August 28th, 2011, 10:15 PM
The Dumbing Down of America
Any comments dotcomrades? Who gains when average brainpower is lost? Those who would manipulate to achieve desired ends at expense of others, maybe?
Invest in stocks, Enron is best, Madoff is saying so! And drink BRAWNDO, the thirst mutilator, with electrolytes!
serious stuff my friend
Can this prove the point?
Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES - YouTube
Seriously, I don't get this o.O
Finger is there anything in this manifesto you'd like to highlight to discuss?
Jenn if you interview enough people you'll statistically get some morons you can post on youtube as anecdotal evidence for stupidity.
Here in Texas we mass-produce stupidity...see here a chart of recent dropout rates in our major cities: http://www2.mysanantonio.com/PDFs/20...aphic.pdf...Of course they can take the General Equivalency Diploma (an exam).
But our education system here...is very underfunded and really crappy...it really puts out a lot of stupid, and this is a populous state.
We often export or at least rent out that stupidity via the military:
You're welcome.The National Priorities Project Database reports that the two largest states with military enlistment levels in 2004 were Texas and Florida, with 15,594 and 9,581, respectively.
The roman's built straight roads without the s shaped bends for a straight direction to arriving first. and the English used an s to state a plural then why do the Americas use a Z instead of an S?
In England Z can be used as a singular form to be quiet as in 'Z IT'
So the Z in contect used in American English could be used to slow the rest of the world down to take their route to the next life
Example Civilization ..... Civil War means people fighting with each other from the same country and then 'tion' means stop so therefore the Z in the middle means forever at war with each other. But Z is in the middle of the sentence which means if the word was a compound it would means that the first word reflects what is going to happen to the send word.
Huh? Jona your post really makes no sense at all, and appears to be trying to connect several very disparate topics to make a point. But it failed.
But the thread is getting more stupider or are we going back again? Hnece I tried to explain about the compound nouns, these are nouns that should not ne taught in an English class in some countries because it just confuses the whole point of learning the language as a whole. Thats why I mentioned the word civilisation, its not a compound word and teaches us about been civilized as a whole
The original starter of this thread mentioned about the use of certain aspects of brainpower for a good reason I believe that all can achieve but leave the researchers of the world behind it's a failure for then. WHY, I believe this is true.
So you are advocating not teaching an entire section of the English grammatical structure because it is a little complex?
Never got that with the electrolytes... doesn't that mean that it conducts electricity... all acids are electrolytes. Is that stuff acid?Originally Posted by The Finger Prince
Sorry, "electrolyte" reference is to motion picture "Idiocracy", horror-comedy along the lines of "Futurama", but live action.Never got that with the electrolytes... doesn't that mean that it conducts electricity... all acids are electrolytes. Is that stuff acid?
Idiocracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Obviously, rich guys in charge find stupid persons easier to manipulate, scare, appeal to greed of, etc.
Or is Prince in error?
In my experience - sorry, no six month 'study' at taxpayer expense - people in general are about as smart as the Alpha requires them to be.
In the late 1930s my parents were living the Missouri portion of the Ozarks. It was a fairly simple, if not primitive local culture. My older sister - I am informed of this anecdote via family oral tradition - was about five years old at the time. She freely talked and ran about as five year old children do. The locals would avoid her. They seemed to be afraid of her.
After a bit of inquiry, my parents found out why: The locals thought she "... had a haint..."; that she was possessed of a 'haunt' or 'spirit' of unknown provenance. Why did they think that? Because children that young didn't talk.
In fact, the local children didn't begin to speak until they were in the seven to ten year old range. They were not expected to talk, they weren't encouraged to talk and they weren't taught to talk. So they didn't talk. Go figure.
I went to grade school in Portland, Oregon in the 1950s. Among other things, we were taught English grammar and diction. Even black kids (they were 'negroes' in those days) were expected to speak proper English. Can you imagine? We were taught basic arithmetic and world, national and local history - albeit the rough outlines.
Later, I met people from other parts of the United States and were amazed at what they hadn't learned in school.
I think the most important thing I was taught was not to have 'self-esteem', but that if I learned and knew something and could actually DO something, I was worth something.
But I was expected to learn.
When I raised my children, I would always talk to them in adult terms. I never spoke baby-talk to them and never allowed others to do so (fought with parents on a regular basis.) They are all well spoken and can express themselves clearly. They all have jobs - except the one who just was discharged from the Army and is getting his ducks lined up for University come January. I expected them to be intelligent and learn things. If I were reading or working on one of my hobbies, if one of them came around I would show them what I was doing and tell them about it. I am delighted to report they remember things I taught them as small children. And it helps their ability in general.
Kids will learn about as fast as someone can teach them. It is only as adults humans refuse to learn.
The original poster asked "Who gains when average brainpower is lost?"; my answer is no one.
Odd this just came to mind. Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Kim Il Sung and Pol Pot all orchestrated schemes to either exile or kill all the intelligent and or well educated citizens from their regimes. They were 'subversive'.
Perhaps some do gain when average brainpower is lost.
Looking back, I would trade 2 or three of any class for 2 or 3 good economics classes. Seems like the most important thing once real life gets going and it is completly absent from the curriculum.
Not Mao, or even Lenin so much. Stalin started out killing Jews and certain landowners - their intelligence or level of education coincidental.
The wealthy often complain that they are being abused for their intelligence and education.
