Dysgenics: Dumbing down of society.

reply to post by Beachcoma

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sorry beachcoma I can't provide a link, I stored that one away in real memory from an article I'd read at least a year ago and didn't bookmark it. In any event, I do recall that Ronald Reagan was used to illustrate the point: his letters--indeed his entire worldview--were largely free of complexity and nuance, and he was of course also the most famous victim of Alzheimer's.

I threw away my last TV set twenty five years ago, even then the programming was insulting my integrity, I agree wholeheartedly with this thread and dampnickers contributions in particular. On the odd occasion that I visit friends and catch a few moments of TV, I find my self ever more astonished that anyone could allow themselves to be so insulted by the utter drivel that is continually broadcast. And as for the highly selective/censored news programmes, well!
Flagged and starred, dampnickers too.
Regards,
Horsegiver.

It's shameful the state that our education is in here in the US! My cousing graduated Magna Cum Laude (top of her class) in high school, and she could BARELY READ. She went on to get her degree in education and is now a grade school teacher. She came to visit a couple months back (here in Florida) and kept calling the ocean here "the specific ocean." I couldn't believe that she is teaching our kids not only math, sciecnce, and english, but geography and social science too!!!

It all seems to be in an effort to dumb down or society. The dumber we get, the easier it is to control us. Stupid people are much less likely to riot if they suspend the constitution or have their rights taken away.
grrrrrrrr

reply to post by gottago

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Not so sure Terry Pratchett would agree...

Pratchett has Alzheimer's

There's always something that's going to bugger that curve... Right?

Personally where I am I find that the Gen Pop is getting more intelligent (academically) although holding an intelligent conversation with people is still very hard work, and finding anyone with any kind of opinion is dammed near impossible.

MonKey

reply to post by ChiKeyMonKey

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I'd have to agree with you on that point. Although, it is not just that people do not have an opinion. It is more likely that they are too afraid of venturing an opinion in case they fall foul of some "politically correct" law or "thought crime". The governments of this world have set up so many of these, that it is either impossible to venture an opinion, or very unwise. Which, to me, seems to be another step in dumbing us down; for if the parents of this world do not venture an opinion, their children do not learn how to because they have never experienced it. Incidentally most of the things we learn about life are from our parents.

To comment on something someone said about "STOOOPID" people and their behaviour... I am furious that we are being taught that these people can never be civilised. I learned a very valuable lesson recently. One that we should all learn ourselves.

My son is four. He knows how to read. He behaves like an angel (most of the time). He behaves so well because more often than not his nose is in a book. When he isn't reading his thougts are reasoned, and logical, we even have discussions about regulators on steam engines...!!! Quite the feat for a FOUR-YEAR-OLD, wouldn't you agree?

Now the magical part of what I just said is that unruly children in school tend to misbehave and because they do not understand what is going on around them. Either because they cannot read, cannot see the board, or simply do not understand anything of what the teacher is droning on about. As such, like all children exhibiting a natural instinct, they misbehave to get some attention. The trouble is that teachers do not see that the attention seeking behaviour is not the child being naughty, simply that the child needs assistance and does not know how to ask for it. Hence the "misbehaviour". The way to correct this? Get them to read. When a child reads, they learn something very important. Analytical skills. Couple that with help from a "good" teacher, parents and the community at large, and they become model pupils.

How do I know this works? I've tried it on my son and my family tries it on my nieces and nephews. My niece is five... she is a little angel too. My nephew is almost four. He was a little scroat! At least until his parents started to teach him to read. Now he regularly gets a book from the shelf, and asks his parents to read to him. He loves books about trains just like my son, and even asks questions about what is read to him. My son asked me this morning how an electric engine gets the power from the wires above into the engine...

My own father used the same techniques on me. When I had just turned four (according to my mother), I was at nursery overlooking the harbour where my father was manuvering a passenger ship out into the sea. The teacher asked me if my "daddy was reversing the ship?". Apparently my reply was that she was "stupid" and that my "father was using his 'bow thrust' to get out"...

Not made up, all of it true.

So, in short, reading works. Not just for "STOOOPID" people, but us so-called intelligent types too.

This is a very good thread.

