Americans

[t3hf4ll0ut]

Can somebody give me the real reason people think Americans are complete idiots? Don't come back with a clever comment that points out my spelling or grammar and any of that asorted bs. I don't revise anything I'm typing because I don't find it very important on forums. Just give me your honest opinion.

[myrmaad]

Can somebody give me the real reason people think Americans are complete idiots? Don't come back with a clever comment that points out my spelling or grammar and any of that asorted bs. I don't revise anything I'm typing because I don't find it very important on forums. Just give me your honest opinion.

 

 

Why are you asking that here on this forum? Is this a political or behavioral science website?

 

Here is a website that gives statistical averages of IQ by state:

http://www.top50states.com/average-iq-score.html

 

 

In my experience, 100 is barely functional. So maybe there's your reason.

[Vagrant0]

Why? Substandard teaching, shortest school year, shortest school day, longest school breaks, many schools still teaching from books that are 10-20 years old. Add to that a certain religious bias against many of the sciences, a devaluation of mathematics, and a society which sums up concepts and ideas with as few letters as possible. Americans tend to be more lazy, less aware of what is happening in the world, less knowledgeable about their own measly 350 some years of history, and mostly uninformed about how government works. America does not take their ideas from a basis of facts and experiences, but instead directly from what they see on TV or read in a book. In general, there is lack of quality parental guidance for the last 60 years, an abundance of sexual and violent images, religious groups who cannot seem to adapt to a changing world, social sects which indoctrinate lifestyles which are non-sustainable, activists which have no idea what they're being active about, and a media organization which just doesn't know when to let things rest and report REAL news. A populace which is enamored with any celebrity they can get, even those which do nothing other than be celebrities. A society which is more concerned with the size and girth of their appendages than those diseases which are eating away at them. A political system which is less concerned with the well being of the people they are responsible for than they are with partisan politics and lining their own pockets...

 

So yeah, it's pretty much systemic. But good news is that we aren't alone since almost every other country has some of these issues. Ultimately, Americans are seen as being stupid because they have a tendency to not know when to shut up. Having a majority of people online under the ages of 25 doesn't help much.

[myrmaad]

Why? Substandard teaching, shortest school year, shortest school day, longest school breaks, many schools still teaching from books that are 10-20 years old. Add to that a certain religious bias against many of the sciences, a devaluation of mathematics, and a society which sums up concepts and ideas with as few letters as possible. Americans tend to be more lazy, less aware of what is happening in the world, less knowledgeable about their own measly 350 some years of history, and mostly uninformed about how government works. America does not take their ideas from a basis of facts and experiences, but instead directly from what they see on TV or read in a book. In general, there is lack of quality parental guidance for the last 60 years, an abundance of sexual and violent images, religious groups who cannot seem to adapt to a changing world, social sects which indoctrinate lifestyles which are non-sustainable, activists which have no idea what they're being active about, and a media organization which just doesn't know when to let things rest and report REAL news. A populace which is enamored with any celebrity they can get, even those which do nothing other than be celebrities. A society which is more concerned with the size and girth of their appendages than those diseases which are eating away at them. A political system which is less concerned with the well being of the people they are responsible for than they are with partisan politics and lining their own pockets...

 

So yeah, it's pretty much systemic. But good news is that we aren't alone since almost every other country has some of these issues. Ultimately, Americans are seen as being stupid because they have a tendency to not know when to shut up. Having a majority of people online under the ages of 25 doesn't help much.

 

 

I simply wish I could give multiple kudos.

[bben46]

Well said Vagrant0. :thumbsup:

[jaosals42]

The education system is certainly sub-standard. Here where I live, there are teachers merely giving away grades just so they don't get the parents on them to say things like "Why did my child receive an 'F'?!". I know this firsthand as one of my 9th grade teachers honestly gave students an 'A' for passing the tests, yet never doing the homework. As students, we often share our grades with one another when we received them. Throughout the years, I was surprised to see many "B's", "C's", and sometimes "A's" given to students (who shared the same classes as I) who did nothing but talk the entire class or listen to an Ipod, etc.

 

Also, some class like "World History" here isn't a requirement. Rather, students have a choice between that course or "World Geography", but rarely take both, and most take geography instead of history. This limits their general knowledge in the world, especially since they don't need to (and rarely anyway) take another foreign history or geography course. There is no course here either that I know of that may focus on say, "world literature", which adds insult to injury.

 

Also, most schools around here ask for 24 credits (or total passed classes) from the high-school four years. And 4 of those credits have to be elective courses, which the students usually end up taking useless or such classes that they'll never focus on again or use in real life. They rarely would take other actually educational courses to help boost their knowledge such as more history classes, art appreciation, or music history, etc.

