Why Are You/We So Stupid?

Total Head

Total Head

Well-Known Member
Jogro said:
It never fails to amaze me how much the people who believe that they are the smart ones subscribe to hoary stereotypes about stupid Southerners, etc. What makes you think that someone from rural Alabama doesn't share any desires with you, let alone that his citizenship is any more "arbitrary" than your own?

Did you notice in the video above that several of the questions were asked with the WHITE HOUSE in the background? (A few of us stupid Southerners remember what it looks like, because we tried to burn it down during the War of Northern Aggression).

Last I checked, Washington DC is one of those Northern East Coast Cities where the SMART ELITE ("so called") live.

Did you notice the BEACH in the background and/or the Starbucks? Somehow I don't think these are "bubba" rural places where the questions are being asked.
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when did "rural" come to mean "southern"? i'm not talking about a geographic location ("billybob" is standard for referring to "countryfolk". i realize he's generally portrayed as southern but i'm not referring specifically to the south.)

i am talking about the tendency for isolated people to have isolated views. they also tend to have the lowest funding for schools. they exist every bit in utah or idaho or even *gasp* massachusetts as they do in the south. i'm sorry if my use of "billybob set you off".

my earlier reference to the clip being set in the south was that the south in general has the lowest ratings for education. call it because they have more rural areas, call it because they vote republican, i don't care. it's a fact, and going to a part of the country where schools perform the lowest is a completely biased approach. i stand by my opinion.
 
RC7

RC7

Well-Known Member
i didn't read any of this thread but i'll tell you why "we" are so stupid. We are a generation of thousands of years of brainwashing living in a materialistic corrupt evil society controlled by scum. We are brought up from day 1 as children to follow the fucked up ways that are shown to us. We are so out of touch with nature and natural ways of living that everything is fucked beyond repair. Everyone stands around worrying about the next motherfucker when all we should be doing is looking into ourselves and finding peace, which is how we were meant to live. Laws. What the fuck is a law? the only law there should be is an eye for an eye. If i am not hurting anyone else who are you to tell me how to live in my own body? I could go on for a long time but i will stop here.
 
Jogro

Jogro

Well-Known Member
Padawanbater2 said:

But if you look at the statistics, they basically say that based on America's youth, they come up far shorter on intelligence tests than their European or Asian counterparts. In significant numbers, numbers that led me to create the thread, troubling numbers.
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This is true mostly if you're predisposed to believe that Americans are stupid.

But if you're not stupid yourself, and apply a little critical thinking, you'll see it ain't so.

The studies you probably refer to indicate that American youth. . .as a whole. ..are 4-6 points shorter on average IQ than the top Western/Asian countries.

You're talking 98 median IQ for Americans vs a max of 105 for Japan. The other Asian "powerhouse" countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, etc) are next in line with 103-104. What all these place have in common. . .other than ethnic homogeneity and wealth, is that standardized testing is literally drilled into kids since they are able to walk, raising average test scores.

In the meantime, at a median IQ of 98, Americans are equally as "stupid" as people from Norway, France, Denmark, and Australia, who all have the exact same average IQ.

But don't forget, America is a HUGE country literally as big as all of Western Europe. Not only are we more ethnically diverse, but our States contain vast discrepancies in terms of wealth and educational resources. Just the State of CA alone is as big as most European countries, and at an average IQ of 100, its just as smart as most of them too!

The 98 IQ average includes really poor areas like Mississippi (IQ 94), South Carolina (94), Alabama (96), etc, plus some downwards pressure due to mixed ethnicity, both of which drive down the averages.

If you consider individual states, at a median IQ of 104, the State of New Hampshire, actually has a higher average IQ than ANY country in Europe!

At 103, ditto for MA, WI, and OR.

I could go on, but its getting late.

So I'll just say that no, I reject this idea that Americans are much stupider than people everywhere else. It depends where you go and how you make the comparison.

I do fully agree that American youth aren't nearly as good at geography, math and science as many other developed countries, but I think that's a separate sort of issue as innate intelligence.
 
K

kermit2692

Well-Known Member
Total Head said:
when did "rural" come to mean "southern"? i'm not talking about a geographic location ("billybob" is standard for referring to "countryfolk". i realize he's generally portrayed as southern but i'm not referring specifically to the south.)

i am talking about the tendency for isolated people to have isolated views. they also tend to have the lowest funding for schools. they exist every bit in utah or idaho or even *gasp* massachusetts as they do in the south. i'm sorry if my use of "billybob set you off".

my earlier reference to the clip being set in the south was that the south in general has the lowest ratings for education. call it because they have more rural areas, call it because they vote republican, i don't care. it's a fact, and going to a part of the country where schools perform the lowest is a completely biased approach. i stand by my opinion.
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haha utah and idaho.....can we say MORMONS AND POLYGAMISTS????.....ANYONE WHO READS THIS PLEASE DONT VOTE FOR ROMNEY HE IS A MORMON link - http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s07e12-all-about-mormons please make it through the minute of ads to see why romney does not deserve to run a country!!!! BEST EPISODE EVER BTW :D
 
WeedFreak78

WeedFreak78

Well-Known Member
How are we judging "smartness"? Just on average IQ? I really don't believe an IQ test is a great judge of practical intelligence. I've known hundreds of people over the years,many in their 50's and 60's,who never graduated high school but were more intelligent and skilled then most of the younger generation being pumped out of our for profit higher education system. Daily knowledge and life experience is hard to measure in a standardized test.
 
