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As intelligence is more a measurement of the ability to learn and the fact that all American school children DO learn the Bill of Rights I would say that it is a direct measure of a person's intelligence. One should be able to get most of them and they should absolutely know what the Bill of Eights are generally.
Of course, one would have to make allowances for memory issues and such.
If it were something such as mathematics I would tend to be more lenient as that involves a specific form of intelligence.
Well, I'm a physiochemist, which requires at least some intelligence (granted, I don't expect to reach the intellectual heights of the average P&C CD poster), but I could not recite the bill of rights in its entirety nor do I have recall of most of my social studies. OTOH, my father could. I think interests come into play here.
Bill Maher challenges the idea that the US is a smart country on Fox News. After being called a pinhead by Bill O'Reilly, he comes back with a defense of his statement by referencing some interesting statistics.
Only 24% do know not which country America fought in the American Revolutionary War
More than 50% can not name a single branch of government
More than 50% do not know what is the bill of rights
Roughly 66% do not know what Food and Drug Administration does
Half of Americans do not know how many senators each state has
But the news isn't all bad, there are some signs of hope
Half were able to figure out which came first Judaism or Christianity.
and only 18% believe that the Sun revolves around the earth
Yeah. Most PEOPLE are stupid. The definition of average is a 100 IQ, and that is, by definiton, moronic. It shocks me how dumb most people are. People are ignorant to everything and it's just sad. When I watch Jeopardy I get most of the answers right because I think they're common knowledge...but then I'll watch with "regular" people and they look at me like I know everything even though I feel like the answers I'm giving are things that everyone should know. Just try working in retail or with customers in any way...
My observations and well as interactions with others in this country have led me to believe that the average person is simply not interested in such things as history, government function, law, etc. I think the inability to answer these types of questions is not so much that folks are "stupid" but that they have never taken the time or made the effort to become educated. They may have even sat in classrooms that taught this material, but they were simply disengaged and disinterested.
People are basically focused on getting through the day. Most are not thinking much past the weekend and what they will do once they get off work on Friday. If a piece of info does not pertain to their daily activities, they discard it.
Americans are often just plain lazy about bothering to learn anything that doesn't relate to their current life status. People don't think - oh, man, I can't wait to learn another language so I can speak fluent French! They more likely think - why would I want to waste my time on THAT? lol
I think the majority of Americans do not see education as the class defining element that it really is. Education, and becoming an educated person who can think critically, is the one thing that can raise a person from a lower class status and give them entree into a higher status, both through their career/work and through their interactions with others.
But I don't believe most folks think about life that way.
My observations and well as interactions with others in this country have led me to believe that the average person is simply not interested in such things as history, government function, law, etc.
Americans are often just plain lazy about bothering to learn anything that doesn't relate to their current life status.
Just because someone isn't interested in something doesn't make them lazy.
Well, I'm a physiochemist, which requires at least some intelligence (granted, I don't expect to reach the intellectual heights of the average P&C CD poster), but I could not recite the bill of rights in its entirety nor do I have recall of most of my social studies. OTOH, my father could. I think interests come into play here.
Your job sounds hard. I bet if you had to really sit down and do so you'd get the majority. Probably only missing the ones people rarely deal with.
I am proud to not know who my elected politicians are or how the constitution works or what the process of impeaching a president is. I don't even vote. Learning about these things and voting are pretty much a waste of time.
Why would you be proud of those things? I find that really bizarre.
The Constitution is an amazing document. I wish all elementary or middle schools required students to study it in depth, as was required in California back in the '70s (as I wrote earlier).
I'm inclined to agree, although not necessarily by the listed examples. I do think most Americans are stupid. Gauging that on overall political knowledge is a bit absurd though, in my opinion. I'm more annoyed by the general populations stupidity in regards to Geography, History, Math, Sociology, and Language. Having so many friends who are school teachers, I'd have to say the problem starts with our education system. The whole "no child left behind" movement is forcing Teachers to pass students who can barely speak English, much less name our first 10 Presidents. School Districts are only concerned with numbers, not the quality of education their systems provide. Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse.
I am proud to know that I didn't waste my time learning things that have practically no value to me. I laugh at people who waste their time voting and learning the constitution because they are supposed to.
I supposed these things are important if you are a history teacher or a lawyer or something were learning those things has a direct benefit.
I wish all elementary or middle schools required students to study it in depth,
Why? What good would it do them?
I'd rather they take an extra PE class or (like I wrote earlier) more computer training.
The only thing more twisted and rewritten than history is religion.
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I find that really bizarre.