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US adults are dumber than the average human

American said:
Because black almost exclusively vote Democrat, and are part of an educationally disadvantaged group by some accounts. So why shouldn't this play into the question of how the educated vote for Obama. Of course you could have read the thread instead of making me re-explain it to you.
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I don't understand why you are stuck on blacks. We are not the majority in our party for crying out loud. This is what Redress kept trying to explain to you.

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IQ is like fission. Every atom has the potential to blow up a city. In spite of that unbridled potential, most don't.
 
Rainman05 said:
All this means is that people with brains will be far better off in society and make tons of money off the stupid people! And then the stupid people who have no skills will vote idiots in power who will take all that the smart people with brains made and waste it on porn and hookers.
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Not all smart people are venal as well. Just FYI.
 
rcart76 said:
Hmmm. Well according to the article below(Fox business by the way), the best educated states are either blue or swing states. And they were all won by Obama. On the other hand, the worst educated states are all red except for Nevada.

America


America’s Best-Educated States

10. Minnesota
9. New York
8. New Hampshire
7. Virginia
6. New Jersey
5. Vermont
4. Connecticut
3. Colorado
2. Maryland
1. Massachusetts


America’s Worst-Educated States

10. Oklahoma
9. Tennessee
8. Indiana
7. Nevada
6. Alabama
5. Louisiana
4. Kentucky
3. Arkansas
2. Mississippi
1. West Virginia

So what were you trying to imply about liberal voters ?????
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These data don't tell us anything about who's bringing the average down. This is a ranking of states based on completion of college - a small proportion of the population. I think that if you compare this with a ranking based on completion of high school, some of your "worst" states may become some of the best.
 
rcart76 said:
When I first read the OP statement, I had to hold back from laughing. Anybody with any political common sense know that health and education are liberal strengths while guns and religion are conservative strengths.
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Strengths? We can see the shape education is in and now the liberals want the government to look after their health care as well! There is a great ballsup already.

Of the four, God and guns are all there is left to believe in.

Hell was education even a topic in the republican primaries???
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Time for a little learning, Obama voter.

Mitt Romney Viewpoint: Demand Real Change in Higher Education | TIME.com
 
Erod said:
US adults are dumber than the average human | New York Post







Not coincidentally, liberals now outnumber conservatives and are winning more and more elections without any intellectual merit to their platform whatsoever. Campaign strategies have to be designed at a third-grade level these days.

Dark, scary days ahead with this worthless, brainless voting bloc running things.
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I believe it. The pity is that our kids are even worse. There are kids I know at the local high school who can hardly speak a coherent sentence. Culprit? Multiple choice and the general dumbing down of curriculum.
 
rcart76 said:
America’s Best-Educated States

10. Minnesota 5%
9. New York 14%
8. New Hampshire 1%
7. Virginia 19%
6. New Jersey 13%
5. Vermont 1%
4. Connecticut 9%
3. Colorado 4%
2. Maryland 28%
1. Massachusetts 6%


American, you know the real reason why we are falling behind the rest of the world?

Arrogance and laziness.....

As a whole, our children probably spend more time on social networks, video games, and watching TV than other kids around the world. The average household do not put the focus into education like other countries do. America is kind of like the jocks from Revenge of the Nerds. We think we are invincible and we do not feel like we can lose.

Also we let media and politicians tell us how to think because we are too lazy to think on our own. We continually fight each other over stupid things while the rest of the world just pass us by.

Our downfall is not going to be China or India or Russia. It is going to our ignorance.
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I think that's the first actual response to the OP.

Pretty good.too!
 
johndylan1 said:
I believe it. The pity is that our kids are even worse. There are kids I know at the local high school who can hardly speak a coherent sentence. Culprit? Multiple choice and the general dumbing down of curriculum.
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How is multiple choice answers dumbing down the curriculum?
 
Erod said:
Sure, "free phones and healthcare for everybody" is such thoughtful, high-level campaign strategy. Intellects are the voters flocking to that like flies on crap. Whatever rolls your doobie for you.
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Ah. So you don't understand the issue, you just like using right wing talking points that are all fluff with no substance. Typical for a conservative.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, it looks like the IRS worked closely with your beloved White House during the audit targetting scandal.

