[captain_shane]

Depressing Survey Results Show How Extremely Stupid America Has Become

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Ten years ago, a major Hollywood film entitled “Idiocracy” was released, and it was an excellent metaphor for what would happen to America over the course of the next decade. In the movie, an “average American” wakes up 500 years in the future only to discover that he is the most intelligent person by far in the “dumbed down” society that he suddenly finds himself in.

Sadly, I truly believe that if people of average intellect from the 1950s and 1960s were transported to 2016, they would likely be considered mental giants compared to the rest of us. We have a country where criminals are being paid $1000 a month not to shoot people, and the highest paid public employee in more than half the states is a football coach. Hardly anyone takes time to read a book anymore, and yet the average American spends 302 minutes a day watching television. 75 percent of our young adults cannot find Israel on a map of the Middle East, but they sure know how to find smut on the Internet.

What in the world has happened to us? How is it possible that we have become so stupid? According to a brand new report that was recently released, almost 10 percent of our college graduates believe that Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court…

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni publishes occasional reports on what college students know.
Nearly 10 percent of the college graduates surveyed thought Judith Sheindlin, TV’s “Judge Judy,” is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Less than 20 percent of the college graduates knew the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation. More than a quarter of the college graduates did not know Franklin D. Roosevelt was president during World War II; one-third did not know he was the president who spearheaded the New Deal.

It can be tempting to laugh at numbers like these until you realize that survey after survey has come up with similar results.


When NEWSWEEK recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test, 29 percent couldn’t name the vice president. Seventy-three percent couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War. Forty-four percent were unable to define the Bill of Rights. And 6 percent couldn’t even circle Independence Day on a calendar.

Even worse were the extremely depressing results of a study conducted a few years ago by Common Core…

*Only 43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900.

*More than a quarter of all U.S. high school students thought that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean after the year 1750.

*Approximately a third of all U.S. high school students did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

*Only 60 percent of all U.S. students knew that World War I was fought some time between 1900 and 1950.

Of course survey results can be skewed, and much hinges on how the questions are asked.

However, even studies that are scientifically conducted confirm how stupid America has become. In fact, a report from the Educational Testing Service found that Americans are falling way behind much of the rest of the industrialized world. The following comes from CBS News…

Americans born after 1980 are lagging their peers in countries ranging from Australia to Estonia, according to a new report from researchers at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). The study looked at scores for literacy and numeracy from a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, which tested the abilities of people in 22 countries.

The results are sobering, with dire implications for America. It hints that students may be falling behind not only in their early educational years but at the college level. Even though more Americans between the ages of 20 to 34 are achieving higher levels of education, they’re still falling behind their cohorts in other countries. In Japan, Finland and the Netherlands, young adults with only a high school degree scored on par with American Millennials holding four-year college degrees, the report said.
Out of 22 countries that were part of the study, the Educational Testing Service found that Americans were dead last in tech proficiency, dead last in numeracy and only two countries performed worse than us when it came to literacy proficiency…

Half of American Millennials score below the minimum standard of literacy proficiency. Only two countries scored worse by that measure: Italy (60 percent) and Spain (59 percent). The results were even worse for numeracy, with almost two-thirds of American Millennials failing to meet the minimum standard for understanding and working with numbers. That placed U.S. Millennials dead last for numeracy among the study’s 22 developed countries.
So why has this happened?

Why have we become such an extremely stupid nation?

Well, at least a portion of the blame must be directed at our system of education. The following is an excerpt from an article written by reporter Mark Morford. In this article, he shared how one of his friends which had served for a very long time as a high school teacher in Oakland, California was considering moving out of the country when he retired due to the relentless “dumb-ification of the American brain”…

It’s gotten so bad that, as my friend nears retirement, he says he is very seriously considering moving out of the country so as to escape what he sees will be the surefire collapse of functioning American society in the next handful of years due to the absolutely irrefutable destruction, the shocking — and nearly hopeless — dumb-ification of the American brain. It is just that bad.

Now, you may think he’s merely a curmudgeon, a tired old teacher who stopped caring long ago. Not true. Teaching is his life. He says he loves his students, loves education and learning and watching young minds awaken. Problem is, he is seeing much less of it.
And of course things don’t get much better when it comes to our college students. In a previous article, I shared some statistics from USA Today about the rapidly declining state of college education in the United States…

-“After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change.”

-“Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago”

-“35% of students report spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone.”

