How Did Some Americans Become So Stupid?

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I've added the word "some" to the thread title for those of a more sensitive nature.

Brilliant!

(A man of so few words ...)

Yes, and this would certainly be a more precise title, indicating what the video is actually about. Even "Neil DeGrasse Tyson mocks mathematical and scientific ignorance in the U.S.A." would be better IMO.

In general I vastly prefer titles that indicate their subject matter as precisely as possible, quite apart from the issue of whether a given title constitutes an insult. I find vague titles annoying, even if they are not insulting.

(Precise subject-matter-specific titles are also better for search engine optimization, BTW, although they may be less click-baity than vaguer titles can often be.)

Last edited by Mona Pereth on 25 Aug 2023, 4:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've always heard of & thought of Americans as being oddballs in general, as opposed to being stupid, in general.

I would have watched the video by I'm not a fan of Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Please please please don't leave! I was actually going to comment on one of your threads. I would be very sad to think you'll never read that comment.

Recently some members have been using a typically NT form of communication. This is unfortunate as WP should be a safe place for EVERYONE with autism, even some who might be perceived as "creepy" or "weirdos" in day-to-day life. A couple of long term members have been driven off as a consequence.

Please don't leave!

The video is of an American guy commenting upon the supposedly increasing scientific illiteracy of his own countrymen. Americans on this site dont seem to be offended by it. But whatever.

It's okay - I wasn't threatening to leave! I wasn't even trying to be dramatic, though I feared that I'd be accused of that. It's just so hard to be called "sensitive" even on a board designed for autistic people, who've been called all sorts of things by people all their lives. It's disheartening.

I honestly love this country, despite all its flaws. I've traveled to other countries, too, and I don't think I've met any other populace which hates itself as much as Americans do.

I think we all need to remember that no matter what country you're from or what country you live in, fear and othering are used as means to control a populace. So is the dehumanization of "the enemy." We did it with the Japanese during WWII, we did it with Muslims during the various stupid, stupid wars in the Gulf, and we're doing it today by calling fully half of the USA white supremacist Nazis. We don't seem to learn.

These days, I see tons of good people being called all kinds of -ists and -phobes just for not agreeing 100% with this political stance or that one. It's like the mirror image of what I lived through in the 1980's.

I personally believe that American Democrats aren't all Commie Pinkos and American Republicans aren't all Nazi White Supremacists. Those are both simplistic, cartoon versions of both sides designed to dehumanize them so that we can all feel super righteous for believing whatever we believe.

Part of my mental health journey involves me working to leave behind my black-and-white, rigid thinking. Perhaps we could all benefit from focusing on improving in that area. I accept everyone on this board regardless of color, creed, etc. I believe that those who feel differently than I do are just as human and likely just as broken as me.

I’m an American.

So is Lucy.

FleaOfTheChill left in part because of transphobia on the site. That was a huge loss for us. I hope they will be back.

I can't think of anyone else who was "driven away" because of WP not being safe.

The only others I can think of who left were banned, like the person yesterday who attacked a mod.

Judge not lest thou be judged.

Apparently, everyone gets shocked and appalled at everyone else's ignorance because everyone differs in their areas of expertise...and areas of ignorance.

Case in point. My mom once struck up a conversation with me by saying "I bet that the Rift Valley in Africa is named after the Rif Tribe of Morrocco".

On one hand- she talked about the "Rif Tribe" as if it were something everyone knew about. I had majored in Anthropology in college , and even I had never heard of the Rif tribe before (and have only heard of them one time since).

My guess is that that was a generational difference. She was of the "greatest generation"(parents of the Boomers) who grew up between the world wars...when romantic stories about the French Foreign Legion fighting tribes in North Africa was a big part of pop culture. So thats how she knew about the "Rif tribe of Morrocco". I grew up after the war when the only references to the French Foreign Legion were in Pepe La Pew cartoons. So like every other Boomer, Millennial and Xer I never heard of that Moroccan ethnic group.

In contrast I grew up seeing nature docs on PBS about African wildlife in the Rift Valley in places like Kenya.

So...on the other hand...lets just say that I bit my tongue. I could have said "the country of Morrocco is in the northwest corner of Africa, and the Rift Valley runs up the whole eastern side of Africa...so...the Rif Tribe lives from three thousand to five thousand miles away from ANY POINT on the Rift Valley, AND on top of that...you're spelling it wrong...there is a T on the end of Rift Valley because thats what it is...a rift in the Earth's crust". Instead I choose to just say "no, you're wrong" rather than humiliate the heck out of her by expounding upon the multiple forms of stupidity in her theory.

