Stupidity, everywhere? (bill, date, single)

[ElkHunter]

I was living in South Dakota and mentioned something to somebody about North Dakota. I said, you ought to run up there and check it out. He said, "I ain't going up there, those folks are dumber then posts." I said, "Have you ever been up there?" He said, "Hell no, ain't about to go up there."

I rest my case. haha

[dullnboring]

I really hate the glorification of stupidity in this country. We're a country that loves the dumb blonde act. It irritates me to no end that someone like Britney Spears or Paris Hilton are idolized by people. It irritates me to no end that our president cannot speak proper English. It irritates me when people find stupidity endearing and cute and when people are proud of their ignorance and unwillingness to educate themselves or think outside of a tiny box.

As for the state-by-state listing, while it's difficult to really rank stupidity, as someone who has lived in some of the "smarter" states and some of the "dumber" ones, I have seen a difference and tend to actually agree with where they put them on that list.

[BahamaBlu]

Originally Posted by bhs119

LOL--I think I have seen this list before.

Vermont #1---Can't help but recall the old 'Bob Newhart Show', with Larry, Darryl and Darryl--??Stereotypical Vermont residents?

Then they list states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey as more intelligent than Virginia--

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine might be As intelligent as Virginia but New Jersey?

<ducking and running>

I think NJ as just as smart or even more as Virginia because the state as a high population of people with degrees and a very high graduation rate as a whole. Virginia may have ranked lower because it has some very rural areas.

[TakeAhike]

Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm guilty of stereotyping--NJ/Sopranos, etc. and I have read some 'bitter' posts in NJ forum. Some parts of NJ must be having critical problems.

Virginia--I think of Thomas Jefferson and people driving into D.C.

LOL-DC escapes these listings--How 'intelligent' are the people of DC?
<ducking and running>

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by dullnboring

As for the state-by-state listing, while it's difficult to really rank stupidity, as someone who has lived in some of the "smarter" states and some of the "dumber" ones, I have seen a difference and tend to actually agree with where they put them on that list.

I partially agree with your statement.

IMO, those from New England really should be 'further along'--intelligence/education. That's where the US began--they have had 'longer'--and the visionaries of that era were there.

Not certain that I can understand how there are profound regional differences. I live in GA--and know for a fact that those in neighboring states are much like Georgians. NC is said to be 'Very Smart'--maybe they are. Some of them will shoot you as soon as looking at you--that is how we talk 'Down Here'. <ducking and running>

****I can't/won't have another debate/discussion of John Dewey and others (like Thoreau) from New England that are credited with establishing public education in the US.

They were the bright lights of their time. Maybe they had 'Socialistic leanings'--sigh. I have heard all the opinions I care to hear about ThAT.

[christina0001]

Originally Posted by bhs119

LOL--I think I have seen this list before.

Vermont #1---Can't help but recall the old 'Bob Newhart Show', with Larry, Darryl and Darryl--??Stereotypical Vermont residents?

Then they list states like Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey as more intelligent than Virginia--

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine might be As intelligent as Virginia but New Jersey?

<ducking and running>

As a New Jersey resident, I take offense to that!!!

lol Seriously, I would put NJ and VA on equal grounds...I think some folks think of VA as small town, rural, but in my experience VA is very diverse. There are those little, rural towns, but for pete's sake, VA has some great universities, and the D.C. and Richmond metro areas. NJ also has some great universities and the whole state is technically considered NYC-metro, although a good piece of us is really Philly-metro. Not that all intelligent people live in metro areas.

[MidniteBreeze]

I agree that intelligence is pretty well spread out regardless of geographical location. I do think, however, that certain charactaristics of a place can make one place "seem" dumber/smarter than another. Some of my personal (very generalized) theories:

1. Accents. A heavy southern drawl or a NJ "guido" accent can make people "appear" less intelligent to someone with a "standard" US accent.

2. Travel. People learn by seeing/experiencing new things. I'm not sure if the rural, southern stereoytype of people never venturing out of the county they were born in has any merit; but if so, that could definitely contribute an insular, less "worldly" community outlook.

3. Education. Being poorly educated doesn't necessarily make one un-intelligent, but a substandard educational system obviously contributes to ignorance and untapped potential.

4. English. When a large percentage of the population doesn't have a basic grasp of the English language, test scores and other such measurments will suffer. I worked with ESL students for a while and encountered some HIGHLY intelligent kids...but they obviously had trouble demonstrating their knowledge until they learned enough English.

5. Perceived VALUE of education. To piggy back on the above points, having a good educational system in place is pointless if people don't take advantage of it. Going back to my ESL experiences, I once had a very bright student and was looking forward to having a conference with her parents. They were very proud of her and stayed right with me when discussing plans for the rest of her high school career, but I lost them when I started talking about college. In their view, girls didn't go to college, they got married and had babies.

Of course in the above example I'm referring to two totally differnt cultures, but there are still places in the US where higher education is looked on with suspicion and other things (going to directly to work to earn money and/or not appearing "better" than your friends/family) take priority.

6. The Media. As many others have mentioned, much of our mainstream media tends to glorify stupidity and mindlessness. This is, of course a national problem and not unique to any certain region. (Though places that support intelligent local media sources like public radio, independent newspapers, etc., can help balance out all the trash.)

[friendnc]

Thinking stupidity is isolated to one part of the country is stupid in itself. Trust me, all areas of the U.S. have its share of idiots.

[Rapture]

What's really upsetting is if you ask most Americans about the history of their own country they don't know the answers. If you ask a person from another country about American history they can almost always get the answers right.

[TXboomerang]

Yes, stupidity is everywhere.

Go to California or the northeast with a very noticeable southern accent, and you will be an instant outcast. They will all dub you as some stupid ass redneck racist that has no business being in their "sophisticated" and "tolerant" society.

Same thing happens when a northerner heads south with a thick non-southern accent.

Stupidity and hypocrisy are pretty evenly spread all over the country, although I'm sure there are people who will vigorously defend their favorite place, region, etc and try to deny reality.