Jezebel
Susan Jacoby says Americans are dumb. Oooooh, bold thesis!! Well but, remember that book Everything Bad Is Good For You about how videogames are actually good for kids' brains? Susan says that guy is full of shit. And it's a message that seems to be striking a chord. A New York Times story about her new book The Age Of American Unreason has been on the site's Most Emailed list for five days now. (Could it beat out What Shamu Taught Me About A Happy Marriage? Only time will tell!) I would have just ignored it but then for her column in yesterday's Washington Post, which now sits atop that site's "Most Viewed" list. How'd she decide to do the book? Well, the day was 9/11... Remember that? What year was it again? Anyway, depressed and confused, she found herself in a bar...
As she sipped her bloody mary, she quietly listened to two men, neatly dressed in suits. For a second she thought they were going to compare that day's horrifying attack to the Japanese bombing in 1941 that blew America into World War II:She found that Americans were not only stupider than ever, but prouder of their stupidity. In this era of Traveler IQ challenge, only 24% of 18-24-year-old Americans can find Iran, Syria and Israel on a map, something she attributes to a fundamental arrogance that has seized the American public thanks to the rise of technology and religious fundamentalism. And although I personally blame late capitalism, what am I going to do, disagree with Susan? She's certainly totally correct, and the only thing more depressing than how far we've fallen since the era of the Fireside Chat is thinking about the number of people who think that by virtue of clicking on her column they are somehow exempt from the trend she describes."This is just like Pearl Harbor," one of the men said.
The other asked, "What is Pearl Harbor?"
"That was when the Vietnamese dropped bombs in a harbor, and it started the Vietnam War," the first man replied.
At that moment, Ms. Jacoby said, "I decided to write this book."
We are all complete dumbasses incapable of even the most moderate level of knowledge retention, much less concentration. The computer on which you are reading this blog is rotting your brain. We have fooled ourselves into believing there is no piece of information worth knowing that can't be distilled into a pithy blog entry, because no piece of information longer than a pithy blog entry seems capable of finding a viable market of readers these days, and the market always knows best; this country certainly did not come into the position of consuming 25% of the world's resources on 5% of its population by ignoring that.
But hey! We can still make this a post that mainly hates on men: do you think dude culture is more hostile to knowledge, or lady culture? Dudes definitely have the "arrogant" market cornered. But our magazines are so much dumber.
Dumb And Dumber: Are Americans Hostile To Knowledge? [NY Times]
The Dumbing Of America [Washington Post]
Comments
Men,men,men,men, Meeeennn.
Women. Also, I am going to go read. A BOOK.
I need to get a mofo world map to decorate my bedroom because I am seriously guilty of the not-finding-places-on-maps junk.
However, the Pearl Harbor conversation has me completely stupified. For real? I mean they even made a damn movie about it with Ben Affleck.
I have only met about a dozen Americans face to face. None of them were dumb.
"But on to the fun part: who do you think is more hostile to knowledge? Men or women?"
Honestly? Kind of a dumb and irrelevant question in my opinion. Who likes to learn more? Well, don't more women go to college? I don't even know how to answer this.
Uncapitalized Bloody Mary: so distracting! Can't think. Are dumb nao.
@ilikenoise: Also this just in: Daily Mail readers hostle to knowledge.
I'm really hostile to knowledge about killing bugs. Every time ants invaded our last place, I'd throw up my hands and pretend I didn't know anything about it. In fact, I know plenty about killing ants, but I just was fucking sick of cleaning up other people's messes.
I know I am stupid because I can't answer your question.
But, er.....how does her thesis explain the stupid Canadians, Koreans, British, Iranian and South American people I've met?
I'm confused.
men. have you EVER tried to argue with your boyfriend about something that could easily be solved by wikipedia? god, they're belligerent.
Mah butthole is hostile to knowledge.
all of us. i really think this is one thing that can't be divided up as more male or more female.
Moe, are you taking a piss? I think you're taking a piss. :)
@ilikenoise: I just mispelt "hostile" in a post about knowledge. Whoops.
@rocknrollunicorn: I have the most trouble with states within my own country. Especially New England.
Why can't all states have four corners.....
Ms.Jacoby is just another elderly intellectual in a centuries long tradition of calling the latest generation "the dumbest." Her rant is predictable and will be repeated (look for my book "The Dumbest Generation Ever" in 2030).
