Are we really this dumb?

Originally posted by neo5842
It is said that the MSM, and our governments have been and are in the process of dumbing us down, so we become good little workers and stay within the law.

Well I was sent an email from a good friend, headed they are all around us. So i had a good look, and well when i picked myself up off the floor from laughing at some of the comments posted, it started me thinking. Can people really be this dumb, or is it part of the dumbing down set by the MSM, and government. I will past them here and you can decide for your self, I hope this works as this is the first thread i have been able to post, fingers crossed. Have fun.

They walk among us......................
IDIOT SIGHTING #1
My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a £5 note. Our total was £4.20, so I also handed her a twenty pence piece.
She said, 'you gave me too much money.'
I said,'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me £1 back.'
She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request.
I did so, and he handed me back the 20 pence and said 'We're sorry but we don't do that kind of thing.'
The clerk then proceeded to give me back 80 pence in change..

IDIOT SIGHTING #2
We had to have the garage door repaired. The GARADOR repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener.
I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one GARADOR made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower.
He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.'
I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4 and he said, 'NOOO, it's not. Four is larger than two..' We haven't used Garador repair since. Happened in Moor Park, Nr Watford, UK

IDIOT SIGHTING #3
I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbour call the Highways Department to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road.
The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'
Story from Potters Bar, Herts, UK

IDIOT SIGHTING #4
My daughter went to a local Kentucky Fried and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.'
He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce.
From South Oxhey, Herts, UK

IDIOT SIGHTING #5
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an Irish airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your Knowledge?'
To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?'
He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'
Happened Luton Airport, UK

IDIOT SIGHTING #6
The stoplight on the corner beeps when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged co-worker of mine.
She asked if I knew what the beeping was for.
I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red.
Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!'
She is a Local County Counciller employee in Harrow, Middlesex, UK

IDIOT SIGHTING #7
When my husband and I arrived at Our Local Ford dealer to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door.
As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked.
'Hey,' I announced to the Fitter/Mechanic, 'its open!'
His reply, 'I know. I already did that side.'
This was at the Ford dealership in St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK.

This thread is purely subjective and I honestly believe it is pushing some wrong assumptions on its readers.
I don't know. This is ATS and I am used to threads acting as preludes for another round of that beating on the dead horse of threads against religion etc etc.
Maybe this is one of them.
I mean, so many "clever" people seem to post here all having one thing in common, believing that religions are for stupid people..

That woman that coudln't identify if the moon was bigger than an elephant is not some serious issue pointing towards that something is wrong with our society. How many women you expected to be able to know the size of the moon all those milenia that has passed in the human history and women still, beyond their ignorance of various matters, kept succeeding in raising offsrpings that later were becoming succesfull? You would expect the size of the moon to be of course known to an astronomer wouldn't you? That's his job anyway. Would you expect him to be able to know how to raise kids properly too? How about if that same woman knows how to raise her own kids properly?

[edit on 8-1-2010 by spacebot]

Great Thread S&F

Heres one example of dumb people which i witnessed myself...

i was driving to a remote cottage for a weekend with my (now ex) wife,
it was middle of winter and it was snowing and dark...

Here in Finland (and probably elsewhere too) we have wooden poles on side of the road about 50 meters apart to guide snowploughs to stay on the road, those poles are about 1m in height and have light reflecting tape on the top) anyways

i was just wondering why my wife was so quiet when she just started to talk utterly amazed :
Wife: isnt technology amazing
Me: yes it is...what are you talking about?
Wife: look at those poles at the side of the road... how do they know that a car is passing ...
Me: what? what do you mean?
Wife: well its amazing that they light up when car is coming and shutdown instantly when the car passes them.....

after that was really close that i didnt loose control of my car and crashed to the woods because of serious LMAO,guess what was her colour of hair??


[edit on 8-1-2010 by zoomer72]

reply to post by spacebot


I can see your point, but the thread is to point out how we are being dumbed down so we comply with government agenda. the one about the woman and the moon/elephant story was a hoax, but it was a good way to show how some people can be. I am an armature astronomer, and have been a single dad, i raised 4 of my sons on my own, so it doesn't always work that way. Like i said its about how we are being controlled and manipulated that's all.

reply to post by Jussi

I'm thinking there actually is no such thing as "stupidity" - first of all, it cannot be even defined... what does it mean? To be stupid? -> Not to know, what one generally would consider something, that should be known (?) - now what is that? Can that be defined - no it cannot..

Obviously, from so many examples, being stupid means following protocols. If your protocol doesn't address (answer) the situation - you're stuck "stupid". That is, non-creative behavior is stupid.



