How Stupid Are We?

[naturegeek]

My friend Anita shared this book/website with me - and so I'm sharing it with all of you because it's awesome:
http://hnn.us/HowStupidAreWe/book.html

I hear so many stupid things being reported as "news" - and I'm not media-bashing, here, I'm talking about people in forums, being interviewed on NPR, in blogs... people get a fleeting impression, it fits with their idea of how it must be, and then before further investigation, they make a decision based on overheard half-truths and outright lies and misinformation that is floating around all over the place.

For example, on NPR, I overheard an interview with a woman who said she's not voting for Obama because he's Muslim. Then she said he's changed religions twice already, and we can't have that kind of lack of loyalty in a president.

For the record, Obama's never been Muslim. He went to a SECULAR (look it up) elementary school in Indonesia, when his family lived there. He was raised, and still is, Christian.

And for the record, he didn't "switch religions" when he left his church recently because of what his pastor was saying. He's just going to a different church. So, if your minister started preaching about things you felt were not in line with your beliefs, would you change your beliefs to stay "loyal" or would you change your church and stay loyal to your beliefs? If your minister started preaching about how you should kill the Jews, would you? (for the record, Obama's minister was not preaching about that - it's just an extreme example, but it scares me about people who I think would follow whatever their ministers told them to do. True Believer Syndrome is alive and well.)

Not that his religion should matter - remember that silly little thing we have called the Constitution? The first amendment, the #1 item on our Bill of Rights? Yeah, that's the one - freedom of religion, and the derived idea of separation of church and state. His religion should have NO bearing on his candidacy for president.

I don't really think we are stupid, though. I think we are LAZY.

It doesn't really take that much effort to find out real information, to sort out the wheat from the chaff. But it does take some. Most of us don't really want to make any effort, get sick of politics long before election day, shut down and roll the dice and pick the one who we like best, for whatever reason. Sometimes it's looks. Sometimes it's personality. Sometimes it's based on rumors we believed about the other candidate(s). Rarely is it a reasoned, researched opinion based on the candidate's actual platform, stand on the issues, ideas, etc. That's how we ended up with EIGHT years of George W. Bush. Eight. What a sad waste.

Voters here, and everywhere, need to NERD UP!! Educate ourselves, dare to read opposing viewpoints and find many sources, and examine the sources - go beyond the sound bites and get real. And Get Smart!!

[naturegeek]

yes - that IS frightening, Luna.

[Luna]

There's some interesting research in social psychology related to how much people like to think deeply about things. I guess there a lot of people who don't really like to think and so they are going to expend as little energy as possible on learning new things and having a detailed, thorough understanding about problems and issues. It's a little frightening.

[VT100]

yes! fear of flipflopping is a bad thing! Similarly, fear of being "weak" on 1) crime 2) communism 3) drugs 4) terrorism or whatever makes people do stupid things. We (America) has more people in jail per capita than any other country. Maybe we need more drug treatment and less jail? maybe? but that might look "weak" so we don't.

[naturegeek]

VT100 - this is insightful and excellent!!

I saved a quote from the Democratic convention a while back (I think the last one) where Bill Clinton responded to some of it with this:
“Strength and Wisdom are not opposing values”
- Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention

I saved it because it really struck a chord - just what you are saying about “Real men don’t think things through” being a new GOP motto.

I, personally, have had more than enough of sound-bite politics. Good discussions/town halls, productive debates, and speeches, plus exploring their websites and reading about the candidates from reliable 3rd parties (I like League of Conservation Voters, for one) gives a much fuller picture of who the candidates are and what they stand for.

But "know-nothing politics" has prevailed in the past, and yes, I'm worried it may prevail again. When people are afraid, either of terrorism or of failing economy and high gas prices, they don't think as clearly.

When political campaigns (on either side) accuse the other side of "flip-flopping" I think that drives me the most crazy. The ability to take in new information and CHANGE YOUR MIND is a GOOD thing, people! I always think of Colbert's speech at the White House Press Club thing, where he said about Bush that he "thinks the same thing on Tuesday as he did on Sunday no matter WHAT happened on Monday"!! HAHAHA. Fear of flip-flopping makes for stupid politics. I remember campaigns when I was a wee tot showing "flip flopping" on issues and I thought it was stupid then! Plus, bills that our representatives vote on are often complex, as are their reasons for voting for or against them - they may agree with the principle behind, but not the methods of a bill they vote against, yet they'll be accused of flip-flopping if they don't vote for or against every bill relating to the same topic, no matter how poorly drafted it is or how many riders are attached.

And now campaigns (and just folks talking about politics) are going back to ad hominem attacks - McCain is "old" - so what you ageist bastards? I don't care how "old" he is, I care what his policies will be. Obama is being lumped with "Celebrities" because we are all sick of celebrities. Newsflash, the American President is always a celebrity, dumbass. I do like Paris Hilton's comeback video that Gabrielle blogged about, though!!

"See you at the debates, bitches!"

[VT100]

Paul Krugman's column today in the NY Times on the subject:
Op-Ed Columnist
Know-Nothing Politics

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: August 7, 2008
So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad!” O.K., I added that last part.
And the debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid.

Now, I don’t mean that G.O.P. politicians are, on average, any dumber than their Democratic counterparts. And I certainly don’t mean to question the often frightening smarts of Republican political operatives.

What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”

In the case of oil, this takes the form of pretending that more drilling would produce fast relief at the gas pump. In fact, earlier this week Republicans in Congress actually claimed credit for the recent fall in oil prices: “The market is responding to the fact that we are here talking,” said Representative John Shadegg.

