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The World's Dumbest Person.... Just Your Average American?

scienceblogs.com — This clueless woman from Medina, Ohio got on local TV saying that she thinks Obama is an "Arab" - not a Muslim, mind you, an Arab. She's pretty much an average American - utterly ignorant, entirely incapable of thinking rationally or honestly and blissfully unaware. They may be perfectly nice people, but they are examples of virulent ignorance.

Bury

MakiMaki 104 days ago

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locamama, on 06/28/2008, -4/+17So because one woman is clueless that means the other 260 million Americans are too?
- THES0URCE, on 06/29/2008, -6/+5Yes
- foxhaze, on 06/29/2008, -2/+2Hell yes.
- thejimmyo, on 06/29/2008, -0/+1I think that Ed overstates it by saying "average," but it's still shockingly common:
  
  " WASHINGTON — One in 10 voters believes Barack Obama is Muslim, a mistaken impression that lingers across party lines, a poll showed Wednesday.
  
  Fourteen percent of Republicans, 10 percent of Democrats and 8 percent of independents mistakenly think he is Muslim, according to a survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Just over half of each group correctly identified him as Christian, while about a third said they don't know his religion.
  
  [...]
  
  Conservatives, less educated voters and white evangelical Protestants are likelier to believe Obama is Muslim, as are people from the South, the Midwest and rural areas, the poll showed. Nearly a quarter of white Democrats with unfavorable views of Obama say he is Muslim though overall, blacks are about as likely as whites to hold the misconception."
  
  http://www.ajc.com/highschool/content/news/stories ...
alanocu, on 06/28/2008, -1/+9This is stereotyping. When I visited Brazil, a person said to me "Wow, you aren't fat." Basing 'your average American' on the Jerry Springer lineup and what you see on TV is utterly ignorant, not rational and blissfully unaware.

If we look around at our communities, our media, our local and national governmental activities, we are sure to see many situations that do not seem at all intelligent. We see foolish, destructive and often very sad and tragic circumstances, all created by unwise human decisions and behavior.

It is clear that Americans are rapidly getting more intelligent and disappointing those who would want us dumbed down. Attempts to dumb down Americans cannot succeed because the emergence of intelligence is a natural and inevitable process. And this process is underway now in our society in a very significant way.
- btschul, on 06/29/2008, -0/+2"Attempts to dumb down Americans cannot succeed because the emergence of intelligence is a natural and inevitable process."
  
  Also, because of the interweb
victrola, on 06/29/2008, -1/+8Oh, c'mon, can't you see how self-serving you are being? America is not the only country where ignorant and uneducated people can be found. Go interview people in the lower-income brackets who suffer from underfunded education in just about any country and you'll meet people this dim. (Norway and Finland, you are excused, maybe that is my American ignorance, but I actually do hold a belief that Norway and Finland educate everybody.)

Yeah, she's dumb, alright, but you are really in the wrong to call her "average". Seriously, if she was really an "average American", intelligence-wise, that would mean that the half of the American population who fall beneath her on the bell curve have to be even less intelligent. (I guess if you include livestock in your definition of "the American population", her intelligence might be considered average, but no way is she average in the human population.)
Admit it, you found the dumbest American you could possibly find, and said "hey look! ALL Americans are like this!"

And the fact that you like to do this says a lot more about you than it does about Americans.

P.S. Bush is going away on January 20, Hip Hip Hooray!
- HanFastolfe, on 06/29/2008, -0/+4"Go interview people in the lower-income brackets who suffer from underfunded education in just about any country "
  
  Income brackets have nothing to do with it. I know plenty of people who are in high income brackets who, are basically clueless. Like a one trick pony, they can do one thing really well, but you go over to their house, and the digital clocks (the ones that need set) are blinking from the last power outage. I know a plumber who has a high number of his calls from people who can't manage to use a plunger, and they think he's a miracle worker. I know a wrecker driver who gets calls to change tires on expensive cars, by clueless affluent people. But, hey, makes the economy go I guess.
  - victrola, on 06/29/2008, -0/+3I agree with you completely. I as well have met many people such as you describe. But my question to the op is this; And this differs from non-Americans exactly how?
    
    What fascinates me about articles like these is the voracity with which non-Americans eat them up without question. I'm not offended as an American, I'm just intrigued. What is up with this trend of people in certain countries so desperate to believe the USA is a country of people with IQ's barely above the animal level that they will actually make a hobby out of seeking out news stories that serve as validation for this fantasy?
    We sure are living in interesting times.
  - HanFastolfe, on 06/29/2008, -0/+2@victrola
    
    One of my suppositions is that they suffer from inferiority complex of sorts. We are the big dog on the global stage. A lot of these other nations are used to having certain level of power that we have eclipsed. Just taking our navy into consideration. We have force that can deal with the combined navies of the world. With 11 Aircraft carriers (and their task forces) in service (two in construction) to move around the globe, our nearest competitor is the UK with 3. We put people on the moon, drive remote controlled vehicles on Mars. Then still have time to make the movies/TV shows that dominate global entertainment. Our influence is felt by every nation, everyday. We invented the Internet, and handed out GPS. We donate more of whatever it is that needs donated then any other single nation. All at the same time while maintaining nuclear armed submarines that can extinguish entire nations in only a few hours. What's not to envy/respect/fear especially when most of the rest of the world doesn't really understand us, as much as we don't understand many of them.
    