White House, IRS exchanged confidential taxpayer info | The Daily Caller
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Ah. So you prefer to ascribe positions to someone rather than actually understanding what their position actually is. Very weak. Typical conservative. You're doing an excellent job supporting my position.

Dirtiest, most scandalous administration of all time, and blind liberals are lapping it up like sheep.
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Conservatives have such a short memory and do love to make silly overgeneralizations. Willful ignorance seems to be a favorite of theirs.
 
Erod said:
I work alongside them, do business with them, attend conferences with them, and generally run in their circles in multiple industries in 44 states. I have for years. The daily practices and belief structures among successful people doesn't vary much, and most of them put little stock or value in the college degrees they earned long before the real work started.

Liberals, on the other hand, treat their degrees like a finish line, expecting a coronation that never comes, which only embitters them into a stalemated and neverending woe-is-me hatred for those that outperform them. Their only recourse is to steal away other's success through government intervention.
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Interesting. Most of those that I know with college degrees are liberals. They are the one's who took education seriously, seeing it as a means to an end... the end result of being successful. Conservatives I know, however, failed to realize this, seeing college and education as a waste of time, looking down on those who choose to do so. "Strong" people could work hard and succeed without education. The absurdity of this statement... less education is better is always overlooked because of their dogmatism.

See? When you post like a hack, Erod, making your points look as idiotic as they are is really quite easy.
 
Grant said:
Strengths? We can see the shape education is in and now the liberals want the government to look after their health care as well! There is a great ballsup already.

Of the four, God and guns are all there is left to believe in.
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And while democrats are trying to find ways to improve it, republicans are trying to defund programs that are geared towards education.



Grant said:
Time for a little learning, Obama voter.
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Its ironic that the one republican you cite is considered a R.I.N.O by the vast majority of the right.
 
What if...? said:
I think that's the first actual response to the OP.

Pretty good.too!
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And the comments on this forum is a prime example of what I was saying.

Instead of having a intelligent conversation on the real issues we are having, we are going around pointing fingers at each other. This is America's new attitude now. If we do not change this, we are going to self destruct and that is the truth.
 
and I quote..... "Adults in Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and multiple other countries scored significantly higher than the United States in all three areas on the test. Beyond basic reading and math, respondents were tested on activities such as calculating mileage reimbursement due to a salesman"

Certainly, I cannot be the only one here with the requisite language skills necessary to question the superfluity of the word "to" here, can I? It should have read "reimbursement due a salesman"

I might suggest that whoever wrote this might want to bone up on a few things, as well.
 
DDD said:
How is multiple choice answers dumbing down the curriculum?
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First, I said "multiple choice and dumbing down". Multiple choice, because recall based on recognition of key words a takes different neurological activity than does recall based on analytic understanding. I will admit that multiple choice tests could be designed to ensure that the information is understood, but they are not (and yes, I have read the studies). One can build upon an understood concept, one cannot build upon key word recall. As for curriculum, revisions in standard college entry testing is well known. More than 50% of junior college entrants have to take remedial reading and math. See if you can find some old math text books and see what they were teaching 100 years ago in the 8th grade.
 
johndylan1 said:
As for curriculum, revisions in standard college entry testing is well known. More than 50% of junior college entrants have to take remedial reading and math. See if you can find some old math text books and see what they were teaching 100 years ago in the 8th grade.
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Why, what do you need such an old book for?
 
rcart76 said:
And while democrats are trying to find ways to improve it, republicans are trying to defund programs that are geared towards education.
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Where are Democrats trying to find more ways to improve it?

Barack Obama & the DC School Voucher Program - YouTube If they educate young people they will eventually lose their constituency. Obama and the rest know that.

Its ironic that the one republican you cite is considered a R.I.N.O by the vast majority of the right.
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Are you 'of the right'?
 
johndylan1 said:
First, I said "multiple choice and dumbing down". Multiple choice, because recall based on recognition of key words a takes different neurological activity than does recall based on analytic understanding. I will admit that multiple choice tests could be designed to ensure that the information is understood, but they are not (and yes, I have read the studies). One can build upon an understood concept, one cannot build upon key word recall. As for curriculum, revisions in standard college entry testing is well known. More than 50% of junior college entrants have to take remedial reading and math. See if you can find some old math text books and see what they were teaching 100 years ago in the 8th grade.
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Stupid in America - YouTube
 
CaptainCourtesy said:
Interesting. Most of those that I know with college degrees are liberals. They are the one's who took education seriously, seeing it as a means to an end... the end result of being successful. Conservatives I know, however, failed to realize this, seeing college and education as a waste of time, looking down on those who choose to do so. "Strong" people could work hard and succeed without education. The absurdity of this statement... less education is better is always overlooked because of their dogmatism.

