Why are so many people in this country so ignorant?

[Xanikk999]

Do you remember old Sherlock Holmes?

His friend Watson once found out that Holmes was unaware that the earth went around the sun and not the other way around, Watson was shocked that such a brilliant man was ignorant of something so simple and widely known.

He asked Holmes how this could be possible, Homes simply replied with something along the lines of "oh really? the earth orbits the sun? i had no idea, and i will do my very best to forget it again as soon as possible, it is of absolutely no consequence to my work at all".

I suppose people learn what they need to i guess, it does'nt necessarily or always mean they are ignorant.

Unfortunately ignorance doesn't stop short of little factoids like that. We have a whole culture of ignorance in the States.

 

[Xanikk999]

Not really since unification with Wales and Scotland was on the books.

Well England was still the original part of the Empire and in control.

Heres an anology:

Rome was the origins of the Roman Empire. Just because they subdued the rest of Italy, Greece, Judea, and Egypt doesn't change the fact that its Rome who is in charge and its their empire.

They could of called it the "Mediterranean Empire" and it would be comparable to the English calling their empire the "British Empire". It doesn't change the fact that it's the Romans who were in charge regardless of where the next emperor is from whether he usurped power or was born from the current dynasty. The Emperors relied on their armies for support who during the time of the republic and early empire were mostly roman citizens. It wasn't until later that they started to rely more on the Germanic tribes and mercenary groups for their military.

 

[MobBoss]

Someone's quote got me thinking. I tried to find articles on the web on ignorance of common knowledge stuff by American citizens.

I can't say the results make me happy about my countrymen.





How is this even possible when i was in school this is the first thing i remember them teaching you in elementary school. How is it possible to be so stupid?? Where did these idiots go to school?

Source

Other stuff i dug up but could not link to a credible source:



80% believe that the U.S government is hiding evidence about existing space aliens from us.

Let's think logically about this. If our government can't even keep military leeks and scandals such as Watergate and other crap from becoming public how do people think that they could keep something as juicy as this from becoming known by a whistle-blower?

The problem in this country I believe is people respond to these polls and say they believe in something but they never stopped to think about how illogical those beliefs really are. If you stop to analyze the facts its almost virtually impossible that such things like the U.S moon landing were a hoax. Yet people seem to believe this nonsense.

It is my firm belief that these "idiots" would recant these beliefs, (as long as they werent tied to religious beliefs) if faced with strong evidence. Rarely does one cement himself into falsified views when in the presence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

What are your thought on this?

I blame rap music.

 

[Xanikk999]

I blame rap music.

That's an oversimplification of the problem.

 

[Darth Caesar]

I blame rap music.

 

[MobBoss]

There are really stupid people from all over the world. America just has more of them per capita.

I dont even think this is true. In fact, I think Americans sometimes given intentionally false answers in the hopes of being on some silly reality tv show, or as a skit on Letterman or something.

I mean come on....havent you ever felt like giving some truly obnoxious answer to someone asking a silly but obvious question? Who hasnt?

In other words, this might not really be a problem....just ass hattery in progress.

 

[Darth Caesar]

Hey I just thought of a funny quote, "When in doubt, blame rap music."

 

[Xanikk999]

I dont even think this is true. In fact, I think Americans sometimes given intentionally false answers in the hopes of being on some silly reality tv show, or as a skit on Letterman or something.

I mean come on....havent you ever felt like giving some truly obnoxious answer to someone asking a silly but obvious question? Who hasnt?

In other words, this might not really be a problem....just ass hattery in progress.

I doubt the poll was verbal. It would be easy to tell if someone was lying if he said that he didn't know who the American's rebelled against if it was a verbal poll.

 

[NovaKart]

Religion and conspiracy theories have to do with faith and you can find plenty of intelligent people who believe them. Personally I think 98% of conspiracy theories are false but I've met plenty of educated people who believe them. It's especially common in the Middle East, America or Israel is behind everything they say. I guess not having a free media is part of the problem.

As for not knowing where England is on a map or knowing America was a British colony, that's really shocking and I'm skeptical of the 2nd one being nearly 20%. Sure a lot of Americans are ignorant about other countries and history but that's just insanely ignorant.

