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Message: <blockquote data-quote="squibbles" data-source="post: 8467262" data-attributes="member: 6937590">This is the reaction that the title of the thread gave me as well, i.e. "don't tell me what to do."Having now read 15 pages of the thread, it seems like a lot of contentious conversation is just driven by that: posters who feel like they make a good faith effort to be kind to fellow players and within the hobby, are reacting to the combative tone of the OP--though they would probably mostly agree that crude impersonations of 'stupid' people aren't the best.And then there's the inevitable <a href="https://www.npr.org/2015/09/22/434597124/trying-to-change-or-changing-the-subject-how-feedback-gets-derailed" target="_blank">switchtracking</a> where one party is making the don't tell me what to do argument and another party is making the inclusion argument.That's a good point. And I think that people playing in a public setting or playing in front of a massive audience have higher standards of behavior to adhere to than those playing among a close group of friends. The ambit of good taste is more restrictive.Not that people should be obnoxious and crass among friends--everybody always needs to exercise good judgment in what they say--but only the people in the room can read the room and understand, for example, when an impolitic statement is intended as satire or as farce.Those are exactly the ones I'd go with! They're PC traits instead of player traits, and they significantly more accurately represent what those abilities do (well, except Wis saves /sigh). I'd be happy if that change was made; it'd render a lot of the contentiousness of mental ability scores moot.This feels like a bit of an odd turn based on where this thread started (and all the lovely places it has gone). But I find the topic interesting and am happy to follow along.You seem conversant about IQ research (you mention <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_factor_(psychometrics)" target="_blank">G factor</a>, i.e. general intelligence), which makes it puzzling that you take such a hardline view on it. My understanding is that there is a large body of good faith scientific research that identifies a durable, reliably measurable characteristic that can (probabilistically) predict a lot of different task and life outcomes. There are a lot of mysteries about it, such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect" target="_blank">Flynn effect</a>, and there are many challenges to it, and many complications that have been added to it over the past 100 years, but general intelligence, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-80416-015" target="_blank">as of 2021,</a> is still (to the best of my knowledge) a topic of credible scientific endeavor.A lot of the things you list as confounding perceptions of intelligence--accumulated knowledge, personal motivation, learning styles, culture, learned helplessness--are separable from general intelligence. They can all color how people are perceived, and mess with the results of IQ tests (you might also add <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat" target="_blank">stereotype threat</a> to the list) but, when measuring general intelligence, researchers invest a great deal of effort into minimizing those variables. That's why, for example, true IQ tests tend to be picture-pattern logic puzzles with no substantive subject content or written text (apart from the test format). The elements you list can all unfairly affect how a person is viewed, but that doesn't mean general intelligence doesn't exist (it may or may not, debate persists).Ultimately, regardless of what is true of intelligence, <a href="https://fs.blog/carol-dweck-mindset/" target="_blank">growth mindset</a> is the best way to think about it in one's own life.But though thinking about fictional D&D characters from that more empathetic perspective could make them deeper and more realized, it's probably not necessary all of the time, among friends, over beer and pretzels. Failing to do so certainly doesn't preclude anyone from treating 'stupid' people with human dignity in their daily lives.</blockquote>

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