Relative Vs Relevant

I think it should be relative.

Relevant means important. ("Relevant to the plot")
Relative means subjective ("It's all relative")

I'm terrible at explaining definitions, but that's the general gist.

Also, "relative" gives connotation that stupidity runs in the family. I'd say go with "relative."

relative = subjective, meaning/value depends on its relation with other factors

relevant = important to the issue at hand

They mean completely different things. "Stupidity is relative," would be a valid statement. "Stupidity is relevant," doesn't mean anything to me. It's also an incomplete sentence.

"Stupidity is relevant" is a complete sentence, and it means "Stupidity matters, it means something".

"Stupidity is relative" is making a comparison. Compared to someone with an IQ of 240, the average person is stupid. Compared to someone with an IQ of 70, the average person is pretty darned intelligent. Compared to the foolish things the professor is saying, a frog is relatively intelligent.

nastyjman said:

Also, "relative" gives connotation that stupidity runs in the family. I'd say go with "relative."

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No, that's the wrong definition of "relative".

It may be grammatically complete, but it's still missing something. Nothing is inherently relevant, so stupidity is relevant to what? Relevance is relative.

Stupidity is relevant to many things, especially some of the mistakes that go on.

Stupidity is also relative. IQ is a scale that relates one level of intelligence with other levels.

I don't know how your story goes, but I can imagine the professor saying: "Stupidity is relevant. The stupid people are the ones that make life difficult for the rest of us."
"But George isn't stupid."
"Stupidity is relative. He may not be a drooling idiot, but he doesn't have what it takes to ace my class, or even to get a minimum passing grade."

jaus tail said:

Hi, I need help with this dialogue.
A professor reprimands a student in front of her mother when the mother fights back.

'Stupidity is relevant.'

Is it a correct statement, or should it be 'Stupidity is relative'?

I think the first is correct.

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They are both correct sentences, dependent on the meaning you want. It's hard to judge which one you're looking for without knowing what came before. Go by the definitions others have given and decide for yourself.

Jamesaritchie said:

No, that's the wrong definition of "relative".

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Granted, it's incorrect use of the noun, but it could make one damn funny sentence in the right context. (I'm not disagreeing it's wrong -- but I can virtually guarantee that double meaning will find its way into my writing someday).

Jamesaritchie said:

No, that's the wrong definition of "relative".

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But it could be used as a play on words, is the point I think.

"Your son is stupid."

"Stupidity is relative!"

"So I see."

Torgo said:

But it could be used as a play on words, is the point I think.

"Your son is stupid."

"Stupidity is relative!"

"So I see."

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Exactly. A connotation, double-meaning.