I saw something on tv once where random people on the street couldn't recite the Pledge of Allegiance. If you think about it, when do you get a chance to say it after public school? Still, I was embarrassed. We're so stupid we can't even pledge loyalty to our stupid country because we forgot the words.
@Archetype: as a new englander, i wonder how you can tell all those damn square states apart. at least connecticut has that discernable little leg on it.
@Archetype: I feel like I am such an ugly american because I'm best at states, horrible at countries. Every time Africa is a category on Jeopardy, I surrender before it's touched.
@TruculentandUnreliable: I hope she is. Also, after the Traveler IQ Challenge was posted a while ago, I know for certain I can find Israel, Syria, and Iran on a map.
@LuxLisbon: yeah. the "jaywalking" portion of the leno show. it makes me cry.
whatever. i am a well-educated person, i was the youngest person to qualify for the state geography bee in 4th grade, and i'm not sure that i could identify syria on the map 100% of the time, although i would certainly get close. small countries are hard to tell apart, and i wouldn't consider a syrian stupid for mixing up new hampshire and vermont.
@LuxLisbon: Remember Super Size Me? Those women visiting the White House who knew all the words of the McDonalds anthem but could not recite the Pledge of Allegiance?
That was sad.
@rocknrollunicorn: which is totally different from recognizing states but there are areas of this world I have very little knowledge about. I am going to blame the clownish crazy lady we had for "Eastern Civilizations" in high school. And then I am going to buy a damn atlas, at least.
Does it have to be one or the other? If someone is too stupid to google a goddamned urban legend before forwarding it to me, I don't care what's in their pants. Les incompetents.
@titania1285: Well, if I am being honest.....the square ones stump me too.
I've encountered "hostility" about knowledge from both sexes. Guys and girls alike have berated me for reading books and using "big words." Color me shocked that "casualty" and "verbatim" are apparently "big words."
I don't consider myself to be very intellectual, but I always shudder when under the "favorite books" part of someone's Facebook/ MySpace/what have you they just put "I don't read." Well, of course you read. Or did you dictate this profile info to a literate person who typed it for you?
There are "stupid" people everywhere. Just as there are intelligent ones. And why slice it up between men and women? PEOPLE are dumb or smart, not genders.
I think most people, most of the time, are not really up on current or past events. They weren't when I was in school years ago and they aren't now. I was a bookworm/nerd who was accused of using too many "big" words. At least I knew what they meant. My parents expected their kids to be smart, and were merciless when we didn't know what was going on in the world. "Look it up!" was a constant comment. I am a librarian and teacher now - my students don't read the paper or watch the news, though I bet they know who Perez Hilton is (so do I, I love him!). "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it think." Too true!!!
@Archetype: I'm good with the coasts and the top and bottom of the country. But the flyover states? I just say "meh".
@LuxLisbon: I think society is churning out a new breed of (mostly/unfortunately) female youth who actually think acting stupid makes them more attractive.
Who on earth would consider it appealing to proudly admit that they don't read?
I don't think I want to procreate.
@titania1285: As a New Englander, it blows my mind that some people think that Rhode Island is a not state and that it is actually an island.
@BlueEyedBitchface: me. too.
@omerhi: Word. I mostly just refer to it as "The Middle."
And sometimes I realize that I've completely forgotten about the existence of a state. Like Kentucky.
@BiscuitDoughJones: Amen sister! I use "big" words all the time (and I know what they mean), it's fun and it annoys the hell out of people. Hah!
@omerhi: Heh. That's how I feel about all those tiny New England states.
@BlueEyedBitchface: Seriously? Wowsa.
@HeatherNumber1: Yeah, stupidity seems to cross all boundaries. It's two highest concentrations though are in Washington, D.C. and Hollywood, CA.
I guess I would blame our terrible bureaucratic public schools for not giving a shit about any country other than America. But it's easy to blame someone else for you own lack of initiative to be well-informed. But it's also really easy to blame a shitty economy and shaky domestic political situation for not making many international issues relevant to the average blue collar American. So many choices....
There is a really big difference between real stupidity (the inability to learn beyond a certain point) and ignorance (not having learned things one ought to have or others around you have) and willful ignorance (President Bush).
We have a hell of a lot of willful ignorance these days compared to even recent-past eras when education wasn't easily accessible or open to all and had to be fought for. The minute something goes from a privilege to everyday, a lot of people don't value it.