-“50% said they never took a class in a typical semester where they wrote more than 20 pages”

-“32% never took a course in a typical semester where they read more than 40 pages per week.”

I spent eight years studying at some of the finest public universities in the country, and I can tell you from personal experience that even our most challenging college courses have been pathetically dumbed down.

And at our “less than finest” public universities, the level of education can be something of a bad joke. In another previous article, I shared some examples of actual courses that have been taught at U.S. universities in recent years…

-“What If Harry Potter Is Real?”

-“Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame”

-“Philosophy And Star Trek”

-“Learning From YouTube”

-“How To Watch Television”

Could you imagine getting actual college credit for a course entitled “What If Harry Potter Is Real?”

This is why many of our college graduates can barely put two sentences together. They aren’t being challenged, and the quality of the education most of them are receiving is incredibly poor.

But even though they aren’t being challenged, students are taking longer to get through college than ever. Federal statistics reveal that only 36 percent of all full-time students receive a bachelor’s degree within four years, and only 77 percent of all full-time students have earned a bachelor’s degree by the end of six years.

Of course our system of education is not entirely to blame. The truth is that young Americans spend far more time consuming media than they do hitting the books, and what passes for “entertainment” these days is rapidly turning their brains to mush.

According to a report put out by Nielsen, this is how much time the average American spends consuming media on various devices each day…

Watching live television: 4 hours, 32 minutes

Watching time-shifted television: 30 minutes

Listening to the radio: 2 hours, 44 minutes

Using a smartphone: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Using Internet on a computer: 1 hour, 6 minutes

When you add it all up, the average American spends more than 10 hours a day plugged into some form of media.

And if you allow anyone to pump “programming” into your mind for 10 hours a day, it is going to have a dramatic impact.

In the end, I truly believe that we all greatly underestimate the influence that the mainstream media has on all of us. We willingly plug into “the Matrix” for endless hours, but then somehow we still expect “to think for ourselves”.

There are very few of us that can say that we have not been exposed to thousands upon thousands of hours of conditioning. And all of that garbage can make it very, very difficult to think clearly.

It is not because of a lack of input that we have become so stupid as a society. The big problem is what we are putting into our minds.

If we continue to put garbage in, we are going to continue to get garbage out, and that is the cold, hard reality of the matter.

Study

[Delta]

Quote:

Sadly, I truly believe that if people of average intellect from the 1950s and 1960s were transported to 2016, they would likely be considered mental giants compared to the rest of us.

Then the author is just as clueless as the people he derides, because it's well known that average IQ has increased over time. See Flynn effect.

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and the highest paid public employee in more than half the states is a football coach.

Because college football coaches generate the most revenue of any type of public employee.

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Only 43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900.

I frequently see survey results like this that ostensibly show how ignorant everyone is, but they never specify how the question was presented, which is important. I tried to drill down to it in this case, but the site linked in the article was some ad infested trash that slowed down my PC like crazy.

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Out of 22 countries that were part of the study, the Educational Testing Service found that Americans were dead last in tech proficiency, dead last in numeracy and only two countries performed worse than us when it came to literacy proficiency…

I'm willing to bet Malawi and Zimbabwe were not among the 22 countries surveyed. Even so, while it may seem disconcerting that we stack up poorly against the other highly developed countries, I believe it's because our worst students drag the average down so much. Our best and brightest can still run with the best and brightest anywhere in the world. Same as it's been. Articles like these are alarmist nonsense.

[captain_shane]

(03-31-2016 07:19 PM)Delta Wrote:  

Quote:

Sadly, I truly believe that if people of average intellect from the 1950s and 1960s were transported to 2016, they would likely be considered mental giants compared to the rest of us.

Then the author is just as clueless as the people he derides, because it's well known that average IQ has increased over time. See Flynn effect.

Quote:

and the highest paid public employee in more than half the states is a football coach.

Because college football coaches generate the most revenue of any type of public employee.

Quote:

Only 43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900.

I frequently see survey results like this that ostensibly show how ignorant everyone is, but they never specify how the question was presented, which is important. I tried to drill down to it in this case, but the site linked in the article was some ad infested trash that slowed down my PC like crazy.

Quote:

Out of 22 countries that were part of the study, the Educational Testing Service found that Americans were dead last in tech proficiency, dead last in numeracy and only two countries performed worse than us when it came to literacy proficiency…

I'm willing to bet Malawi and Zimbabwe were not among the 22 countries surveyed. Even so, while it may seem disconcerting that we stack up poorly against the other highly developed countries, I believe it's because our worst students drag the average down so much. Our best and brightest can still run with the best and brightest anywhere in the world. Same as it's been. Articles like these are alarmist nonsense.

