What winds me up on this board is blatant stupidity, or a near mind-boggling disconnect from the real world, and I'm finding it works best to simply ignore threads or posters working from that direction, although that's obviously still a work in progress.

It's infuriating in the same way as attempting to play tennis with somebody who keeps catching the ball and chewing on it, and it's mostly my own fault for letting it wind me up.

It doesn't take cleverness to piss me off. Just the opposite.

It's part of the mindset of the leftist to believe that they have a superior view of things compared to the average person, and this is probably the main reason they feel compelled to control other people's lives for them instead of letting them make their own choices. It's not surprising that you believe I'm a dummy.

I gave it some thought, and most of my own day-to-day purchases are made out of sheer inertia, since most purchases aren't really critical. I pick a certain brand of milk because at one time it was the only kind that came in the variety I like, and I never saw a reason to change. Same for things like toothpaste and the like. I noticed that some brands were things my parents used to buy. Ads have little to do with it, and in fact, when a long-used brand pops up with some "improvement" that they heavily advertise, I resent the change in something that worked for me before.

When it comes to things like cars, air conditioners, appliances, and other things, that's different, and I do a lot of research. Again, advertising usually has little to do with it.

If advertising was all it took, we'd all be driving Edsels, and drinking New Coke.