What about the experts at the Department of Energy who say that it would take years before offshore drilling would yield any oil at all, and that even then the effect on prices at the pump would be “insignificant”? Presumably they’re just a bunch of wimps, probably Democrats. And the Democrats, as Representative Michele Bachmann assures us, “want Americans to move to the urban core, live in tenements, take light rail to their government jobs.”

Is this political pitch too dumb to succeed? Don’t count on it.

Remember how the Iraq war was sold. The stuff about aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds was just window dressing. The main political argument was, “They attacked us, and we’re going to strike back” — and anyone who tried to point out that Saddam and Osama weren’t the same person was an effete snob who hated America, and probably looked French.

Let’s also not forget that for years President Bush was the center of a cult of personality that lionized him as a real-world Forrest Gump, a simple man who prevails through his gut instincts and moral superiority. “Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man,” declared Peggy Noonan, writing in The Wall Street Journal in 2004. “He’s not an intellectual. Intellectuals start all the trouble in the world.”

It wasn’t until Hurricane Katrina — when the heckuva job done by the man of whom Ms. Noonan said, “if there’s a fire on the block, he’ll run out and help” revealed the true costs of obliviousness — that the cult began to fade.

What’s more, the politics of stupidity didn’t just appeal to the poorly informed. Bear in mind that members of the political and media elites were more pro-war than the public at large in the fall of 2002, even though the flimsiness of the case for invading Iraq should have been even more obvious to those paying close attention to the issue than it was to the average voter.

Why were the elite so hawkish? Well, I heard a number of people express privately the argument that some influential commentators made publicly — that the war was a good idea, not because Iraq posed a real threat, but because beating up someone in the Middle East, never mind who, would show Muslims that we mean business. In other words, even alleged wise men bought into the idea of macho posturing as policy.

All this is in the past. But the state of the energy debate shows that Republicans, despite Mr. Bush’s plunge into record unpopularity and their defeat in 2006, still think that know-nothing politics works. And they may be right.

Sad to say, the current drill-and-burn campaign is getting some political traction. According to one recent poll, 69 percent of Americans now favor expanded offshore drilling — and 51 percent of them believe that removing restrictions on drilling would reduce gas prices within a year.

The headway Republicans are making on this issue won’t prevent Democrats from expanding their majority in Congress, but it might limit their gains — and could conceivably swing the presidential election, where the polls show a much closer race.

In any case, remember this the next time someone calls for an end to partisanship, for working together to solve the country’s problems. It’s not going to happen — not as long as one of America’s two great parties believes that when it comes to politics, stupidity is the best policy.

[VT100]

maybe the lenth of the senators term isn't the most important. And I know why they don't use a test really: it has been misused in the past to keep minorities from voting. I don't really know how to cure laziness. kind of sad.

[naturegeek]

I can understand not knowing how long a senator's term is because I remember we've voted to change term lengths and limits a few times for various offices - probably state offices, but then, term lengths don't seem to be the most important thing to know about the government, IMO. The thing that got me is not knowing how many branches of government there were - and along with that, who can declare war. It's the kind of thing that makes erosion of our Constitution so much easier... hint, it's NOT the executive branch that should be declaring war!

I think every citizen should know the basic balance of power, and what is in the constitution (including, of course, all the amendments, which are part of it! The first 10 being our "Bill of Rights") Knowing what guarantees our government has provided for our liberty is the first shield against losing those liberties.

The problem with a test, is that even less people would probably vote... back to the laziness problem. But I do sort of think it's all of our responsibility to both vote and understand what we are voting on and the consequences, and we should take it more seriously. The more complacent and apathetic the populace becomes, the more likely we are to lose the very things that make us that way - a government that follows the rules and operates in the best interests of its citizens. Or should. But if we aren't paying attention, then what?

[VT100]

I understand how some people can forget some details about the government, but for most people to not know how long a senators term is? not know who declares war? pretty sad. Maybe we should make people pass a citizenship test before they can vote.

[Mel]

NG, great post, so thought provoking. If only we could preach beyond the choir!
I guess we all just have to stumble along being little points of light, illuminating truth and stupidity wherever we find it!
And thanks, I needed 5 rabbit holes to fall into - I need to stop sleeping so much!

[naturegeek]

TV news is just not a good source any more. Except a few shows, like "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, which is the only one I can think of off the top of my head where people listen to each other (generally) and have well-thought-out responses to the events of the week (generally) and it doesn't feel agenda-driven... it's on Sunday mornings. PBS can have some good shows, and NPR is a good source of news, too, generally. I say "generally" on all of these because all newscasters are human and therefore all newscasters have bias - but being aware of that helps to sift through things somewhat. I like the internet because if I want to know more, I can search and look at the sources and get lots more. In paper news, the Christian Science Monitor has always been pretty good at providing more depth and back story than most. And regular major newspapers can have very good reporting - generally :) I remember when I first discovered the the LA Times had some great writing and reporting - I was shocked, because I grew up in Southern California, and didn't really expect LA to have such a good paper. I know new owners were trying to make it more of a Hollywood entertainment paper recently - I certainly hope they were beaten back by the staff about that, but I'm not sure (haven't checked the LAT lately). CNN used to be good, but I swear it's as bad or worse than Fox sometimes lately - I think it's because of the whole 24-7 news thing - "if it isn't news, make it news" should be some of those stations' mottos! Annoying. REALLY annoying.

The main point is, don't just believe any newmors (I just made that up - newsXrumors=newmors) that come along and fit in with what you want to believe (those are the most insidious and hard to shake). Question, question, question. Where did that information come from? What evidence is there that it might be true (or not)? Who would benefit from spreading this "newmor"? Anyway, hang in there and seek truth, and don't let the talking heads get you down.