Conquer Club

... We've all seen these, "Look how dumb Americans are"! videos and we probably agree that they've been edited to show the particularly uninformed/uneducated.



... However... I made a very sad discovery at my workplace, during a break-time discussion on the election yesterday... A great many people really are this uninformed/uneducated. Just regular people, not particularly rich or poor, of various races and ages...

... Ronald Reagan's name came up, one twenty-something woman said, "Wasn't he President or something" (her exact words). Another woman was outraged by Romney's "promise to outlaw birth control"... ???!!!

... There were many similar statements but it would be a bore to enter them here and a bore to read.

... My point, my question - is this normal? I mean, among the populations of other nations would we find this level of ignorance?

... Everyone I was speaking to during break said they intend to vote... That's frightening.

... The self-identified Democrats will vote Democrat. Ditto for the Republicans. The 10 to 15% in the middle.... the "Independents", if they resemble the folks I am talking about here... we truly are screwed. It suddenly makes sense - all the idiotic commercials making outrageous claims about this candidate or that... People probably believe this shite.

... What is being taught in schools? I certainly don't mean to attempt to demonstrate myself as exceptionally informed. Anybody who looks will find more than a few posts made by Nobunaga that demonstrate a lack of information regarding many topics, but I do make an effort.

... Just ranting a bit here, very disappointed, and concerned for the future of my kids.


<EDIT>

... Found this interview, pretty interesting.

... Rick Shenkman wrote a book, "Just How Stupid Are We".


...

Nobunaga wrote:... My point, my question - is this normal? I mean, among the populations of other nations would we find this level of ignorance?

I suspect it's human nature. We process information in ways that agree with our preconceptions, and our own lazinesses feed into that. Hell, you see it in this very forum, and it's not like a lot of contrasting information isn't easily available here.

Nobunaga wrote:... The self-identified Democrats will vote Democrat. Ditto for the Republicans. The 10 to 15% in the middle.... the "Independents", if they resemble the folks I am talking about here... we truly are screwed.

I tend to think that Independents are a little less susceptible to this, but certainly it applies there too. I probably think that because I consider myself an Independent, so it feeds into my preconception. <smug grin>

Nobunaga wrote:... What is being taught in schools?

How to take tests. No, I'm serious. There is no longer time (and I mean that sincerely, not sarcastically) to teach critical thinking skills in most classrooms. Only in classes such as JROTC (my bias here) and other exceptional classes that aren't subject to state standards are such things discussed.

While the majority of the "interviewees" ,if you want to call them that, are obviously lacking in worldly knowledge those individuals struck me more as naive than stupid. They are screws in the machine that is the USA. As woodruff implied, they haven't had to need/use the information covered so what is driving them to become more well rounded? I am not sure whether or not those people are good critical thinkers but I am sure they have not immersed themselves in the mentioned issues for various reasons.
Those people interviewed, to me, are just examples of the adaptive nature of human beings. I am sure you could put that interviewer in various situations that would make him appear very silly and uninformed, whereas the people in the video would do just fine. How would he fare in the company of a street gang or in the military?
Is the video unsettling? Maybe, depending on whether or not those people are going to be voting on key issues(including who becomes president). If not, they aren't hurting anything. They are most likely just living/surviving/working and that is all that is currently expected from them. Maybe they are just efficient.

Funkyterrance wrote:While the majority of the "interviewees" ,if you want to call them that, are obviously lacking in worldly knowledge those individuals struck me more as naive than stupid. They are screws in the machine that is the USA. As woodruff implied, they haven't had to need/use the information covered so what is driving them to become more well rounded? I am not sure whether or not those people are good critical thinkers but I am sure they have not immersed themselves in the mentioned issues for various reasons.
Those people interviewed, to me, are just examples of the adaptive nature of human beings. I am sure you could put that interviewer in various situations that would make him appear very silly and uninformed, whereas the people in the video would do just fine. How would he fare in the company of a street gang or in the military?
Is the video unsettling? Maybe, depending on whether or not those people are going to be voting on key issues(including who becomes president). If not, they aren't hurting anything. They are most likely just living/surviving/working and that is all that is currently expected from them. Maybe they are just efficient.

My wife is highly intelligent and very well educated. But she does not follow politics or the news of the day (beyond legal news), so it's not surprising to me that she's unaware of issues that may affect her in an election. She will vote and I will call her an uninformed voter (but not to her face, for fear of reprisal), but she doesn't lack critical thinking skills or intelligence or education. She simply is uninformed about current events.

Is there something wrong with that? I think there is, but I supposed most people don't think that.

thegreekdog wrote:She will vote and I will call her an uninformed voter (but not to her face, for fear of reprisal)

Good move, as that would make you an "uninformed husband". <smile>

... That video I posted was pretty good, if dated (2008).

... The author discusses how civics and history have been largely eliminated from the public school curriculum beyond the very basics. He also talks about a journalism class he taught at university, forcing his ignorant students to read newspapers every day if they wanted to pass.

...

Nobunaga wrote:... That video I posted was pretty good, if dated (2008).

... The author discusses how civics and history have been largely eliminated from the public school curriculum beyond the very basics. He also talks about a journalism class he taught at university, forcing his ignorant students to read newspapers every day if they wanted to pass.

...

Interestingly, we get newspapers delivered to our classroom free every week paid for by the Air Force Association, specifically for this reason.

thegreekdog wrote:
My wife is highly intelligent and very well educated. But she does not follow politics or the news of the day (beyond legal news), so it's not surprising to me that she's unaware of issues that may affect her in an election. She will vote and I will call her an uninformed voter (but not to her face, for fear of reprisal), but she doesn't lack critical thinking skills or intelligence or education. She simply is uninformed about current events.

Is there something wrong with that? I think there is, but I supposed most people don't think that.

I suppose there is something wrong with uninformed voters since if someone isn't part of a solution they could become part of the problem. I suppose a question to ask is whether or not the questioned people are voters or not? If not, I would assume they are relatively happy with the status quo and don't necessarily need to vote.
On a side note, how would you or your wife feel if she were one of the people accosted and used in the video as an example of an "uninformed" person. The guy could have used statistics to prove his point but he went out of his way to make these individuals look foolish.

Hi, I'm the Prime Minister of Australia.
The only thing I couldn't answer in the video was who is in the Coalition of the Willing.
After having looked it up, I find myself not giving a single flying f*ck.

Funkyterrance wrote:

thegreekdog wrote:
My wife is highly intelligent and very well educated. But she does not follow politics or the news of the day (beyond legal news), so it's not surprising to me that she's unaware of issues that may affect her in an election. She will vote and I will call her an uninformed voter (but not to her face, for fear of reprisal), but she doesn't lack critical thinking skills or intelligence or education. She simply is uninformed about current events.

Is there something wrong with that? I think there is, but I supposed most people don't think that.

I suppose there is something wrong with uninformed voters since if someone isn't part of a solution they could become part of the problem. I suppose a question to ask is whether or not the questioned people are voters or not? If not, I would assume they are relatively happy with the status quo and don't necessarily need to vote.
On a side note, how would you or your wife feel if she were one of the people accosted and used in the video as an example of an "uninformed" person. The guy could have used statistics to prove his point but he went out of his way to make these individuals look foolish.

Considering that my wife does not engage in political discussion with the rest of my (and her own) extended family, I think she would decline to answer.