Are we really this dumb?

This is a serious issue and I do believe people in the "developed world" are becoming duller in every way -- mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, you name it.

However, I remember reading something Abraham Lincoln wrote about his childhood in the early 1800s. (Sorry, no link for you, this was from an actual book I read years ago...you know, moving type, flipping pages, etc.) He said that when he was growing up in rural Midwestern USA, almost every child in his small town was swilling home-distilled whisky like water by age five or six, without the parents seeing anything unusual about it at all. He also noted that most children about that age owned no shoes and had already started working in the local mine, where they continued until they died...mostly still barefoot, penniless, illiterate, young, and eternally drunk.

Most (but doubtless not all) people in the "developed" world are doing at least a bit better than that, these days.

reply to post by spookfish


I posted immediately after (very next message) that I found out the Pelosi story wasn't true, but a joke that long predated her. But it was still funny.

Sorry but, Yes. Doesn't that upset you? I know it upsets me. Its a ...

well i only read some of the stuff on the first page and i ain't sure if anyone mentioned this but...

the post about the 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' with the peanut/elephant/moon etc thing is a HOAX. it's not true, although before i looked that up on Google i was laughing quite hard

so it makes me wonder how many other of those are NOT true?

p.s. but i do have to admit it made me laugh quite a bit.

Hmm,

I'm thinking there actually is no such thing as "stupidity" - first of all, it cannot be even defined... what does it mean? To be stupid? -> Not to know, what one generally would consider something, that should be known (?) - now what is that? Can that be defined - no it cannot..

..no one can actually say, there would be some state of regular understanding - also, incase we misinpret someone not understanding what we say as being "stupid" - then there is already a problem with such an interpretation.

Incase we would say: "misinterpreting is stupidity", then if we misinterpret the other as being stupid whilst not understanding why they did not understand the thing in the firstplace (..which reasons can have zillions of variances, beginning of "mishearing" something, aswell as being physically tired -> therefor having differing states of consciousness..), (then actually) we would be needed to be categorized as stupid ourselves (after such a misinterpretion - hehh).

This is why - there is, and will not ever be a standard of regular wisdom etc. according which to someone might be considered less up to standards than the other.

We are all consciousnesses, living in human bodies - others more aware of what is going on at some levels, and others more aware of some things at the others. Perhaps the one behind a McDonalds counter, someof us might call stupid, is actually a more evolved coscious being getting more signals on a feel based level from reality, than any of the ones claiming that person to be stupid - for example. There is no way of getting into others heads / perspectivepoints to reality, and therefor there is no logic in rating that point of perception as anything - from an outside view.

Now - this is something, really important we must all understand, if we really are considering ourselves as trying to help others.

There is no stupidity - it cannot be even defined - there are only differing viewpoints and perspectives to reality (that can be vibe based, as well as rational thinking based - which does not mean either would be less of wisdom than the other).

edit: the stories were funny though - but wanted to point this out..

[edit on 7-1-2010 by Jussi]

reply to post by neo5842


They don't need to dumb anyone down.

People do a good enough job all by themselves.

Some hilarious stories in this thread!

I hate the poor grammar and spelling which is prevalent across the entire English speaking internet, but it really makes me sad when I see it on ATS, especially in posts that make excellent sense! Call me a grammar snob, but I really detest "would of" instead of "would have"! I know that people sometimes type replies quickly and make mistakes but how can you can correctly spell something like "triskaidekaphobia" but then type "would of"?
It's a mystery to me, but I try not to call people out or out. If I did I'd be here forever!

Not to say I'm perfect myself or anything, but I do try my best...

I'd agree that there is a dumbing down going on. It's been apparent here in the UK for several years, with one example being BBC news which has become all about style over substance (with the exception of the Paxman-helmed "Newsnight"). I'd also say the proliferation of trashy "reality TV" shows like "Big Brother" have had a detrimental impact on the nation's youth, and the internet isn't exactly helping matters either. All of that fascinating information available, yet kids just want to spout nonsensical garbage on "4-chan" or "MSN" or wherever.

Anyway, here's my tale of experiencing dumb-assery first hand:

I was playing a gig in Inverness a couple of years ago. I had set up all of my equipment and had some time to kill. I was hungry so I headed off to find something to munch upon. Soon I came across a "Subway" sandwich shop, and after perusing the menu I approached the counter...

Me: "Can I have a "meatball marinara", please?"

Assistant: "Do you want anything else on it?"

Me: "Er....just lettuce & cheese, please."

Eventually I received my sandwich, and sat down to eat it. As I was opening the wrapper I wondered why the sandwich felt cold...

She had given me a sandwich with only cheese & lettuce!

When I went back to point out her error, she looked confused...

Assistant: "You said you just wanted lettuce and cheese!"

Me: "Yes, along with the bleedin' meatballs on the "MEATBALL MARINARA"!"

Needless to say she looked at me like I was the scum of the Earth for having the temerity to indirectly insinuate that she may have been a complete imbecile!

Now I could understand such a misunderstanding had she been one of the many, many foreigners that work in the UK's "Subway" shops. Many of them seem to be not entirely 100% fluent in English, and that's fine, but this girl was a local! So either Britain actually is "dumbing down" or young people from Inverness are really thick!

Any Invernesians here on ATS? I'm just pulling your leg with that last bit...or am I? Maybe you can tell me if I'm right or not!






[edit on 7/1/10 by sotp]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dd19e45abab6.jpg[/atsimg]

Words cannot express my astonishment when I first saw this ad. I just sighed and hung my head in shame for the stupidity of today's population.