See? When you post like a hack, Erod, making your points look as idiotic as they are is really quite easy.
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Frankly I think that this country lacks a strong apprenticeship program for the trades. I think it is spotty some places good and some bad, some trades with more formal training others more dependent on OTJ training. I also don't think education works with industry as closely as they should, integrating the needs and feedback of industry as well as they should into the curriculum. While people should study whatever they please, I think it's a disservice to citizens if schools and counselors (especially) don't explain the realities of life and what industry needs are when assisting students in career choices. Getting a degree in dance is all well and good, but I think students should make that an educated choice, understanding the career outlook consequences of that over other professions.

We all know what happens when you go into counseling. :mrgreen:
 
Erod said:
US adults are dumber than the average human | New York Post



Not coincidentally, liberals now outnumber conservatives and are winning more and more elections without any intellectual merit to their platform whatsoever. Campaign strategies have to be designed at a third-grade level these days.

Dark, scary days ahead with this worthless, brainless voting bloc running things.
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Sad, sad, sad. On the other hand, over investment in education is a costly waste.
 
Grant said:
Perhaps its good to compare educational standards over the years to see how much progress is being made, if any.

snopes.com: 1895 Exam
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The test is terrible.

I'll take just the math:
1). Which type? Presburger Arithmetic? Peano Arithmetic?
2). Bushels? Feet? Stupid. 48.21 Bushels. But that's still wrong because the angle of repose for wheat is 45 degrees which means you could actually fit slightly more than 70 bushels..
3). What type of wheat? How old is it? What condition is it in? The density of wheat varies by as much as 8%.
4). What percentage of people will actually pay the tax? A: at least 1.04%

I could go on but i'm bored.
 
Grant said:
Perhaps its good to compare educational standards over the years to see how much progress is being made, if any.

snopes.com: 1895 Exam
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snopes said:
To pass this test, no knowledge of the arts is necessary (not even a nodding familiarity with a few of the greatest works of English literature), no demonstration of mathematical learning other than plain arithmetic is required (forget algebra, geometry, or trigonometry), nothing beyond a familiarity with the highlights of American history is needed (never mind the fundamentals of world history, as this exam scarcely acknowledges that any country other than the USA even exists), no questions about the history, structure, or function of the United States government are asked (not even the standard "Name the three branches of our federal government"), science is given a pass except for a few questions about geography and the rudiments of human anatomy, and no competence in any foreign language (living or dead) is necessary. An exam for today's high school graduates that omitted even one of these subjects would be loudly condemned by parents and educators alike, subjects about which the Salina, Kansas, students of 1895 needed know nothing at all. Would it be fair to say that the average Salina student was woefully undereducated because he failed to learn many of the things that we consider important today, but which were of little importance in his time and place? If not, then why do people keep asserting that the reverse is true? Why do journalists continue to base their gleeful articles about how much more was expected of the students of yesteryear on flawed assumptions? Perhaps some people are too intent upon making a point to bother considering the proper questions.
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It really comes down to preparing students for their lives; The education of 1895 would have prepared you for the life of 1895. I've been a professional Math tutor for years, and work closely with College Professors; the vast majority of people coming in to college are absolute morons. But, it's simply not a matter of the educational standards; I've worked with every major test and standardized exam for pre-algebra through to calculus, and they aren't "easy". If you can pass those tests, you should be able to do well in college. I think the "they're all morons" issue is more to do with people being pressured to get a degree, when they'd normally have no interest in higher learning. It saturates the market with people that did the absolute bare minimum to pass their classes, and had no real desire to excel. It's not a problem with education, it's a problem with society's view of education. A college degree is being misused as a prerequisite for employment, in jobs that really don't need one.
 
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