Are Americans really this stupid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Americans know planets. I can name a few, but I have no idea the order or the size of them.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/02/14/277058739/1-in-4-americans-think-the-sun-goes-around-the-earth-survey-says

about 10 years ago, 25% of American still thought the sun revolved around the earth.

That's apparent motion.

that's also ignorance

[Anonymous]

Yes.

When I moved here from Pittsburgh for a job, I told my new DC & MD colleagues at work that I was from PA.

What part? Pittsburgh.

Oh cool, I know someone from Philly...maybe you know them...their name is XYZ.

Seriously.

[Anonymous]

I think this thread is a summary of the sort of knowledge slightly above average people think truly intelligent people care about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread is a summary of the sort of knowledge slightly above average people think truly intelligent people care about.

In survey after survey, the vast, overwhelming majority of those surveyed believe they are of above-average intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread is a summary of the sort of knowledge slightly above average people think truly intelligent people care about.

Hahhaa and I’m sure you consider yourself truly intelligent? Never change DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t even know their own state capital. Or the nations capital. Or who the first President was.

This shouldn’t be surprising. At least they didn’t say Indian Ocean.

I know the first two but always forget if the first president was Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. I also never know when to use breathe vs breath.

!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do some side volunteer work advising young entrepreneurs in a country abroad how to sell their products to the US market. One thing I start off with is one of the millions of memes out there about stupid Americans. There's no shortage of those, and they are true.

But then next slide I show them the US dominance in so many industries, Nobel prize winners, etc.

I do this to point out their competition in America won't be from the stupid people, it's from the smartest people, who are also creating companies offering a similar product to theirs. That's who they need to be afraid of.

But consider many of our best co are started by immigrants and esp small business owners. When I recruit and hire tech people, none are American. It's Indian, Asian, Russian and of late Nigerian. Americans apply to customer service jobs. I admit most are also sales and marketing focused but just saying - business owners esp are not American.

And many of the ignorant people on the street are immigrants too.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:There is no excuse for being this ignorant. It is unlikely that it stops at basic geography either.

I mean, you can make whatever generalizations you want. But as mentioned above, geography is not taught anymore in school and, until you have seen an ocean, there's no real reason to keep it in the forefront of your memory. That has nothing to do with other forms of knowledge, experience, life skills, or wisdom. Or worth of a person.

What???? THere a million reasons to keep it in the forefront of your memory.

A million? Name ten. Hell, name one.

You can't be serious. The most basic knowledge of where you are in the world is paramount. How the products make it to your house is another reason. Weather and predicting natural disasters, global and personal security. I could go on and on. Are you really this dumb?

Yes, I suppose I am really this dumb, because nothing you said answers the extremely basic question of WHY it is IMPORTANT for someone from, say, Kansas, to keep the oceans of the world in the forefront of their memory.

I don’t think you actually understand what some of us are saying/asking/implying. Look at your bolded statement above and tell us WHY that is “paramount” (and explain what you even mean by that). I suspect that you can’t.

Nobody's saying they should have it "in the forefront of their memory." It should be in the background cause you learned it in second grade and imprinted it on your brain. Just like "where you are in the world."
How hard is this to have this basic knowledge?

DP. It's quite possible that someone from Baltimore, which in the Mid-Atlantic, would remember from 2nd grade that Rhode Island is on the Atlantic Ocean when they visit. Until then, why would they care? Who even remembers Rhode Island anyway?

The soft bigotry of low expectations at work, folks.

DEI is the epitome of lowered expectations.

DEI in schools consists of lowering academic standards in order to “close the racial achievement gap from the top down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t even know their own state capital. Or the nations capital. Or who the first President was.

This shouldn’t be surprising.

At least they didn’t say Indian Ocean.

Honest question that I’ve been wondering about since I was a kid: why do so many people conflate the ability to memorize completely unimportant facts with intelligence? (e.g. who gives a shit if you know every state capital?)

It's not a mark of intelligence, but it is a mark of education and knowledge rather than ignorance.

And yet the OP described the women as “stupid”, not “ignorant” or “uneducated”.

So again, people conflate knowledge with intelligence. They’re often correlated, but not necessarily.

I don't know. I mean, you should be able to pick up the names of the oceans to the east and west of the US even if you didn't study it in school. It comes up... in a movie set in LA, when you see a map of the US, when you watch the weather before a hurricane. Thi is VERY basic stuff.

Not having a clue which is the Pacific and which the Atlantic suggests both ignorance and lack of intelligence to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people don’t even know their own state capital. Or the nations capital. Or who the first President was.

This shouldn’t be surprising.

At least they didn’t say Indian Ocean.

Honest question that I’ve been wondering about since I was a kid: why do so many people conflate the ability to memorize completely unimportant facts with intelligence? (e.g. who gives a shit if you know every state capital?)

It's not a mark of intelligence, but it is a mark of education and knowledge rather than ignorance.

And yet the OP described the women as “stupid”, not “ignorant” or “uneducated”.

So again, people conflate knowledge with intelligence. They’re often correlated, but not necessarily.

I don't know. I mean, you should be able to pick up the names of the oceans to the east and west of the US even if you didn't study it in school. It comes up... in a movie set in LA, when you see a map of the US, when you watch the weather before a hurricane. Thi is VERY basic stuff.

Not having a clue which is the Pacific and which the Atlantic suggests both ignorance and lack of intelligence to me.

Or lack of curiosity

[Anonymous]

What is the point of going to school for 13 years if you don't really want to learn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread is a summary of the sort of knowledge slightly above average people think truly intelligent people care about.

Obviously you don’t speak for the truly intelligent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is more ignorant than the people she is mocking. They are going out to explore the world, while OP prides herself on trivia.

https://fs.blog/richard-feynman-knowing-something/

OP here. As others have pointed out, knowing the names of the two oceans that border our country is not trivia (or trivial), but just basic information that any fully functioning American adult (or child for that matter) should know. But you’re right, I’m sure she could have delivered a lecture on ocean currents, tidal basins and other matters related to oceanography.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is more ignorant than the people she is mocking. They are going out to explore the world, while OP prides herself on trivia.

https://fs.blog/richard-feynman-knowing-something/

OP here. As others have pointed out, knowing the names of the two oceans that border our country is not trivia (or trivial), but just basic information that any fully functioning American adult (or child for that matter) should know. But you’re right, I’m sure she could have delivered a lecture on ocean currents, tidal basins and other matters related to oceanography.

Why would it have to be oceanography? Maybe she could have delivered a lecture on the soil food web, or the different classifications of curly hair types, or performed open heart surgery, or told you the best cleaning agents for every possible stain on every possible surface. But she couldn’t remember if the ocean she has never seen before is called the Atlantic or the Pacific, so she’s stupid and you’re smart. Congratulations. Here’s your prize.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is more ignorant than the people she is mocking. They are going out to explore the world, while OP prides herself on trivia.

https://fs.blog/richard-feynman-knowing-something/

OP here. As others have pointed out, knowing the names of the two oceans that border our country is not trivia (or trivial), but just basic information that any fully functioning American adult (or child for that matter) should know. But you’re right, I’m sure she could have delivered a lecture on ocean currents, tidal basins and other matters related to oceanography.

Why would it have to be oceanography? Maybe she could have delivered a lecture on the soil food web, or the different classifications of curly hair types, or performed open heart surgery, or told you the best cleaning agents for every possible stain on every possible surface. But she couldn’t remember if the ocean she has never seen before is called the Atlantic or the Pacific, so she’s stupid and you’re smart. Congratulations. Here’s your prize.

Why do you presume people are so one dimensional and can only do one thing well? Bizarre premise.