 

[Camikaze]

I doubt America has all that many more ignorant people than any other nation. They simply get more airtime. Qualities perhaps associated with ignorance are prized more highly than elsewhere around the world, so people are probably much more open about their ignorance. Maybe.

Well funnily enough, it was the BRITISH Empire, not the ENGLISH Empire that we won independence from.

Someone hasn't been playing enough Civ.

 

[Darth Caesar]

/\
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Funny

 

[NovaKart]

I kind of agree. I think American society can be a bit anti-intellectual. I think there's still a bit of a frontier mentality where Americans admire hard work more than intelligence.

 

[Samson]

Well funnily enough, it was the BRITISH Empire, not the ENGLISH Empire that we won independence from.

I think you may find a fair few welshmen and scotsmen (not to mention the irish) who would disagree with you.

 

[Darth Caesar]

I admire both.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

It is my firm belief that these "idiots" would recant these beliefs, (as long as they werent tied to religious beliefs) if faced with strong evidence. Rarely does one cement himself into falsified views when in the presence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

One very good piece of advice my father gave to me is that you'll never convince a believer through rational arguement and evidence, and in my 29 years I found that this to pretty much hold true (for me as well as for others). We are predisposed as a race to retain beliefs no matter how disproven they become (probably due to early evolutionary survival trait) and it is hard to shake off old beliefs, especially when you don't really want to.

 

[stormerne]

One very good piece of advice my father gave to me is that you'll never convince a believer through rational arguement and evidence, and in my 29 years I found that this to pretty much hold true (for me as well as for others). We are predisposed as a race to retain beliefs no matter how disproven they become (probably due to early evolutionary survival trait) and it is hard to shake off old beliefs, especially when you don't really want to.

Your father was a wise man. Given the choice between re-evaluating a lifetime's belief structure and carrying on regardless, I'll bet that most people take the pragmatic route and carry on believing until it's just too inconvenient.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

Your father was a wise man. Given the choice between re-evaluating a lifetime's belief structure and carrying on regardless, I'll bet that most people take the pragmatic route and carry on believing until it's just too inconvenient.

I find even beyond that point, for example many people will vote Fianna Fail even though two weeks later they're complaining about what Fianna Fail get up to in government. This is simply because FF has the image of being the party if deValera and Irish Republicanism, and gets a pretty free ride every election.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Not every church in this country is crazy conservative like the ones that breed nutcases you hear on the news (Most American politicians fall under this category).

Not everyone who goes to church treats the bible as a book of facts and god's true word.

Arizonans Protest Mosque That’s Actually A Church

The people of Pheonix, AZ were quick to call foul over the appearance of a dome-like structure along an interstate. But in the clamor over the impending Muslim takeover, these Arizonans missed one small detail — the building is not a Mosque, it’s a church:

Watch a report from KPNX-TV:

Just wait till they find out congress has a dome.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Finally, 19 percent of men who took part in the study couldn't name the country America won its independence from; while 1/3 of women surveyed couldn't name England as the former empire that controlled the American colonies.

The people who wrote this article apparently are included in that 19%.

I think you may find a fair few welshmen and scotsmen (not to mention the irish) who would disagree with you.

They'd be wrong.

 

[Traitorfish]

Well England was still the original part of the Empire and in control.

Heres an anology:

Rome was the origins of the Roman Empire. Just because they subdued the rest of Italy, Greece, Judea, and Egypt doesn't change the fact that its Rome who is in charge and its their empire.

They could of called it the "Mediterranean Empire" and it would be comparable to the English calling their empire the "British Empire". It doesn't change the fact that it's the Romans who were in charge regardless of where the next emperor is from whether he usurped power or was born from the current dynasty. The Emperors relied on their armies for support who during the time of the republic and early empire were mostly roman citizens. It wasn't until later that they started to rely more on the Germanic tribes and mercenary groups for their military.

The difference is, the Roman Empire was explicitly ruled by Romans, from Rome, while the British state granted nor grants no such explicit privilege to the English. What you suggest is comparable to claiming that Germany is still ruled by Prussia because the government is based in Berlin.