Remember the Top Secret American Destupization Project?
Well, it’s been a while, so let’s see what we’ve learned. Stupidity seems to have continued merrily along. Have there been any successful blows for brain? And what should we try in the future?
It’'s gotten worse. We can’t even spell [del]destupiz[/del] … [del]detuspid[/del] … education anymore
MA.
EduMAcation. Dumbass.
So, we’re agreed, Destupizification will occur through a program of edumacationalificatizationism?
Sticking to words I can spell and people should be able to understand, I think SD has been a failure. Ignorance has grown in its time. Facts and logic continue to lose importance.
Perhaps we need to resort to . . . harsher methods.
This post + username combo is a bit…disturbing.
(Or possibly I’ve been playing way too much Black Ops. )
Oh, I dunno. I’m not sure whether we’ve actually taught them anything as such, but perhaps the popularity of such TV shows as “The Big Bang Theory” indicates a growing appreciation for intellect. It seems to me that The “Geek = Cool” quotient of our society is rising.
Of course, they still think that being an intellectual requires being socially and culturally inept. But at least they aren’t standing around the street corners openly reminiscing about the halcyon high school days of wedgies and pantsing, like they used to. It is suddenly uncool to be one of those who picked on the smart kids.
Baby steps. Baby steps toward the tipping point. . .
I’d buy that argument if BBT itself contained any actual intelligence. It celebrates knowledge, sure, but not actual thought.
That’s pretty much why I don’t see the celebration of geekdom as a positive sign. In popular parlance “geek” == “knowing weird shit.” When I see a similar celebration of critical thinking I’ll begin to have more hope.
.
Is this a prelude to your opus “A Critique of Pure Geek.”
How’s this?
I’m not sure about the premise of the project, and I don’t think you can do a good job of educating people if your initial premise is “everybody’s an idiot and proud of it.” I also think it should be pointed out - again - that ignorance and stupidity are not the same thing.
That photograph of Eddie Izzard is freaking me right the heck out. That just ain’t right.
http://roflrazzi.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/2b61ac26-961d-4a2d-8158-bd9dec2bb82f.jpg
That’s better.
Would you say that people who believe that they are the same are ignorant or stupid?
I would say they are wrong, or that they are ignorant of the actual meanings of those words.
Or too stupid to learn, or understand, the difference?
Talk to me when 16 million people watch it every week.
I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who thought India was a continent.
Perhaps that’s our first issue right there…faulty assumptions.
Has anyone considered that a large proportion, indeed perhaps a majority, of the world’s population are simply stupid in comparison to a small but sizeable population of more intelligent people? I mean, could it not just be unreasonable to expect people to be more intelligent than they are?
There is a stereotype of American stupidity, but I live in the U.K, and practically everyone I ever hear speaking in public, be it on public transport or queuing in shops or even sitting in university, seems to be saying something inane, or seems to misunderstand the premise of something (especially in an academic sense) and seems to value irrelevant things like what they saw on TV last night, or what is in fashion, or the latest sports scores ad nauseum. Is it really fair to blame people for being unintelligent and vacuous? Surely not everyone has a brain for academic or detailed issues, even if they seem to us like basic geography or ‘common knowledge’.
I realise I’m asking about two different qualities (being vacuous and being concerned with trivialities instead of ‘important’ issues), but they tend to go hand-in-hand.
I see the loss of critical thinking as a major problem. People are quick to buy anything that fits their world view without fact checking.