Asserting that one should have evidence of if we're getting dumber is fair. What sort of evidence should one consider in trying to decide the matter? Tests results? Number of high school grads? Is there an absolute as what measurement this is or can the evidence go either way depending on what one chooses to measure? It seems to me that this has been a topic for a number of years and the experts are still divided on what to look at.
Well, it might depend on examples. Have you ever seen Fox's Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader? I made the mistake of watching a few minutes of it while I was setting up the VCR a few weeks ago. It was painful in the extreme. Singer Kelly Pickler (who is destine to become the poster child for dumb blondes, taking it from Jessica Simpson, imho) was being "tested." When asked which family of instruments had the piccolo in it, she chose "percussion" because they both started with "P". I would have thought someone who was in the music business would have some familiarity with musical instrument. But, sadly, no. Then, she was asked while European country's capital was Budapest. She opened her blue eyes wide and declared she thought Europe WAS a country. I'm not sure how, but she settled on "France," even though she wasn't sure France was a country. I turned off the TV and left at that point. If she was acting, she did an excellent job. A friend said she saw Pickler on Ellen the next day, and, yes, she was that dumb.
On Monday the Today program had two people talking about this subject - are we dumber - and the clip of Ms. Pickler was one of their illustrations.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-02-20 06:51 pm (UTC)Well, it might depend on examples. Have you ever seen Fox's Are You Smarter Than a Sixth Grader? I made the mistake of watching a few minutes of it while I was setting up the VCR a few weeks ago. It was painful in the extreme. Singer Kelly Pickler (who is destine to become the poster child for dumb blondes, taking it from Jessica Simpson, imho) was being "tested." When asked which family of instruments had the piccolo in it, she chose "percussion" because they both started with "P". I would have thought someone who was in the music business would have some familiarity with musical instrument. But, sadly, no. Then, she was asked while European country's capital was Budapest. She opened her blue eyes wide and declared she thought Europe WAS a country. I'm not sure how, but she settled on "France," even though she wasn't sure France was a country. I turned off the TV and left at that point. If she was acting, she did an excellent job. A friend said she saw Pickler on Ellen the next day, and, yes, she was that dumb.
On Monday the Today program had two people talking about this subject - are we dumber - and the clip of Ms. Pickler was one of their illustrations.