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In all fairness there are two so-called comedians who are no longer funny because of the way they put politics into their respective acts. From the left, Maher from the right, Miller.
Sadly, I do believe that way too many Americans are stupid and ignorant. Case in point: I came across an article online the other day titled "Casey Anthony adopts baby". The article, from some tabloid, claimed that Casey Anthony was going to adopt a 2-year old girl from Romania and was paying for it with the millions she was making from her book deal. The article had over 300 comments and most of those commenting were outraged that Casey Anthony had been allowed to adopt and that she could make millions from a book deal. Other people supported her, saying that since she was found not guilty she should be free to adopt and they wished Casey and the baby well. Only a handful people realized the, what should be, obvious fact that the story was a bunch of BS.
Of course this is by no means scientific but I think, considering the large number of people who believed the story, it points to stupidity being rather common.
I don't know if Americans are any less intelligent than people in other countries but based on my observations I do think it's very likely that Americans are more ignorant.
The long history of civil discourse is certainly something that doesn't get much attention these days. America has been a nation of political malcontents from it's beginning, but today, the average American is sorely lacking in those qualities that could provide the conversational balance to the popular media hype that dominates the mental landscape. It's not about being stupid, it's about the fact that most of us simply can't think, the distractions to learning are many, and the rewards for knowledge are few. Most people want to socially "fit in", more than they want to know anything.
Take a look at some of the posts on the CD forums to get a good idea of the quality of thinking in modern America. Many of todays news stories are simply propaganda disguised as news, mainstream media has sunk to unprecedented lows in order to have that mass appeal that allows their existence. I don't blame the average person for not being well informed, it takes a lot of effort to sift through the crap coming from radio, news TV, bloggers, periodicals, and other forms of current events coverage that present themselves as "news".
On top of all the other negatives that provide reason for our intellectual lacking , we see the single most damaging aspect in the dispensation of knowledge being that of our public schools. Still trying to be the authority on all things these institutions have become stagnant, boring, socially stratified bastions of pop culture. No wonder we can't think straight.....
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.
I tend to agree with this guy/gal here.
There are always variables at play. Interests of the individual. It's embarrassing but I still don't think it's an accurate measure for intelligence. But, I do think Bill is funny as sheet, and love watching him make asses out of all of us.
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
What is obvious is that Mr. Maher can't distinguish the difference between ignorant and stupid which really just makes him the latter and not the former.
If all those questions were asked of someone from Chile for example, would Mr. Maher say they were stupid as well? Probably not because he'd excuse his own stupidity and say that someone from Chile wouldn't be expected to know the answers?
Ignorant people don't know the information, stupid people can't learn it. One can be completely ignorant of something yet be highly intelligent. Since Mr. Maher has proclaimed that certain people are stupid and then uses only their ignorance of certain information to support his claim, it is Mr. Maher who is stupid since he would have chosen to learn the difference, if he wasn't stupid.
Then we have those who believe what Mr. Maher says, they are stupid as well. The decision to believe Mr. Maher demonstrates a choice, not an absence of the information needed to make the choice. This proves stupidity since there are other choices available and the difference between ignorance and stupidity is a fact, not opinion. Choosing to believe Mr. Maher's claim that those who are ignorant of certain information are stupid, is stupid. So in a slight change to a cliche, stupid is as stupid believes.
N because if you look they take advanage of governamnt polices easily even many complex welfare programs. of course they likie most cliam ignorance whe it suits them for bad decisons.But Maher is no great shakes as hius career has shown.he is no racket scientist but a prmters of controversy.
What is obvious is that Mr. Maher can't distinguish the difference between ignorant and stupid which really just makes him the latter and not the former.
If all those questions were asked of someone from Chile for example, would Mr. Maher say they were stupid as well? Probably not because he'd excuse his own stupidity and say that someone from Chile wouldn't be expected to know the answers?
Ignorant people don't know the information, stupid people can't learn it. One can be completely ignorant of something yet be highly intelligent. Since Mr. Maher has proclaimed that certain people are stupid and then uses only their ignorance of certain information to support his claim, it is Mr. Maher who is stupid since he would have chosen to learn the difference, if he wasn't stupid.
Then we have those who believe what Mr. Maher says, they are stupid as well. The decision to believe Mr. Maher demonstrates a choice, not an absence of the information needed to make the choice. This proves stupidity since there are other choices available and the difference between ignorance and stupidity is a fact, not opinion. Choosing to believe Mr. Maher's claim that those who are ignorant of certain information are stupid, is stupid. So in a slight change to a cliche, stupid is as stupid believes.
I was wondering how long it would take for someone to point out that discrepancy.
You realize that you are intimating that everyone here arguing is ignorant and that those choosing either side are stupid?
I say either side because the same reason one is stupid for agreeing with him in ignorance would apply to those arguing against in ignorance.
And we're concerned with Bill Maher's assessment of our collective intelligence why???
Bill Maher is, I keep in mind, his own idea of a public intellectual (whose professional career consists of a bachelor's degree in English, minor acting roles in mostly forgotten movies, and being an often unwatchable a$*whipe on TV), and his relentless pomposity seems to provoke endless applause from the harpie morons who sit in his audience every week, regardless of the trash-content he spews.
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