    It makes some in rest of the world feel a bit better about their own station if the big power is brought a bit lower in their eyes. Instead of build themselves up, the easier route is to tear down others. When I was kid I was one of the tall kids that the smaller kids wanted to prove their mettle by fighting. It meant more to them to challenge me, then it did for me beat their ass.
    In the same token it means more for AQ or some such group to kick us in the shins, then it does for us to `glass parking lot' them.
    
    I too am not offended by their wanting to take every opportunity to disparage us. Although it is thin, and boring by now. If anything I find it an affirmation of American relevancy on the global stage e.g. Take the women FTA from Media, Ohio. She could probably not tell us who the prime minister of say Belgium is. Now take an equally educated woman, same age, same social economic background as the woman from Ohio, but find one in Belgium. That woman, would, know who our president is. The exercise could be applied to S. Korea, or India, or Argentina. Point being, people learn about things that feel are important to them. We, as Americans, don't really rate the rest of the world. As a nation of immigrants we, are, the rest of the world.
    
    We fled a host of dumpy little countries (I'm Swiss/Irish) to build a new nation greater then all the rest. Millions still vote with their feet to get here each year. They know better then, you or I what they are giving up, and the hope of better life that if they had, they would stay for. Sure some of these countries are not as dumpy as when our ancestors left them, but I've been to Europe, I would not want to live there.
    
    It's a jealousy of sorts that they look to us, fine. Some of it has roots in the old socialism/capitalism struggle of the cold war. European nations are not proud the fact that they really can't handle their own collective security (as we all saw how ineffective they were in the Balkans in the `90's). That level of nascent shame, would never be admitted to. It's just easier for many to lash out at whoever the authority figure is rather then deal with their own inferiority (like stand up and do something about it).
    
    I fully confess that the preceding is only one possible theory. Based upon my own personal observations.
- irvman21, on 06/29/2008, -1/+3"Go interview people in the lower-income brackets who suffer from underfunded education in just about any country "
  
  We spend more per capita on education than any other country in the world, except Norway. The problems with education are not due to a lack of funding. Kids aren't going to learn if their parents aren't involved and we have too many parents here that just don't give a *****. This isn't because of anything George Bush did.
satost, on 06/29/2008, -1/+8Mr. Brayton needs a statistics lesson. Saying that the "world's dumbest person" is an average American is like saying that the world's tallest person is average height.
iLemon, on 06/29/2008, -1/+2Why invest so much time into somebody who is so ill-informed? Who is the idiot?
clarkd, on 06/29/2008, -1/+2How the hell is this even on a site that calls itself the Science Blog? I mean I kinda agree with the video except with the fact that this guy keeps hounding this woman. I mean seriously, some people are just stubborn, and the guy should have just given up on her. Anyway, I thought science was presenting your assumptions with massive amounts of statistical data and not just basing your opinion on one person. If anything, Ed Brayton is just as ignorant as the woman, and he fails at science.
kevinisms, on 06/29/2008, -0/+3I hate this smug *****. You're not on my side so you're ignorant/evil/uneducated. Come on. This is one lady in a farmer's market. Is she going to be the one to to bring down your beloved candidate? Why don't you try to talk to some folks who really know their stuff. You know that they will destroy you in a debate and you won't have the guts to put another heavily edited video on your blog.

If you really wanted to "educate" this woman why did you find the need to bring along a camera? Why didn't you just take the time to talk to her at the farmers market?

She did have one thing right. He is just another politician.
EatingPie, on 06/29/2008, -4/+1This is on a science blog? First he criticizes the woman's "ignorance" because she doesn't know specific details about Obama (being ignorant of one thing does not make you completely "ignorant"). Then he expands that to ALL Americans on average (statistics?).

Not one bit of science involved in either statement.

-Pie
- azAZ09, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1I'll break it down for you.
  
  The title on the linked blog page reads: "Dispatches from the Culture Wars, Thoughts from the Interface of Science, Religion, Law and Culture". The author promotes science education, but there is no mandate for every post to be science related.
  Political context, and how people view science, insulate themselves against truth, create, and even propagate misinformation connects to at least 3 of those 4 topics listed in the title, so in that way it is science-related even though there is no requirement for it to be so.
  The original video he links to calls this woman "dumb", and she demonstrates the type of behaviors that people use to insulate unquestioned beliefs from reality.
  
  However, the blog author's point is that to her credit she is not low functioning--she is merely average (maybe he could have said median intelligence), and calls into question the state of U.S. education in the context of shifting culture based on that.
  
  "Science Blogs" is merely hosting the blog, and no more requires a post to be scientific than "Whole Foods" requires the gardening supplies they sell to be edible--even though in either case the name on the storefront would suggest it does.
mrg14x, on 06/29/2008, -0/+1The other 260 million people need to look at these facts and stop whining about everything and start realizing the world is a super competitive place

http://ydito.com/showchannelimages/?Channel=SQ-JE- ...

there is a next button on top to go through each statistic. we are certainly going to be challenged economically in the futue
foxhaze, on 06/29/2008, -3/+1Why are so many of you offended? Most Americans are extremely dumb. Quite clearly, you're all included in that estimate.
coffee200am, on 06/29/2008, -0/+2Can't be any more stupid than some Brits....

http://digg.com/world_news/Poll_Quarter_of_Brits_t ...

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
thejimmyo, on 06/29/2008, -0/+2Nearly half of Americans are of below-average intelligence.
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The World's Dumbest Person.... Just Your Average American?

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