# Is the average American stupid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375 "2010-05-14T01:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/61 "2010-05-14T16:20:55Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > I have no scientific basis whatsoever for saying this, but it’s my belief that the average American knows far less of what might be called “common knowledge” than he or she did a generation or so ago. > > You can always find individual areas in which people are more or less ignorant than the person standing next to him/her. But there used to be a sort of baseline of knowledge that all but the most resolutely stupid could call forth when asked. I think that baseline has dropped precipitously in the last several decades. > > But what do I know? If so, who is to say that that’s bad? Memorizing lists of information is about the most useless thing you can do so long as it is reasonably easy to look that information up. You can train a mentally handicapped kid to name each state and its capital and that’ll let you give the stupidest kid in your class an A if you’re a teacher, but it serves no practical purpose. Whether you can list the names of states has nothing to do with whether or not you can invent a new way of producing CPUs at half the price or some other creative revelation. The meaningful aspects of intelligence are: The ability to research The ability to consider information critically Introspection Responding to criticism Imagination Rote memorization is a parlor trick. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/62 "2010-05-14T16:24:19Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > [Yep](http://72.32.50.200/CitizenAction/CivicResearchResults/NCCNationalPoll/HighlightsofthePoll.shtml), less than half know there are 100 Senators, 57% don’t know a Senator’s term is 6 years, and 55% don’t know a Representative’s term is 2 years. Genuinely curious here: When would the average American need to know any of this? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/63 "2010-05-14T16:24:26Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If so, who is to say that that’s bad? Memorizing lists of information is about the most useless thing you can do so long as it is reasonably easy to look that information up. You can train a mentally handicapped kid to name each state and its capital and that’ll let you give the stupidest kid in your class an A if you’re a teacher, but it serves no practical purpose. Whether you can list the names of states has nothing to do with whether or not you can invent a new way of producing CPUs at half the price or some other creative revelation. > > The meaningful aspects of intelligence are: > > The ability to research > The ability to consider information critically > Introspection > Responding to criticism > Imagination > > Rote memorization is a parlor trick. The other sign of intelligence is recognizing the excluded middle. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/64 "2010-05-14T16:25:39Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Genuinely curious here: When would the average American need to know any of this? When they vote? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/65 "2010-05-14T16:33:27Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > The other sign of intelligence is recognizing the excluded middle. Unless we’re talking about quantum mechanics. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/66 "2010-05-14T16:38:29Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Ah…see, I think this is a good example of non-stupidness. Okay, so you don’t know the trivia (# of x), but you can reason your way to a decent answer nonetheless, based on the facts you do know. That’s it exactly. One day I couldn’t remember the circumference of the earth. so I thought well there are 4 timezones in the contiguous US, and it’s about 3,000 miles from coast to coast, so a lower limit is 24\*750; 18,000 miles or so. Take into consideration that the US does not straddle the equator, so it’d be more than that, and you have a useful approximation. Life is full of stuff like that; e.g., figuring out within a binary ballpark how much it will cost you if gas goes up a dollar. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/67 "2010-05-14T16:39:42Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Unless we’re talking about quantum mechanics. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/68 "2010-05-14T16:48:48Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > [Yep](http://72.32.50.200/CitizenAction/CivicResearchResults/NCCNationalPoll/HighlightsofthePoll.shtml), less than half know there are 100 Senators, 57% don’t know a Senator’s term is 6 years, and 55% don’t know a Representative’s term is 2 years. From your survey > [@](#): > > Only 6% can name all four rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Last I heard, there were five (religion, press, speech, assembly and petition). ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/69 "2010-05-14T17:16:08Z")
Basically. . . pretty much. . . But, people all over the world are pretty stupid. I work in the US with many people from all over the world and the foreign-born people I work with “out-stupid” the American-born people on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/70 "2010-05-14T17:22:39Z")
Well, we cannot all be like Spencer in Criminal Minds TV show. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/71 "2010-05-14T17:29:15Z")
I have a good memory for places, things and numbers, but I cannot remember names of people, sometimes people that I know well…:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/72 "2010-05-14T17:39:58Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#): > > Last I heard, there were five (religion, press, speech, assembly and petition). I heard that it’s also a common legal argument that “the right to free speech” is also the right not to speak, which is the basis for the right to privacy. (Anecdotal, corrections welcome.) I remember this stat from a long time ago, but most Americans also believe that a right to privacy is guaranteed in the bill of rights, but it’s not explicitly stated there. The right against self-incrimination has a different meaning. The one that pisses me off is when an American is asked to define “freedom,” they instantly answer “It means I can do whatever I want.” ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/73 "2010-05-14T17:40:30Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > When they vote? How is knowing the number of senators going to influence your choice for the senator you are voting for? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/74 "2010-05-14T17:42:29Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > How is knowing the number of senators going to influence your choice for the senator you are voting for? Or, if you have a choice between Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich, why even bother to participate? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/75 "2010-05-14T17:48:01Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Ah…see, I think this is a good example of non-stupidness. Okay, so you don’t know the trivia (# of x), but you can reason your way to a decent answer nonetheless, based on the facts you do know. In my youth, taking Physics 11, the first exam (midterm) was coming up. Someone in the class asked if we had to memorize formulas (another prof provided a sheet with all necessary formulas). He replied no, we did not need to memorize formulas. On midterm day, he passed out the exam. There was no sheet with formulas. Someone raised their hand and inquired about this. Turns out he said we didn’t need to memorize any formulas \*because they could easily be derived. \* I got an “A”, but there were many failures. ---
**Author:** ![Creole\_Tomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Creole\_Tomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creole_Tomato)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/76 "2010-05-14T18:17:08Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If so, who is to say that that’s bad? Memorizing lists of information is about the most useless thing you can do so long as it is reasonably easy to look that information up. You can train a mentally handicapped kid to name each state and its capital and that’ll let you give the stupidest kid in your class an A if you’re a teacher, but it serves no practical purpose. Whether you can list the names of states has nothing to do with whether or not you can invent a new way of producing CPUs at half the price or some other creative revelation. > > The meaningful aspects of intelligence are: > > The ability to research > The ability to consider information critically > Introspection > Responding to criticism > Imagination > > Rote memorization is a parlor trick. I agree with this. I wince when some politician or bloviating AM radio windbag begins to disparage the American educational system because “8 out of 10 kids can’t even tell you the capital of Iowa, folks!!” Who cares? (No offense to Iowans in the audience. :D) Kids can get that information from a cellphone in about 10 seconds. In the information age, we need to teach them process skills: critical thinking, research, evaluating sources, reasoning, conceptual knowledge, etc. Are Americans dumb? I guess it depends on your definition of smart, but yeah, I think many are. Partly because we often confuse learning facts with education, we have a populace which is taken in by soundbites and talking points, and has no idea how to be critical consumers of media and information. (Perhaps that’s why those who rely on soundbites and fear to maintain power argue so vociferously that we need to focus on “fact-based” curricula. Or is that too cynical?) And for the record, I don’t believe you need to know the length of the term of a US senator to see that Sarah Palin is full of shit, nor to have a general understanding of the issues. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/77 "2010-05-14T18:25:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > There is a reason to be nitpicky. My IQ may only be 148 or so, but there are questions on Millionaire that I don’t know. And there have even been questions on Fifth Grader that I’ve forgotten the answer to. I don’t think it’s fair to call the contestants stupid. Exactly. I’ve only seen 5th Grader a couple times. I do think it’s gotten easier now that it’s in syndication. I know originally it wasn’t “here’s some fifth grade knowledge, do you know it, dumbass?”, it was originally more like “here’s an obscure piece of trivia from a text book that fifth graders are currently using”. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/78 "2010-05-14T18:25:16Z")
> [@](#): > > When the poll was conducted in 2002, “Americans scored second to last on overall geographic knowledge, trailing Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden,” the report said. Not to defend or excuse our good ol’ Yankee ignorance, but Canada and sorta Japan aside, all of those nations share common or close borders with multiple countries. You live in France, in a day you can drive across a whole bunch of countries, with their own languages, cultures, etc. You live in America, you could barely get across Texas or California. The old joke applies: war is God’s way of teaching Americans geography 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/79 "2010-05-14T18:26:26Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As I am fond of pointing out, I have met many Canadians who don’t know how many provinces we have. > > We have ten. 10. It’s a small number. It’s a really, really ROUND, even number, like maybe the easiest number you could possibly remember, the number our entire numbering system is based on. Ten. And educated Canadians, people who’ve graduated from high school and college, quite often don’t know the answer. Oh, and it hasn’t changed recently, either; the tenth province was added in 1949. I can forgive Americans not knowing how many Senators there are when we can’t even keep ten provinces straight. I’m guessing in many cases, confusion might arise due to the fact that we have 10 provinces, but there are also some territories (without looking it up, I think there are now 3?) that are not provinces. So not everybody would consider it a simple question. If you asked me how many provinces there are in Canada, my reply would probably be something like “Do you mean provinces only, or provinces and territories?”, because for all I know, _you_ don’t know the difference! ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375/80 "2010-05-14T18:30:01Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Genuinely curious here: When would the average American need to know any of this? There are two answers to this question. The “proper” answer is that the conception of America, as a participatory democracy, demands of its citizenry an understanding of our political structures and traditions in order to secure the blessings of liberty and protect our inalienable rights from being abused by those politicians we ignore. The “casual” answer is that America doesn’t require anything at all, including a desire for political involvement. There are far more important things in life than politics, and being overtly political is frowned upon in many circles as impolite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-average-american-stupid/539375.md?page=5)