say the guy in the car in front of you or that you just passed is the idiot and the guy who just passed you was the maniac


n France I noticed they treat their mentally challenged way better than here,

[old goat]

Tell me your definition of an idiot savant, OG.

my autistic brother was one. Tell him a date--recent, many years ago--and he could instantly tell you the day of the week. Other than that he just a normal, verbal autistic obsessed with the Beatles and with swimming laps at the pool.

[splat]

Guess I was looking for a broader, more categorial definition used in the med profession.

[CarlMega]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/word...ensive-history

You learn something new every day.

Can they do schmohawk ? I like that one.

[XXX-er]

yeah re-watch " the rain man " or if you never seen it ... a great movie

https://www.theguardian.com/film/201...ruise-levinson

The acting was fucking awesume,

Raymond (or rain man ) was played by Dustin Hoffman who played the autistic Savant

Charlie Babbit his long lost brother was played by Tom Cruise a self centered hustling car dealer ( think Bobby Stainless )

highly recommneded

I seen a journalism piece on TV where a savant sat down at a piano completely untrained to play and sing quite well he segued the show out, another guy also untrained was a great artist he would create wax figures for bronze casting not with tools but just using his fingers

[old goat]

I'm not aware of the term idiot savant being used in the mental health field. As used by the general public it means someone of limited intellectual ability--frequently autistic--who has a particular extraordinary intellectual skill beyond the understanding of the average person. To me it implies that there are shortcuts in the wiring of the brain that allow complex intellectual tasks to be performed without conscious effort or even awareness. Given that we don't understand the wiring of normal brain it is not surprising we don't understand the wiring of the abnormal brain.

[Ted Striker]

[XXX-er]

thats ^^ either tom cruise

or bobby stainless



the casino scene where he finds out Raymond is a mathematical genuis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW1qHA5Hqwc

[muted]

My money guy/ ski bud used to say the guy in the car in front of you or that you just passed is the idiot and the guy who just passed you was the maniac

That's a George Carlin quote.

[XXX-er]

I realize he stole it, he would often steal sayings

but he never stole my money

[riser4]

Bunch a morans.