You want dumb?

People have actually asked me these questions:

"Can you drive a car?"

"Can you read braille?"

and half of those time they asked me those questions, they scream at me, thinking I can hear them!

The problem is not unique to America.

The Problem is as shown in the movie "Idiocracy". The larger increase in birth rates is within the lower end of the IQ spectrum because those with more intelligence are going hard for the career, the dollars, the lifestyle, while the rest are keeping themselves happy with procreating. Well, it is free for most couples.

The education system is something we know has been failing for a very long time. Media is all over the "instant gratification" concept that the last couple of generations have fallen into. So all those "Reality" shows model the behaviour expected of the masses who love to laugh at anyone else but themselves, who loves to jeer at the participants they dislike the most and in some strange way get to feel better about their own crappy life.

The Big Cause has been Indoctrination over the past 30 years in every avenue we can imagine, although the agenda creating it has been in play since we left the caves for farming. This has been created, it is managed and grown for the exact reasons George Carlin spoke about in the live from New York video on page two of the thread.

Here in Australia I've noticed what seems to have been a massive drop off in IQ over these past 30 years. I jokingly refer to it as the gene pool getting very shallow here.

Oh and if I spelled anything incorrectly or my grammar has been disgusting, it is either because a/ my fingers are getting dyslexic, b/ my brain is diseased from Mercury Vapour leaching out of my many Amalgam tooth fillings or c/ I can't be bothered to edit for spelling.

reply to post by neo5842


Good God sir, I feel like I'm immune to this dumbing down, and proud to be such.

My God, I have to start recording this stuff too.

yay, idiocray is here! Band together my brothers with brains! Let us cast down this evil with books and speech!

Argue my dear friend! Argue with that manager, with that repairman, etc etc. DO IT! your just laughing there does nothing to stop the problem!

You truly understand how stupid the general population is when you work directly with them. Some professions see the worst.. like nurses who see the underside of society using the free care, idiocracy reigns supreme. Cops naturally are exposed to the moronic populace daily..

But having worked as a financial adviser I can safely say that money does not equal intelligence.. in fact, many upper middle class people I have dealt with I am amazed could claim they had a GED let alone 4 year degrees or more. Though some actions you see people make can be classified as ignorant or rude, or inconsiderate.. stupidity is a rampant disease all over the Western World (where our "first world" status should afford us the ability to educate our selves...)

I'll do my best to spell correctly and use perfect grammer.

I'm sure many of you have experienced this situation. It has happened to me in both fine restaurants and fast food establishments. I'll ask for a Caeser salad, and will always get asked "what kind of dressing would you like on it?"

Is it just me, or does anyone else see the humor in it?


pssst...Gorman92, you might want to double check your signature. The SpellCheckers are out in force and might have an issue with "quite complaining" versus "quit complaining"


[edit on 7-1-2010 by Lolliek]

I have had plenty of dumb moments myself. It's worse when you don't even realise the "stupid moment" happened and I have to wonder how many times that has happened to me. One of the more memorable moments was when I tried to figure out why my new PC build was not powering up. I took the case off and double checked everything was connected. However this did not produce a solution because the problem was a very simple one. The switch on the power supply was turned off and it was just a simple matter of turning it on...

This reminds me of the time I asked my classmates to label the countries of Europe. The following recreation is for your enjoyment.

[edit on 7-1-2010 by Gorman91]

Sad, this is, the decay of the prefrontal cortex functions.

Not as clumsy or random as the [increasingly popular] limbic system. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.



[edit on 1/8/10 by silent thunder]

I noticed that in Border's the calendar that has people saying stupid things, most all of whom are famous, politicians, or actors and actresses...It is so common that it ceases to be humor after awhile, but simply gross incompetence...and yes, we the people are guilty of being so stupid as to keep electing these very people who constantly give themselves payraises, while complaining about the economy...

when it comes to their own salaries, they appear more than stupid, just plain greedy!

Originally posted by LiteraryOneTwo
I noticed that in Border's the calendar that has people saying stupid things, most all of whom are famous, politicians, or actors and actresses...It is so common that it ceases to be humor after awhile, but simply gross incompetence...and yes, we the people are guilty of being so stupid as to keep electing these very people who constantly give themselves payraises, while complaining about the economy...

when it comes to their own salaries, they appear more than stupid, just plain greedy!

I'm old enough to remember when the only newspapers that had celebrity news on the front page were the generally-frowned-upon tabloids.

Heck, pretty soon anyone who is old enough to remember newspapers at all will be a living fossil. there are already people nearing voting age who have never seen a rotary phone.

“I remember the newspapers dying like huge moths.”
-Ray Bradbury, Farenheit 451

Mr. Bradbury, if you can hear us out there somewhere: Your tomorrow is our today.

Dumb is calling somebody that is mathematically challenged stupid.

Dumb is judging another person's intellect by their ability to speak well and interact socially with others.

Dumb is assuming that nobody else has any of their own issues and distractions when they serve you.

Dumb is being conditioned to believe that making fun of and ridiculing others builds our own self-esteem and feelings of self-worth.

Yeah, we really are that dumb. Some of us more dumb than others, however.

[edit on 8/1/2010 by Dark Ghost]

reply to post by Dark Ghost


Good points to keep in mind amidst all the finger-wagging and face-palming. I also subscribe, in a vague sort of way, to the theory of multiple intelligences.

[edit on 1/8/10 by silent thunder]