I did. The major benefit is a familiarity with the goofy assumptions behind the stuff being bandied around political efforts;
the ability to spot not only that some naive textbook theory is being passed off as knowledge or experience or superior insight, but exactly where it takes leave of reality, is nice to have in the box. You probably (unless some disaster repopulates their upper levels) will never vote US Republican again, for one thing, and that's something to be grateful for - that's a flinch memory you don't want.
People who survive on the basis of their "EQ" ("Emotional Quotient") have an inherent disdain for book learning because it makes them feel less special. Well, unless it's only light scholastic material (such as liberal arts - which can be understood emotionally). They also tend to become successful merchants.
The scarcer the booklearners are, the scarcer the nifty stuff booklearners make gets, and the higher the price that can be charged for it in a merchant's store. Therefore, the more special you feel if you own it. And for an emotionally driven person, emotional satisfaction is the only goal in life, not actual physical well being. They probably don't realize that by impoverishing everyone (including themself) they reduce the odds of actually coming into possession of the objects of their desire anyway. That would require IQ.
What do you mean by "dumbing down"? As that phrase is commonly used in conspiracy theories about the government trying to neutralize the intelligence of the public.
Dumbing Down Society Part I: Foods, Beverages and Meds | The Vigilant Citizen
Dumbing Down Society Pt 2: Mercury in Foods and Vaccines | The Vigilant Citizen
It's a controversial topic, but with the recurrence of problems involving GMO's, drugs, and vaccines ... you can't really blame some people to speculate.
I mean ... what's the point of the government allowing fluoride in water? If it only has an infinitesimal effect on cleaning your teeth for the 0.5 seconds the water's in your mouth. Then that toxicity goes straight to your vital organs and your brain. Might as well swallow a whole tube of toothpaste! :P
Makes some sense, but actually the bone fluoride level is generally about 1 p.p.m. in areas that have fluoridated water vs. 0.6 p.p.m. average in non-fluoridated areas. It CAN occur naturally in much greater concentrations and cause fluorosis but in the industrialized world most people get the bulk of the daily intake of fluoride from their diets- stuff like saltwater fish, tea, poultry and eggs, pork.
Supposedly raw unpasteurized milk is healthier, but if that is true, why did it make people sicker than hell recently?
Raw milk from Pa. farm causes 35 to fall ill - HealthPop - CBS News
There is no doubt in my mind that those in power want to keep the masses stupid, fearful, and at each others' throats in order to make THEIR job, which is getting rich at our expense, much, much easier. Cheers.
Last edited by Arthur Angler; February 7th, 2012 at 09:58 PM.
Really? So your proposition is that high IQ and high EQ are mutually exclusive. I find that very hard to believe.
The more recent cognitive science tends to indicate that lower IQ is often linked to poor understanding of other people's feelings and responses. I'm not entirely convinced of that either.
By and large, I'd be inclined to the view that there are linkages, but for both IQ and EQ the biggest determining factors are parental skills (or the lack of them) and education (or its lack). Better parenting often means better attention paid to education - and good education increases, or at least maintains, IQ. Better parenting means people grow up more emotionally aware and secure.
Ever heard of the Flynn Effect?
That would imply the opposite of 'dumbing down'.
Flynn effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I quote :
"Ulric Neisser estimates that using the IQ values of today the average IQ of the US in 1932, according to the first Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales standardization sample, was 80. "
Since average IQ today is 100 (that's the ways the tests are organised), this implies a substantial opposite of 'dumbing down'.
I think it's probable that there's an elite class trying to control the mass public (not just for money, but power, and promoting their own agenda).Makes some sense, but actually the bone fluoride level is generally about 1 p.p.m. in areas that have fluoridated water vs. 0.6 p.p.m. average in non-fluoridated areas. It CAN occur naturally in much greater concentrations and cause fluorosis but in the industrialized world most people get the bulk of the daily intake of fluoride from their diets- stuff like saltwater fish, tea, poultry and eggs, pork.
Supposedly raw unpasteurized milk is healthier, but if that is true, why did it make people sicker than hell recently?
Raw milk from Pa. farm causes 35 to fall ill - HealthPop - CBS News
There is no doubt in my mind that those in power want to keep the masses stupid, fearful, and at each others' throats in order to make THEIR job, which is getting rich at our expense, much, much easier. Cheers.
But I'm slightly skeptical, because it just seems too wrong that "they" are willing to go to such an extent in order to spread their ideology and gain power. Any person like that must have a lack of empathetic direction and social positivity... sociopathic, even. But it's not like leaders in the past haven't manipulated masses for their own power and glory.
^Ever read Atlas Shrugged? That theory has been around for awhile.
I know. Many conspiracy theories have been around a long time. They've become somewhat trite as being entertainment. But rational people don't speculate suspicious activities for nothing. It's the dread of these theories that make them so seductive. The secret elite running the world idea was especially popularized recently by The Vigilant Citizen website.
As for Atlas Shrugged. I haven't read it, but it seems interesting. I'll try to get it soon. And not that I was wondering before, but now I know where the user "John Galt" got his name.
Hope you get it cheaply. I couldn't finish it.As for Atlas Shrugged. I haven't read it, but it seems interesting. I'll try to get it soon.
It doesn't really matter what you think of her ideas. The writing is dire.
I don't think it proves anything, any country has stupid people.
America is a very large counrty, it is bound to have some people of low IQ's but it also has many of the world's most inteligent people.
I think also Einstein proved that given the right circumstances everybody has the ability to improve their inteligence.
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