I don't know if there is a gender difference here except in how the willful ignorance manifests itself.
There's a large difference between knowledge and reasoning, so it depends on your definition of "stupid". I probably don't remember all the U.S. state capitols or the Presidents in order, so does that make me stupid? Because memory is a capricious thing, and if certain memories are not used regularly, they become increasingly hard to access as the brain re-purposes neurons.
I think there's a big difference between not knowing where something is on a map and knowing not to smoke while pumping gas.
@rocknrollunicorn: i think my geographic ineptitude has a lot to do with my inability to see things spatially in my head. i can tell you all about a state's history, its flora and fauna, what cities it has, and its approximate locale (midwest, south, north, east) but still be completely unable to locate it on a map. unless it's the wang of america, like florida.
also- i cannot put on lipstick without a mirror. i get it all over my face, and i think this has to be related somehow.
and speaking of stupid americans (culled from my blog- back when i smoked)
actual overheard conversation at the convenience store:
The following conversation, between a freckled cashier with an unkempt dark red mullet and a broken front tooth and a portly, gold jewelry wearing african american security guard took place at approximately 11:45 pm last night at the Rebel gas station/ mini mart on the corner of Sahara and Hualipai.
Freckles: "Nah, man, you're wrong, man."
Gold Chains: "Shit, man. You don't know shit."
Freckles: "I know shit."
Gold Chains: "Ask that lady, man. She'll tell you you don't know shit."
Me: "Can I get a pack of Camel-"
Gold Chains: "Wait, man. Ask her."
Me: "Ask me?"
Freckles: "Nah, man. It's okay."
Gold Chains: "Seriously, ma'am, make him ask you."
Me: "Allright."
Freckles: "Well, isn't it true that when people talk about The Alps mountains it's just another way of saying, I mean a shorter way of talking about the Appalachians?"
Me: "Oh my god."
Gold Chains: "I know, right?"
Me: "The Alps are in Europe. There's the Italian Alps...the Swiss Alps..."
AT THIS POINT THE MAN BEHIND ME IN LINE BUYING NATURAL ICE BEER INTERJECTS-
Natty Ice: "That's not possible."
Me: "What's not possible?"
Natty Ice: "Switzerland and Italy are separated by an ocean."
Me: "Oh my god."
Gold Chains: "I know, right? We're the richest country in the world...and this is the conversation we're having."
Natty Ice: "You all don't know what you're talking about."
Gold Chains: "I don't know what I'm talking about? You don't even know what Europe is."
Natty Ice: "I know what Europe is."
@incurable paranoiac: That sounds totally plausible. Unfortunately I am exactly opposite and see everything in my head, from maps to weird number lines when I am doing math in my brain. So I don't have any excuse, I'm just kind of a jerk :(
Oh man, this is going to devolve into the old "I'm surrounded by morons! Everyone's dumber than I!" game in a hurry.
Moe, I think you're perfectly correct about people forwarding that story around to somehow assert themselves as 'Not one of those people'.
No matter how bright or well-informed you are, it's worth remembering that there's a whole gang of people out there much smarter who could make you look like Paris Hilton on 'ludes.
But can those eggheads practically act out entire episodes of Saved By The bell from memory? I thought not.
/so excited, so scared.
That article NYTimes article is ass. Susan Jacoby was on Moyers Friday night and she became my new hero. Her nuanced arguments were balled up into tasty tidbits for quick newspaper consumption.
Her arguments are so much more than "people are getting dumber." For example, back when Roosevelt used to do his Fireside Chats, he would ask Americans to pull out their maps and walk listeners through the news from the various fronts.
Do you think Dubya can find Afghanistan on a map?
It can't be a men/women thing. Men ran the intellectual establishment for years, when it produced some of its best thought, science, philosophy. I'm not saying men are inherently superior, or anything like that. Just that a male-dominated culture is certainly capable of being intelligent, and of valuing intelligence.
@incurable paranoiac: This is it exactly! People are *so fucking sure* they're right that they cannot be bothered to learn the actually correct information and THEN it becomes all about not knowing the correct info but about being right no matter what!
This guy with the Alps? He probably thought that up after hearing the term. He didn't know what it meant so told himself this little story, decided that was the truth, and now refuses all new input that conflicts with the fictional assumption he made rather than to, y'know, ask someone when he heard an