I loved both the videos, the song by Korn as well as the one by the Prime Minister from Australia. On the Korn video they showed the monkey deciding what to choose, the banana or the money. The monkey choose the banana as food is a basic need, but we have came to believe that by having money in hand all other needs can be met through this medium thereby forgetting what it means to use our brains to ensure our survival.

The second video linked on the thread gives a prime example of the level of many folks intellegence when someone was asked who was Tony Blair and he asked if it was Linda Blair's brother. Linda Blair of the 20 odd year old Exorcist movie is more prominent in ones brain than the PM of Britain whose face has been all over the US news for how many years now???

As the above poster mentioned READ!!! Educate yourselves, no one else is going to do it for you and money can't buy any of the things that really matter and what would we do if money was no longer viable?

Reply to interestedalways

Educate yourselves, no one else is going to do it for you and money can't buy any of the things that really matter and what would we do if money was no longer viable?

The problem is not many understand the above statement so we will have to find another way to get it into their thick brains!

reply to post by kangjia57

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"Their" brains are not thick, it is that they are not yet honed into the fine thinking machines that they should be.

The way "we" get into them, is by being logical and reasoned. Sensible and calm. Never loosing our temper with these people and talking to them. Showing them, by whatever means available to us, that reading is important.

Most people think that a good "education" is required to get a good job in this world. What very few of us seem to realise is that a good education means being able to read and have some idea of the world around us... not being able to regurgitate what some teacher put on the board twenty years ago.

Until a very recent career change, I worked in a school. I didn't get my job because of fancy qualifications, or a "good education". I got the job (and was told so by the panel that picked me) becuase I have a good knowledge of the world around me, also that I am logical and reasoned too. I have these skills, because I read.

Plain and simple. Read... if people see you reading they are more likely to pick up a book and read themselves. Try it. My son watches me read all the time, when he sees me reading, he gets his books and mimics me... the difference between him and other children his age, is that he can read for himself. Not only is he intelligent, but because he can read he is a very independant toddler.

Need I say more?

In my opinion, IQ has nothing to do with how smart you are, it's just how well you can learn. If you get worse at maths you used to be great at, it may just be because you're not focusing. Then again, how much you focus may also influence the outcome of an IQ test. I've become a lot lazier since I moved to the US, actually. Things seem a lot more lax at my new school, and focusing is no longer something I'm required to do. However, since I almost made a habit of it, I thought I had lost my ability to think! Now that I think about it, it was just because I was too lazy to focus. Yes, the overall IQ of the human population MAY be going down (I haven't done research or anything), but so is their ability to focus. At least, that seems to be the case in the US.
Come to think of it, in my opinion, genius is the ability to create. The ability to observe is not genius, but by the fact that most people I've met can't even observe, I think it's gotten pretty bad. Man, my vocabulary really isn't big, but people still call me a genius! Just because I actually use the words I know? I'm no genius.

However, in the case that someone already posted this, I apologize. I'm in a bit of a hurry, and couldn't read the whole thread.

We have to remember the education system teaches restricted education i.e they decided what me, you and our children learn.

Then television feeds into this and decided what we should know as a people, what should be on the news and what we should buy. Sadly, majority of the population follows like sheep and most will fail to look after themselves if the TV suddenly stopped telling them what to do.

The internet is starting to become the same, which is very alarming to us.

Not being being headed, but I am a smart person. Most of the things I know I learnt by myself and outside the education system.

(Even though I'm a university student, I still better on my own.)

Spot on.

Everyone is a product of their environment. The difference in a lot of my friends children is striking. Those parents whom read regularly' kids are very active, always seem to wanting to read themselves, and are verbally more adept. Those who come home from work and spend their evenings in front of TV....well their kids seem to spend a disturbing amount of time staring at said TV as well.

It doesn't help that everything is commercialized. TV and other media shows us what it thinks we want to see, for the sake of viewing figures, rather that what we need to see. That in turn has lead to dumbing down in schools in order to maintain decent pass rates etc.

Sorry state of affairs really.

Regards

Tim.




[edit on 23-12-2007 by ChunkyBarcode]

reply to post by infinite

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Just because the eductation system teaches "restrictively" does not mean to say that we cannot combat it.

Again, I will say this: Lead by example!