MrFrance

MrFrance

Well-Known Member
Hepheastus420:7520583 said:
What? I don't understand..
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personally, it's because i'm influenced by other members posts and it has me sniggering for hours and then i just can't help myself.

i could list them, maybe i will later but you probably know who you all are.

:D
 
S

SeaBeeDee

Active Member
Total Head said:
exactly who is this "we" you speak of? i think it's pretty simple. the more rural your area, the more isolated you tend to be. the US is over 80% rural but has less than 22% of the population living in rural areas. am i supposed to consider billybob from derpville, mississippi a true representation of americans? that's ridiculous.
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Living in a rural area doesn't mean you are dumber. 100 years ago more than half of Americans lived in rural areas and grew their own food. The most profiting companies put that image of idiocracy with that of people from rural areas. Of course people listen because they are naive, and a lot of them move or are forced to move due to various other factors which I will not get into. Now these companies have taken the people away from the land and put them into their supermarkets rather than being self sufficient.
 
Padawanbater2

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
Jogro said:
This is true mostly if you're predisposed to believe that Americans are stupid.

But if you're not stupid yourself, and apply a little critical thinking, you'll see it ain't so.

The studies you probably refer to indicate that American youth. . .as a whole. ..are 4-6 points shorter on average IQ than the top Western/Asian countries.

You're talking 98 median IQ for Americans vs a max of 105 for Japan. The other Asian "powerhouse" countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, etc) are next in line with 103-104. What all these place have in common. . .other than ethnic homogeneity and wealth, is that standardized testing is literally drilled into kids since they are able to walk, raising average test scores.

In the meantime, at a median IQ of 98, Americans are equally as "stupid" as people from Norway, France, Denmark, and Australia, who all have the exact same average IQ.

But don't forget, America is a HUGE country literally as big as all of Western Europe. Not only are we more ethnically diverse, but our States contain vast discrepancies in terms of wealth and educational resources. Just the State of CA alone is as big as most European countries, and at an average IQ of 100, its just as smart as most of them too!

The 98 IQ average includes really poor areas like Mississippi (IQ 94), South Carolina (94), Alabama (96), etc, plus some downwards pressure due to mixed ethnicity, both of which drive down the averages.

If you consider individual states, at a median IQ of 104, the State of New Hampshire, actually has a higher average IQ than ANY country in Europe!

At 103, ditto for MA, WI, and OR.

I could go on, but its getting late.

So I'll just say that no, I reject this idea that Americans are much stupider than people everywhere else. It depends where you go and how you make the comparison.

I do fully agree that American youth aren't nearly as good at geography, math and science as many other developed countries, but I think that's a separate sort of issue as innate intelligence.
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IQ is a somewhat arbitrary way to define intelligence.

Look at national test scores. Performance shows American's, on average, perform worse than their European or Asian counterparts.
 
BigJon

BigJon

Well-Known Member
The main reason why mankind is stupid is because we have convinced ourselves over century that we are a separate entity from the universe when really we are just cogs in the grand machine of things.
 
Padawanbater2

Padawanbater2

Well-Known Member
ThE sAtIvA hIgH said:
british people are alot smarter than americans .
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Im sure some British people are, but I'm sure some British people are just as dumb, if not dumber than some Americans.

The OP wasn't meant to generalize Americans as dumb, we're one of the smartest people, on an individual level, on the planet. It was meant to ask the question, why are we so damn dumb on a collective level? When you look at the numbers side by side with other countries, why is America so far down the list when it comes to national math and science levels?

It's obvious to anyone whose not American (and even some of us who are).
 
obijohn

obijohn

Well-Known Member
Stupidity can be contagious. You see an example all the time on Facebook. Someone will post something like "Facebook is going to charge for using it now if enough people repost they won't!!!"

People don't question that, they blindly repost garbage like that.

Over the years, people have said theyve misplaced something and use the word "loose" instead do "lose". Folks hear or see something incorrect enough, they copy it and repeat thenerror
 
P

patrickkawi37

Well-Known Member
50 something million people voted for george bush a second time. i have no doubt that we live in a nation of morons.

something like 70 percent of the country is catholic or christian.

if they spent half the time learning about reality and what goes on around them, rather then wasting it in a cult church.. maybe there would be some light at the end of the tunnel.
 
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