Am I a jerk for thinking that I'm smarter than my dad? Yesterday my dad asked me how to spell "holiday". He uses the word "chinamen" constantly. He also didn't know Noah's Ark was a biblical story.

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8 Answers

Matt Radiance Profile
Matt Radiance answered

You are not a jerk. But you are not smarter than your dad either. Everyone has their own ability,lifestyle, outlook & knowledge, & everyone gain knowledge in different ways, everyone in this world is part of a puzzle that complete each other. Everyone has different knowledge & abilities, there's one or two main knowledge that people focus to earn & gain experience in it, & there's social knowledge which is about different topics. So we are not smarter than each other in general but only maybe we can count that in particular subjects which yet in my opinion it wouldn't be suit.

For example in so many diseases that  you might get, you visit the doctor so you're telling that doctor is smarter than you ? No, he just chosen his path & studied about a particular part in medical field, that's all.

So there gonna be tons of things that your dad knows about & different abilities he's got that you can't even imagine. The same with you in compare of him, none of you are smarter than each other. Everyone one of us just choose different varied fields to gain our knowledge on it.

The world is so bigger than you can imagine, the smartest person that would claim they know everything, one day they'll face wow there's a lot of things they don't know yet & how much they are behind.

Walt O'Reagun Profile
Walt O'Reagun answered

What's wrong with "chinamen"?

It may not be politically correct ... But are they not "men" from "China"?

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DDX Project
DDX Project commented
Anyhow, the term Chinamen is one step closer to calling someone a chink or gook. You don't go around saying "Look at that negro over there!' do you?
Walt O'Reagun
Walt O'Reagun commented
You realize the proper scientific term IS "negroid". So "negro" is closer to proper than "black" or "African-American" - especially since the majority of them are not from Africa, any more than I am from Europe.
DDX Project
DDX Project commented
Lol, we're talking about words we use and the social stigma around them. Yes, there is something wrong with calling someone a chinamen in the modern day. Maybe not back in the early days of the railroad, but afterwards it was used as means to put down Chinese workers.

In the present, just try walking into Google's office and ask them how many "chinamen" works there. You're bound to get funny or disgruntled looks.
Bikergirl Anonymous Profile

You are jerk for associating spelling and grammar skills with intelligence and trying to 'belittle' your dad.  YOU may have had the benefit a full academic life of school and training .. He may not have had the same priviledge.  THAT does not mean he is a stupid man ... Uneducated, maybe .. But not unintelligent.

Danae Hitch Profile
Danae Hitch answered

You would be considered a jerk if you made your father feel less than, if you "corrected" him in front of others, or if he rubbed his nose in his "lack of intelligence".

You've given us a couple of examples that it could be perceived that he was "wrong" or "incorrect".

When I was growing up, my mother gloated over her superiority when she won at Scrabble. None of my siblings would play that game with me for years, because of how Mom treated us when she won. When I play the game now, I play to have fun and it took me years to get my sister to play it with me because of how my mom was. You can't learn anything if someone keeps calling you stupid (that's what Mom did with us).

I'm giving you this example because gloating or feeling superior when you feel you're smarter than your parent should not be your goal. If you want to educate someone, to teach someone something, then do so out of love not out of a desire to humiliate someone. Hope this helps answer your question.

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Danae Hitch
Danae Hitch commented
I've played Scrabble with a friend who is very competitive. She is quietly competitive and doesn't make me feel like a doofus when we play. I love Scrabble and am quite good, however, it's only fun when everyone is having fun. On occasion with my competitive friend, we play 11 tiles at once. Sometimes you have to play outside the box!

I played with her son once - who soundly beat all of us when he played LETTUCES on a triple word. So he got 50 points for using all of his letters. He got triple points because he was on a triple word. It was an insane play!
Danae Hitch
Danae Hitch commented
No kidding! It was an absolutely awesome play and he was quite pleased with himself!
Cookie Roma Profile
Cookie Roma answered

I've never been a dad but I've been a mom for very nearly 40 years.  You sound just like a preteen/teenager.  Generally speaking that means you are likely intelligent but since you aren't done cooking yet, you can't begin to see the corners of life that your dad can see around.  Try a little humility and gratefulness    You have no idea how hard it is for him. 

Tom  Jackson Profile
Tom Jackson answered

"Smart" usually refers to "intelligence" (and you can look the definition of that up at your leasure).

You may have more knowledge in certain areas that your dad has---and vice versa.

In general, your father is simply a human being with different skills and knowledge that yours.  If you are smarter and more knowledgeable that he is, nothing wrong with that---also nothing wrong with him being smarter and more knowledgeable than you are.

He loves you, I'm sure; just love him back.

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