# America dumbing down



## TomVader (May 31, 2013)

I think this will qualify as a rant. Who benefits by the average person knowing less and less? Does it seem to any of you that people are getting dumber? Or am I just getting old? I had a conversation at work a while back with one of my supervisors. He was telling me that mermaids are real and the Navy and the government are covering this up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing from a supposedly educated man. Since then I watched a program on TV on this subject (which was where he got this idea). The show was presented as investigative journalism, but it was just science fiction.
I used to watch quite a bit of educational TV; History Channel, National Geographic, Discovery, etc. But it seems there is less and less education involved. There used to be so much about ancient civilizations, the natural world, space exploration, but now it's Ghost Hunters, Finding Bigfoot, Aliens Among Us, and the mermaids... it almost seems as if there is a concerted effort to spread disinformation. And it's not just TV, just mention the name of a chemical to most people and you get a blank stare in return, or they ask you if you're cooking meth or making bombs.
Do the advertising people want us to be stupid so that they can sell us more useless products? They certainly don't want us to be able to do things or figure things out on our own, that would cut into sales. Why is it that critical thinking and logic aren't taught in schools at a young age? Do their lobbyists have something to do with our disfunctional education system? 
I know I'm ranting so I'll stop now. I expect the members of this forum will have intelligent responses. Thanks for listening.


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## butcher (May 31, 2013)

Tom, 
I too feel your pain.


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## nickvc (May 31, 2013)

If its on that square god in the corner of the room it's fact for many people who are too lazy to actually read a book or search for information via the game console sorry computer :shock:


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## Claudie (May 31, 2013)

http://www.naute.com/thinkery/obituary.phtml


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## AndyWilliams (May 31, 2013)

TomVader said:


> I think this will qualify as a rant. Who benefits by the average person knowing less and less? Does it seem to any of you that people are getting dumber? Or am I just getting old? I had a conversation at work a while back with one of my supervisors. He was telling me that mermaids are real and the Navy and the government are covering this up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing from a supposedly educated man. Since then I watched a program on TV on this subject (which was where he got this idea). The show was presented as investigative journalism, but it was just science fiction.
> I used to watch quite a bit of educational TV; History Channel, National Geographic, Discovery, etc. But it seems there is less and less education involved. There used to be so much about ancient civilizations, the natural world, space exploration, but now it's Ghost Hunters, Finding Bigfoot, Aliens Among Us, and the mermaids... it almost seems as if there is a concerted effort to spread disinformation. And it's not just TV, just mention the name of a chemical to most people and you get a blank stare in return, or they ask you if you're cooking meth or making bombs.
> Do the advertising people want us to be stupid so that they can sell us more useless products? They certainly don't want us to be able to do things or figure things out on our own, that would cut into sales. Why is it that critical thinking and logic aren't taught in schools at a young age? Do their lobbyists have something to do with our disfunctional education system?
> I know I'm ranting so I'll stop now. I expect the members of this forum will have intelligent responses. Thanks for listening.




Are you saying that you DON'T believe in mermaids???


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## TomVader (May 31, 2013)

No, but I do believe that the Sunsetter Retractable Awning can make my deck or patio space up to twenty degrees cooler! I used to just sit in the blazing sun, it was so hot! But now, thanks to Sunsetter's patented sublocking technology which actually BLOCKS the rays of the sun and provides instant shade, I can sit on my deck or patio in cool comfort!


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## AUH-R (May 31, 2013)

As they say on this board garbage in garbage out!


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## artart47 (May 31, 2013)

The government screws up education too!
My kids have classmates that are going to miss their eight-grade graduation cuz they got called for jury duty!


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## kkmonte (Jun 4, 2013)

artart47 said:


> The government screws up education too!
> My kids have classmates that are going to miss their eight-grade graduation cuz they got called for jury duty!



Hey 13 year-olds deserve a jury of their peers as well!!!


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## Smack (Jun 4, 2013)

Tom, it just goes to prove that Crack no only kills but makes people stupid too.


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## TomVader (Jun 5, 2013)

I'm really not one of those guys that go around saying "...everyone is stupid but me...", but come on, have you seen pop culture lately? It's as if they wear their ignorance like a badge of honor, and the media seem to encourage it. It's so prevalent it makes me think the Powers That Be have an agenda.


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## patnor1011 (Jun 5, 2013)

This thread name is not appropriate as it is a problem of whole human race not just america.
I would say that this is partially caused by overload of information. We do have way too much at our table and easy to reach so people tend to google stuff they need to know. That result in getting wrong information in one case and in instantly loosing them after few hours, days... People do not retain knowledge they got very easy, you need to learn it, kinda memorize it to be useful for you.
It is like watching 4 movies one after another. Right after they finish most of people will not be able to remember correctly what was in which one of them. You need to experience, feel and literally chew stuff to become part of you for longer.


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## gold4mike (Jun 11, 2013)

I made a purchase a few days ago at a local store and the total was $15.67. I gave the cashier a $20 bill. After a moment I gave her an additional $1 bill and said please take it out of $21. 

She looked at me like I was an idiot. I told her I would rather have the $5 bill than four $1 bills. Then she looked at me like I was trying to rip her off.

She pulled out her cell phone, used the calculator function and the gave me the correct change. I assume she didn't know how to change the "amount received" in the cash register and apparently had not been taught how to count back change, as I was when I worked at my first job.

The one thing that DID impress me about her was the fact that she knew that her cell phone had a calculator function. I have a simple flip phone. If my phone has a calculator function I don't know how to find it. 

Now I feel stupid!


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## SilverNitrate (Jun 11, 2013)

Its all evolution.
In earliest mankind he had to bring down big prey with his bare hands. Technology later brought sharp weaponry that could trap the animal. That early man then just sit back and wait until the animal tired to death instead of clubbing it over the head time and time again and probably getting bit too! Well today as we rely on technology to perform most or all of our tasks the masses will soon forget how function when technology has failed. I'd imagine life would soon be like living in the year 802,701AD as like the Eloi in HG Wells' The Time Machine.


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