Second dumbest city in America? (San Antonio, Austin: best cities, houses, neighborhood)

[Merovee]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Yes, there's always exceptions,
but you have to live in another World to think that people with college degrees are not smarter as a group than people with only a HS diploma.

Bingo.

Originally Posted by plwhit

I guess us stupid people have to work while the people with degrees stand in line at the unemployment office......

Testament to the prevalent mentality that does not value education in our city.

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

It's San Francisco. All I can think of when I picture its iconic leaders and self-absorbed residents is the South Park episode "Smug Alert".

Originally Posted by Dopo

I'll never understand how somebody can "hate" a city.

Oh most people are basing their emotions on stereotypes. Some claim they hate something then give a mass media example to support their claim, something like a cartoon.

Many also just oppose multiculturalism and quite a few just hate homosexuals. So they think of these stereotypes then condemn a whole city like SF.

Originally Posted by HillCountryHotRodMan

Some days I hear the empty echo in my head because I cannot find a deep thinker to talk to about issues and concepts. They would prefer to talk about their dog licking his !@@ or how their fantasy football team is doing or Pam Anderson grocery shopping bare footed. I snicker or guffaw at the simp mentality, but deep inside.... oh Gawd I'm so alone!!! Soooooooo alone! LOL

Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

It is hard to find people that can offer decent conversation.

[firstclassflyer]

Originally Posted by Quattro72

Precisely. I get tired of some locals bragging about SA being recession-proof because SA is some kind of a powerhouse with progressive thinkers and industries – HA! Give me a break…

Agree. For a good portion of this country, San Antonio is nothing but an afterthought. It'll be even more of an afterthought once the economy recovers.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by HillCountryHotRodMan

Some days I hear the empty echo in my head because I cannot find a deep thinker to talk to about issues and concepts. They would prefer to talk about their dog licking his !@@ ....

Some day we are going to have to put the 2 brains that exist in San Antonio together to work while cooking BBQ.

2 years in San Antonio, and I still haven't heard 1 person say
"I love math"

[LovingSAT]

Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs

Oh...and I detect a pattern here...big college towns seem to rank higher. Go figure.

I guess those running the survey were not smart enough to see that?

I call error!

[LovingSAT]

Originally Posted by HillCountryHotRodMan

Seriously, I know folks with plenty of college education and they are total idiots. Not a lick of common sense. There's this debate between education vs. intelligence.

Some days I hear the empty echo in my head because I cannot find a deep thinker to talk to about issues and concepts. They would prefer to talk about their dog licking his !@@ or how their fantasy football team is doing or Pam Anderson grocery shopping bare footed. I snicker or guffaw at the simp mentality, but deep inside.... oh Gawd I'm so alone!!! Soooooooo alone! LOL

You are not alone, I am with you.
I am college educated but still have a lot to learn.

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by Dopo

2 years in San Antonio, and I still haven't heard 1 person say
"I love math"

I love algebra but I despise geometry and trig. Shudder.

[LVKim8]

Originally Posted by mhouse2001

The thread is about the approximate intelligence level of various US cities. Where does rudeness and self-importance figure in this discussion?

Actually, I was just having fun with the thread and giving SF a poke. I have run into a lot of rudeness on my visits there. You could certainly argue there is such a thing as an EQ as well as an IQ and on that front SF sinks on the list, IMO.

[xsa210tx]

I'm gonna keep it simple: unfortunately, I agree with this survey.

[boywithstick]

How many first generation college students does SA have in comparison with other cities? A lot of us in the Latino community, myself included, did not have parents who attended college. I really do believe that this is a contributing factor to San Antonio's low college enrollment and graduation rates. My parents are *extremely* supportive of my desire to achieve higher education; however, they are unable to impart knowledge about how to navigate the college experience because they didn't go through it themselves. My parents came to this country from Mexico (legally) hoping to provide better opportunities for their children than they had. With their emotional and financial (but not academic) support, I have attained a Bachelor's degree in Business and am currently pursuing a Master's degree in Counseling. If I do attain my Master's degree, not only will I be the first person in my immediate family to do so, but also in my extended family as well. I don't say that to brag but to point out that I didn't have many people in my family to turn to when I needed help with academic/college type issues. So I personally know that someone can attain a degree without their parents having gone to college and am not trying to make excuses for those who can't do it, but I think it's just a bit myopic to think that it's not a tad more difficult.

That being said, who defines intelligence? As other posters mentioned, some people with degrees may be very academically intelligent ("book smart") but may lack common sense. Other people without degrees might be very skilled/intelligent in other ways but maybe didn't excel in a school environment and either dropped out of high school or graduated high school but decided not to pursue higher education. There's a book titled Frames of Mind that talks about the various different types of intelligences that people can possess.

In conclusion, that list is bogus!

[L210]

There are smart people with little common sense and people with little education, but a lot of common sense. I usually run into people here who have little education and little common sense. LOL. One of the dumbest persons I've ever met has a degree from ITT Tech. You may want to consider where some of these people are getting their degrees.

When the recession first started, most of our job growth was in construction and hospitality. I'm betting people can pull in just as much money on unemployment as they would working at a hotel. Nationwide, you are 4 times more likely to be unemployed without a degree than with one. But I would take low unemployment rates over recession proof. I don't care if the city I'm living in is deemed recession proof if I'm not working. Several states have lower unemployment rates than Texas and several of the largest cities have lower unemployment rates than San Antonio. We are still lucky though in comparison to most others, but we have too many low-wage jobs.