Submitted by Aequitas05 t3_yhe7qd in todayilearned
But the funnel is going up and away from the head. Shouldn't it go the other way?
Little known fact: The SCOTUS was named after John Duns Scotus
It wasn't until the swastika was appropriated by the Nazis that such a shift in the original intent of a symbol was observed.
Stop the Cap
The earliest origin of this idea traces back to this 2000 Straight Dope article, which cites no sources.
https://www.straightdope.com/21342933/what-s-the-origin-of-the-dunce-cap
In fact, the pointy hat has a long history of being used as a symbol of shame, for example the Capirote, which was a mark of humiliation worn by heretics undergoing the auto-da-fe.
Thanks for pointing that out
Were originally meant as such, by Scotus himself, not in general
I see what you did there
The auto-de what now?
defacto! auto da-fe! ayuchucooooo!
This fact was made up in 2000. See the comment made by u/Gemmabeta in this thread.
Wrote the bulk of the series, Dude—and yet his son is a fucking dunce.
It’s what you oughta not do, but you do anyway.
AND A GOOD DAY TO YOU SIR!
You auto-de-feel deez nuts.
So the dunce cap isn't so much as to humiliate the wearer as it was to try to make them smarter, which is why in older cartoons you see the idiot wearing one after they do something stupid
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS, LARRY!
You'd have to be a fucking dunce to think a dunce cap would make you smarter so imo these were never symbols of intelligence, at least not to any intelligent observer
Exactly. Today OP learned that 1 guy convinced a couple of melonheads to run around in dunce caps thinking it made them look intelligent while everyone else laughed behind their backs.
It’s a reverse funnel system.
Cones of Dunsmen
If you asked me to make up an origin story for the dunce cap I would probably say something like "There was a guy named John Dunce who wore a pointy hat and people thought he was a loser." So this sounds fishy to me.
These didn't work because aluminum was insanely expensive in the 1500s. You don't get the funneling effect if you don't block out the mind-control rays. Tinfoil hats don't work though as they actually concentrate the dumbing signals, you have to line the inside of the dunce cap with aluminum foil. Only then do you get the massive jump in learning.
The fun part of a visit by the Inquisition after all the other legal proceedings wrapped up.
If you follow a dumbass fad and wear a stupid hat it's not "a sign of high intelligence" it's a sign of being an easy mark.
Just like Mensa.
It is worth also noting, though, that while your comment applies to the origin of the tradition of the cap, the term “dunce” does trace back to John Duns Scotus. While he was a noted philosopher in his time, his followers were later seen as outdated thinkers during the Enlightenment, which is how the teen became pejorative.
"penitence" is definitely not the first thought I had when I clicked that second link...
The guy was a real Duns if you ask me.
Call them Wizard’s caps.
Is this also where Wizards and Pointy hats come from?
Wizards and witches wore 'em for a reason
I think Crosses changing from a tool of death by torture to the main symbol of Christianity beats that.
NOW THEY ARE REFERRED TO AS BIDEN CAPS
Dark Brandon is coming to vaccinate your children and turn them Trans, get off the internet while you still have time to run.
> John Duns Scotus
And now not only is dunce a synonym for idiocy, so is SCOTUS
Where do my feet go?
What about The Cones Of Dunshire?
Damn. The Kool Kid’s Klub really ruined pointy hats for everybody.
TIL they are dunscaps not duncecaps.
So it was an ironic insult? Like Bugs Bunny and the use of “Nimrod” as an insult to a hunter?
This is actually pretty funny
That's why they were behind the times.
Aw c'mon, he typed it in all caps, which means he's correct.
I wore a red one once for Halloween along with a civil war jacket. I don’t remember much of that night though.
How can they be expected to read if they can't fit into the buildings (wearing point hats)?
Hypertension123456 t1_iudaqix wrote
> a sign of high intelligence and wisdom. Philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus was a proponent of pointy hats as a way to funnel knowledge to the mind
Um, what? That's one of the dumbest ideas ever. I don't think this qualified them as a sign of high intelligence to anyone who wasn't a theologian. It's not like actual scientists from the 1500s ran around in these hats.