 

In the end, I guess it's the students final move to 'hurt' themselves while keeping themselves in the dark about the rest of the world (and often about their own nation), but it's quite possible too that there are parents or teachers who just don't encourage the students enough to just 'get smarter'.

[Venetia_CV]

Can somebody give me the real reason people think Americans are complete idiots? Don't come back with a clever comment that points out my spelling or grammar and any of that asorted bs. I don't revise anything I'm typing because I don't find it very important on forums. Just give me your honest opinion.

Some revision of your work may see a greater number of participants take your meaning. And it can show appreciation and respect to those that have made the effort. Plus, it can also help to prevent the very bias you mention being applied to you. In that spirit of trust and friendship I offer you assorted. Which is to say that though I found your opening style to have been somewhat abrasive, my conviction is that you were well intended.

 

Who are the people that see americans as stupid? For decades the american culture has been broadcast and exported throughout the world. That there is varying resistance to the pervasive influence of the U.S. is to be expected. However, the idea of americans as lacking in intellect is a bias perhaps closer seated to those satellites of the U.S. that are heavily dependent upon it as an economic, political, and military ally. That is to say that the perception mentioned may not be virulently universal.

 

My own Grand-Father, deceased, once welcomed american marines into his homeland with the most lavish of parties. Their arrival prevented the scheduled execution of both my Grand-Parents and the confiscation of their estates. Such a thing can cause people to adopt and maintain a fierce loyalty that diminishes the relevance of anti-american sentiment.

 

When the events of Tiananmen Square took place, media coverage in Canada was decidely against the chinese government. That the people in Tiananmen Square numbered more than populations of many canadian cities did not seem relevant. The official foreign policy reaction of China to those incidents was that they were an internal matter and no concern of any other nation. Today, Canada mumbles even less than the U.S. about China's human rights issues, foreign policy, or impact on the environment as we pursue new economic partnerships with China. How much of perception is manipulated (and by whom) and how far can it change?

 

I might raise an eyebrow at how established Creationism is in America. And maybe certain recent american political leaders were not to my liking, but to label every U.S. citizen as stupid takes the joke too far. Countries and empires evolve. This longer term perspective of what will become of the U.S. (were say China to call in its debt) supercedes such biases that one group or other may use to leverage themselves above the masses.

 

-Kitten

[t3hf4ll0ut]

Haha, thanks for the Vagrant. Being an American, I actually agree with most of your views. It just ticks me off when people throw out the American hate speech on how stupid everybody is just because they were born in America. Btw, if I was sending in an online application I'd probably revise my typing, because then I'd actually have a reason for people to believe I'm well sophisticated.

[Monarch_Anor]

Why? Substandard teaching, shortest school year, shortest school day, longest school breaks, many schools still teaching from books that are 10-20 years old. Add to that a certain religious bias against many of the sciences, a devaluation of mathematics, and a society which sums up concepts and ideas with as few letters as possible. Americans tend to be more lazy, less aware of what is happening in the world, less knowledgeable about their own measly 350 some years of history, and mostly uninformed about how government works. America does not take their ideas from a basis of facts and experiences, but instead directly from what they see on TV or read in a book. In general, there is lack of quality parental guidance for the last 60 years, an abundance of sexual and violent images, religious groups who cannot seem to adapt to a changing world, social sects which indoctrinate lifestyles which are non-sustainable, activists which have no idea what they're being active about, and a media organization which just doesn't know when to let things rest and report REAL news. A populace which is enamored with any celebrity they can get, even those which do nothing other than be celebrities. A society which is more concerned with the size and girth of their appendages than those diseases which are eating away at them. A political system which is less concerned with the well being of the people they are responsible for than they are with partisan politics and lining their own pockets...

 

So yeah, it's pretty much systemic. But good news is that we aren't alone since almost every other country has some of these issues. Ultimately, Americans are seen as being stupid because they have a tendency to not know when to shut up. Having a majority of people online under the ages of 25 doesn't help much.

 

I bolded the portions I thought most appropriate. Especially the last bit, the majority of Americans seen online are under 25, and enjoy trolling (see 4chan). As to education, I remember when I was in high school I looked stuff up, simply because I wanted to learn, and because those books were so old... I was the ONLY person I ever met who did this however, so that says something. As to the 350 years of history, it may not be a long time, but the ideas, while not revolutionary nor new, were blended together to create a debatable "free" system of government.

[Venetia_CV]

...to create a debatable "free" system of government.

Free? How so? Or, has there been enough recent pain to whittle away at even that illusion.

 

-Kitten