I don't believe in the Flynn effect at all. It claims that IQ rises 3 points every 10 years. So, in 1916 people had an average IQ of 70? In 1816 people had an IQ of 40? That's complete bullshit. It's because the lowest common denominators aren't drooling on themselves anymore and we abort more defected fetuses.

[Goldin Boy]

(03-31-2016 07:19 PM)Delta Wrote:  

snip

All very good points Delt. And I also wanted to add that they only surveyed 1000 people...in a country of 300 million(for the citizenship test) is so laughably small that I'm surprised a reputable paper would take it seriously.

[Delta]

Quote:

I don't believe in the Flynn effect at all. It claims that IQ rises 3 points every 10 years. So, in 1916 people had an average IQ of 70? In 1816 people had an IQ of 40? That's complete bullshit.

Yep, and the Ancient Greeks in 700 BC had an average IQ of -715.

I haven't seen that 3 points every ten years figure, but I assume it's a rough approximation of a not exactly linear trend dating back to the 1930's when IQ testing began, not a hard and fast rule throughout all of human history.

Either way, regardless of the magnitude, it's not controversial that IQ scores have increased over time.

[Laurifer]

We should go back to the days when universities taught classical philosophy and mathematics, and stressed the rigors of critical thinking. Only then should you be able to branch out and choose a major.

Looking back, I wonder how much more I might have benefited if I was challenged more. Of course by now I've probably forgotten all the stress I actually did experience when pursuing my degree.

[R_Niko]

I imagine IQ increased steadily from the start of the industrial revolution until sometime in the past fifty or so years.

Access to food, medicine, and books all led to people getting much smarter. Then we got so smart we became corrupt and decadent, then society started going to shit and people began to get dumber.

There's no doubt that the average university student today is a fuckin' retard compared to one of twenty plus years ago. The biggest reasons in my opinion are: 1) media bombardment; 2) shitty parenting; 3) declining educational standards; 4) junk food and environmental toxicity.

[Delta]

(03-31-2016 07:38 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  

We should go back to the days when universities taught classical philosophy and mathematics, and stressed the rigors of critical thinking. Only then should you be able to branch out and choose a major.

Then we'd also have to go back to the days when colleges only admitted the brightest thinkers, not every middle class and up schlub who wants to avoid a career in physical labor.

[thoughtgypsy]

(03-31-2016 07:27 PM)captain_shane Wrote:  

I don't believe in the Flynn effect at all. It claims that IQ rises 3 points every 10 years. So, in 1916 people had an average IQ of 70? In 1816 people had an IQ of 40? That's complete bullshit. It's because the lowest common denominators aren't drooling on themselves anymore and we abort more defected fetuses.

The Flynn effect is mostly due to eliminating iodine deficiency in the countries measured. Global IQ as a world average is actually decreasing.

[zigZag]

It doesn't really matter much what the "Average" is in america because at the end of the day Average people only grow up to be decent employees. As long as America churns out super smart, driven people even if they are only 0.000001% of the population we'll be alright. Those are the people who start businesses and work as scientists and engineers and at the end of the day... Those are the jobs that keep driving society forward.

[TheOllam]

Maybe Flynn effect better illustrates Grade Inflation through the IQ test method?

People are not smarter, they are better at taking tests.

[Cr33pin]

No worries fam... Trump is going to make America great again.

[CynicalContrarian]

Hey America. It says here; your shits all retarded.

(Heh. I'm more than aware Aus. is very similar)

[kosko]

(03-31-2016 07:19 PM)Delta Wrote:  

Quote:

Sadly, I truly believe that if people of average intellect from the 1950s and 1960s were transported to 2016, they would likely be considered mental giants compared to the rest of us.

Then the author is just as clueless as the people he derides, because it's well known that average IQ has increased over time. See Flynn effect.

Quote:

and the highest paid public employee in more than half the states is a football coach.

Because college football coaches generate the most revenue of any type of public employee.

Quote:

Only 43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900.

I frequently see survey results like this that ostensibly show how ignorant everyone is, but they never specify how the question was presented, which is important. I tried to drill down to it in this case, but the site linked in the article was some ad infested trash that slowed down my PC like crazy.