The moral of this story?

Three morals.

1)Judge not.

2)Each generation forgets stuff, and each generation acquires new knowledge.

But also (3) that Americans of every generation seem to be impaired in geography...for example in understanding how vast Africa is. The Sahara by itself is equal in size to the contiguous USA, and the old Soviet Union was smaller than the continent of Africa. So just because two things are both in Africa doesnt mean that they are close to each other despite what my fellow Americans seem to assume. Lol!

I find it difficult to take Neil deGrasse Tyson seriously as Mr. Big Science Man when he tells us that bats are blind (in a tweet dated 25 Mar 2016), that science is "true" in a tweet dated Apr 11, 2021 (science, being a method of inquiry, cannot be either true or false), that there are no species for whom sex hurts (ask your favorite lady cat about that one) in a tweet dated 11 Mar 2018, that there is no "leap" taking place during a Leap Year, just the calendar taking an abrupt jump forward (ie - a leap) in a tweet from 2016, etc. etc. These are all statements I'd expect to hear from a "stupid" (or at least ignorant) person, not the very personification of American science.

An uninformed populace is easier to control by demagogues of every stripe. All power in the US is being consolidated in a shrinking number of media corporations, banks, etc. We have reached the shameful position of locking people out of their livelihoods and out of the public square for their thoughts and opinions rather than for their actions. I honestly do not care if there are people out there who hate me for being a Jew or for loving men, as long as they do not commit any criminal acts against me.

As a Queer Jew, I know exactly where these policies of censorship lead, and I oppose them - no matter which side of the political aisle is seeking to impose them.

My goodness. It must be impossible to have a spirited debate here, if some people are so sensitive that they're offended by a Neil Degrasse Tyson video.

Here is one of that some people found to be more controversial: his thoughts on transgenderism in sports



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w89etN8QqNQ

Anyway, I am sure that in the originally-posted video, Mr. Degrasse Tyson's comments were directed at America's neurotypicals. At least I take comfort in assuming that his comments weren't targeted at me. Most of us here would also look askance at a headline that read "50% of Students are Below Median!"

The United States isn't perfect, but we are the de-facto leader of the world. Russia has stopped pretending to be anything other than a kleptocracy. Without us, all of Europe would probably fall to Putin.

We're one country, pretty much the size of a continent, with one language and one culture. Europe is a bunch of little bitty countries, each with its own national language and culture (plus regional languages and cultures), and that often go to war with each other.

Regarding our stupidity: I follow several American politicians on Facebook. A lot of them make posts that are just abjectly stupid. In some cases, I know that they know better--they've graduated from our most prestigious universities. They're just making stupid comments to rile up their moronic base of support.

Now, to change the subject a tad and to take issue with the United Kingdom: I thought that Brexit was probably not a good idea, and not well thought through. But, the majority of the UK voted for it, so they had to do it. I'm not English, and not European, so its none of my business, anyway.

The Brits fought tooth and nail to protect their sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. But, when it came to Hong Kong, they just went to Red China and said "Here! Take it! We don't want it any more!" They didn't even think to ask anyone in Hong Kong what they wanted. The security of the Pacific Rim is now largely up to the United States.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QbUSjn ... l=8emelios

Yes, by all means; let's criticize each other for being sensitive.
Makes sense. I mean, I'm sure none of us have any trauma from being called too sensitive, right?
Perfect.

I wasn’t offended by the video specifically. It was more about the title and people using it to make generalizations/bash Americans rather than discuss the video itself which certainly happened in this thread.

The video is a bit click-baity in my opinion. I really like his book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, and I’ve read the version for kids with my son many times. It was his favorite book for awhile.

Putin can barely keep his country in Ukraine. If he invaded Europe, he wouldn't even get past Poland, or Germany, or anywhere, most likely.



What?

Europe is not made up of "little bitty" countries, that is a wrongful assertion.

As a comparison, Europe's total population boasts almost 750 million residents, whereas the United States has a little under 350 million residents.

https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/europe-population/
https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/

The UK alone has an economy worth over 3 trillion dollars, Germany with over 4 trillion dollars and France approx 3 trillion dollars. (IMF figures). Those three countries alone added together have an economical output of 10 trillion dollars, almost half of the United States 26 trillion dollar economy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)