Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Experts v. College dropouts--Guess who wins!

Yes, the college dropouts!

It seems that anti-intellectualism and dumbing down are alive and well in the US as my previous post on this topic pointed out, but it is REALLY bad at how DUMB people can be as the Vanity Fair Editorial The Creeping Danger of Conspiracy Theorists points out:
But some of the latest polling data does seem to show that at least 30 percent of American citizens—and maybe lots more—are as dumb as a bag of inbred hammers.

The poll in question is a delightful one put out this week by Public Policy Polling, a concern ranked by Fordham University as the best out of 28 organizations for the accuracy of its national pre-election estimates in 2012. This time, the folks at P.P.P. decided to have a bit of fun, and rather than polling about which political party is up or down, opted to ask Americans about their beliefs in conspiracy theories. I can just imagine the laughter at the P.P.P. offices when they started putting together the questions.
Yes, you can find out how dumb and hoodwinked you are if you are able to actually read (and understand) the editorial.

As the editorial ends:
Yes, we have become scientific and political illiterates, and no nation can survive on a bedrock of such delusional stupidity. Of course, the 26 percent (or more) won’t believe me, if they manage to read this. I’ll just be deemed an “elitist” for daring to suggest that demon science and data, rather than ridiculous conspiracy theories, should be used to judge reality. So, it may be a losing battle, but we should all try. I don’t want to be forced, someday, to stand by as the rest of the world renames our nation “America the Ignorant.”
I couldn't agree more.

No comments:

Post a Comment