Quote:

Out of 22 countries that were part of the study, the Educational Testing Service found that Americans were dead last in tech proficiency, dead last in numeracy and only two countries performed worse than us when it came to literacy proficiency…

I'm willing to bet Malawi and Zimbabwe were not among the 22 countries surveyed. Even so, while it may seem disconcerting that we stack up poorly against the other highly developed countries, I believe it's because our worst students drag the average down so much. Our best and brightest can still run with the best and brightest anywhere in the world. Same as it's been. Articles like these are alarmist nonsense.

The "best and brightest" in America are frequently imports from places like China, India, Nigeria.

America mental might is grossly over inflated, many of the best minds are imports. PhDs are awardrd to more folks from abroad then natural born Americans and they are also getting the lions share of research funding as well.

[rpg]

I dont think people are dumber than 25 years ago but they definitely are lazy. We have some wicked good educational tools at our disposal but kids dont want to do shit. Now, over time this causes them to miss so many opportunities that they become less effective and shallow minded. This is the feel the Bern crowd that cant see they are embracing an Animal Farm communist. Sad.

[Phoenix]

Quote:

America is finished as a great nation, here's why.

Yay!!

I think I need to duck out and have another break from RVF before I end up drifting into full-bore morose emo shit.

[El Chinito loco]

Not yet finished but I do think this election cycle is a historic pivot point.

Even if Trump does not get elected there is so much anger and dissension now that pandora's box is open.

It has pulled back the curtain to a large number of people when it comes to all the nasty machinations that goes on behind the scenes to subvert democracy.

There's a lot of dumb motherfuckers out there but also a lot of people who are seeing things for what they are and are angry about it. That's a volatile combination.

[getdownonit]

who cares about the average when it's the top that carries a Nation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Talented_Tenth

Compare the top USA v EU if you're into self flagellation

[samsamsam]

(04-01-2016 12:54 AM)getdownonit Wrote:  

who cares about the average when it's the top that carries a Nation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Talented_Tenth

Compare the top USA v EU if you're into self flagellation

While I agree with you the top lead the way, when the other 90 percent can't accept the fact that they can't have the nice things that others have because they start to flip out and endorse people like Bernie.

I am fine with people who have not earned anything or not worked hard to quietly whither away in the corner, but they don't. They start screaming how life is unfair and hitting social media. They want stuff but most don't want to work for it.

I once had a conversation once with someone who said if they had a million dollars, they would stop working and enjoy life. But if you knew how hard it was to earn a million dollars, you wouldn't be so eager to spend it too quickly. The 90% often live in some imaginary land.

[cubanlinx]

Americans have too many goddamn distractions.

[GlobalMan]

____________

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

And all of the people described in the article are Bernie voters.

[Speculation]

I read an interesting article that IQ has actually dropped by 2 standard deviations in the West since the industrial revolution.

Apparently with a drop in 'natural selection' via welfare and medicine, a lot of mutations have ceased to be weeded out of the gene pool.

More here: http://charltonteaching.blogspot.com.au/...e-and.html

[TigerMandingo]

(04-01-2016 12:54 AM)getdownonit Wrote:  

who cares about the average when it's the top that carries a Nation

Not really. Maybe GDP wise and all of that shit.

But who maintains the nation's infrastructure, builds roads, and does all of the dirty work? That same "dumb" demographic that east coast liberals love to make fun of so much.

[getdownonit]

(04-01-2016 01:34 AM)samsamsam Wrote:  

While I agree with you the top lead the way, when the other 90 percent can't accept the fact that they can't have the nice things that others have because they start to flip out and endorse people like Bernie.

I am fine with people who have not earned anything or not worked hard to quietly whither away in the corner, but they don't. They start screaming how life is unfair and hitting social media. They want stuff but most don't want to work for it.

I once had a conversation once with someone who said if they had a million dollars, they would stop working and enjoy life. But if you knew how hard it was to earn a million dollars, you wouldn't be so eager to spend it too quickly. The 90% often live in some imaginary land.

Their intelligence or lack thereof is not the problem then, it's a lack of individual virtue and societal cohesiveness.

(04-01-2016 05:52 AM)TigerMandingo Wrote:  

Not really. Maybe GDP wise and all of that shit.

But who maintains the nation's infrastructure, builds roads, and does all of the dirty work? That same "dumb" demographic that east coast liberals love to make fun of so much.

There's no need for construction workers or plumbers to be particularly intelligent for society to function, just industrious and honest and invested in the future