People are like sheep, but only to a point. For those of us who are more enlightened, we do not tend to go out and buy the latest playstation or Wii, just because the next door neighbour has one. We tend to think things through, and be a little more conservative with consumerism. (At least this describes me).

The point is, if we encourage those around us to learn, and develop their skills, by reading etc. then it will not be long before they reach a tipping point and have their "eyes opened" to the system of things.

My father taught me that thinking and learning are two very important things. Both of these feed into my language skills, which allows me to be successful in life (socially, mentally, physically, etc.). I'm teaching my young son the same values and I will do the same with any other children I may have in the future.

These are the things we should all be doing. I hate to say this, but a great many of you here will simply read this and do nothing...

So what will you do? Learn for yourself, and teach others around you to do the same, or do you intend to be one of the sheep who eventually amount to nothing...?

Something or nothing? Someone or noone?

Regarding Dysgenics:

It is an agenda, a concept that should be included is the extremely advanced subliminal technology being illegally used to reinforce public support for stupid, like who really cares what Paris Hilton, or Brittany are doing, and why so much money made on dumb, on activity that will never improve or inspire higher life activity. It is employed to promote a passive citizen with no insight but with passion against anyone dissenting against the media induced norm standard. This allows a slavery government to keep control. Like when someone sees definite multiple problems with the 911 mainstream explanation and O'Reilly, and Wolfe Blizter get on the air and laugh at it calling it conspiracy paranoia. It is an evolved science using extremely effective psychological tools to manipulate the masses into a hypnotic narrow insight of the world, while keeping them preoccupied with stupid: celeberties, terrorist threats, working too many hours, taxes etc. Just control

How is it wrong? All we are going to do is die anyway. In the final analysis, what difference does it make when your dead how smart you were when you were alive or that you ever existed at all?

Who can make such a judgement call as to whose genes are "worthy" of procreation and whose are not? Anyone who has ever attempted such grand agendas as "social shot gun weddings" in attempts to keep the gene pool healthy has always led to a people with a name like "Inbred Jed"

You know,, I used to believe people like you were just plane crazy. That was until I had an opportunity to work in media and read many very important news story they deem not news worthy.

Your post,, every word,

is true

- Con

Yeah I knew THAT would just be a matter of time and the sneaky way they took net neutrality from us .

When you consider we all have busy lives it would have been nice to see more News about THAT then Britny Spears . What we end up getting is some sentaor who Obviously knows nothing about the Internet media.publicknowledge.org...

Then I found out why he chose to take the side of the issue he took www.opensecrets.org...

Bribe a senator is legal as long as you call it "lobby"

So the dumbing continues and the rich get richer the poor get ,,^&$#

I agree with the presentation, but you also need to keep in mind the highly advanced subliminal technologies, combined with military psychological tools is accelerating the demise to dumbdon. This is making a silent majority, more silent, much less insightful, and more willing to condemn views against this artificial media induced "standard of what is normal or right". All the while our individual freedoms are being eroded. This truly is the new slavery, even though it has been happening here for hundreds of years. It is just the technology has become more advanced and efficient. It may or may not shock most of this websites viewers how many people have been destroyed for trying to give freely of their gifts of science that could make our world like a paradise compared to now. This really is a totalitarian state disguised as the "Free World".

This truly HAS to be true. I operate a cafe directly across the street from a high school, and I can (unfortunately) say half of the kids that walk in here are truly dumb. It's not that they are inherintly dumb, but it is that they do not care about what is going on and the school that teaches them does not teach them to think objectively. Whatever is in the books is fact and should never be questioned. I had a kid tell me the teacher told them we were in Iraq to fight terrorism! Now, I am not that old and I can remember very clearly before 9/11. I did not really care too much about government, who was in charge or much at all of that nature. But I at least could think for myself. These kids lack the foundation to think for themselves and it is quite sad. And just to clarify in my opinion it is not entirely the schools fault. Half the parents are exactly the same way.

good post

Interesting and I think a very true topic.... I wonder what the world might be like with no TV?

But like they say, thats why they call TV programming, because it is exactly that, programming.

The Matrix has you Neo!

O... M... G.......


That video... It isnt hilarious anymore... I am shocked that people like that even exist!!!!!!!!!!!