[edit on 8-1-2010 by DangerDeath]

Originally posted by Kaytagg
Listen to c-span in the morning, when listeners call in to voice their opinions.. Jesus, it's sad.

We're not necessarily stupid, we're just largely atomized (separated from having a meaningful relationship with other people. The average American has 1 best friend, or 0 best friends) which makes it easier for elites to propagandize the public.

And.. It's working.. It's working very well.

I think you've just epitomised this entire thread with the first response.

Surely, you can only have 1 best friend, the others are just friends. Your best friend being the ONE you like the most. How many people have 2 best men at their wedding?

I have many many friends, but only one best friend.

[edit on 8-1-2010 by nik1halo]

Originally posted by spookfish

Originally posted by neo5842
reply to post by Mountainmeg

 

Like they were steeling it.

what happened to common scenes, and basic education...

What the kids thought they were covering it in steel?

What's 'common scenes'? My education is not up to it.

Sorry couldn't resist

OH NO I had to edit out a spelling mistake!

[edit on 7-1-2010 by spookfish]

I was actually going to comment on this point myself when I finished reading the thread, but as you've mentioned it, I must say that it's totally ironic that this is a thread regarding dumbing down and poor education and when you read through, you notice just how many spelling and grammar mistakes there are. Some could be explained as typos, which are fine, we all make mistakes, but many are purely crap spelling.

(BTW, you have no idea how closely I checked this for mistakes )

Idiot Alert!

I stayed over at my brother-in-laws house last night and when I woke up this morning he'd left a note for me saying

"Water pipes have frozen so we've only got hot water as long as the hot water is kept on"

So my immediate reaction was to check for myself and there was no hot nor was there any cold, so I immediately switched off the boiler before it blew up...

Later on today he came back from work and started F'ing and blinding at me saying it was my fault we've got no hot water, I tried explaining that the hot water tank is now empty but he can't quite get his head around this and insists the water stopped because of me. LOL

reply to post by MidnightDStroyer


Originally posted by crimsongod21
"ps sorry not a very good speller..... un-educated i guess ha ha ha ha


Well, being uneducated may actually be a good thing. At least it's better than being half-assed educated, as already pointed out in this thread"

I guess my point of sarcasm was a little less obvious than i intended, what i was getting at is this, It doesnt matter for the sake of intellegence if you can orate or write well. That is no real telling of weather some one is intellegent or "dumb". Any one can write or speak well, i went to school with people that could do both of those at a leval that severly put me to shame, but when the same kids were asked to point places out on maps or to explain simple theory they were unable too. im not saying that these kids were dumb, im just saying that intelegence is more than how do you say skin deep.

The real proof of intelegence is the ability to search out answers and to not let others tell you what is real. For example i have had people at a car dealership tell me that my has a v6 inside of it when in fact my car was never made with a v6 only a inline 4. now if i were to have just taken the mechanic at his word i would think that i was driving a v6 acura integra. (this was back when i first got the car, i didnt know much about it other than it was a good start for modding for "driving" reasons.) but instead of just saying ok cool i have a v6 i went home and did hours of looking into the exact make and model of my new car.

It goes the same for people who are of voting age, you could listen to what all the mud slinging ads say and make a choice (as a lot of people do) or you can spend a few hours some times days looking up each option weighing weather there real actions and choices match with your ideals.

in reality its not a matter of education that is only a small part of what makes up intelegence its truely based in our ability to ask questions to ask who, what, why, when and make our own choices from these concrete facts.

Its the same thing many of us do here at ATS every day, we look at what is provided ask for the hard facts if you will and try to make the best choice out of the info given.

i hope my ramblings were some what followable im not feeling the best getting sick as it goes. i would love to hear any one comment on the things i have said so far im a little suprised that maybe my theory for voting hasnt at the minimal upset some people. It really did when i stated it back in high school but then again maybe it was due to the fact that most of them wouldnt of been able to vote via my standards.

thank you and good day/night depending on your location in this universe

reply to post by neo5842

Are we really this dumb?

Oh yes I can believe some are really that dumb, especially the one's from Watford and St. Albans.

Check this out for stupidity:

Emergency 999 call over cat playing with string

A woman called 999 to tell police that her cat was playing with string and it was annoying her.

The odd call was revealed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to highlight the problem of nuisance 999 calls, particularly over the holiday period.

The woman called 999 over Christmas to report that her cat was playing with string and it was 'doing her head in.'

It is not known exactly how police responded, but we can guess.

Another caller over the Christmas period phoned police to say he was stuck on a patch of ice in a street in Bolton and was too scared to go forwards or backwards.
A spokesperson for GMP said of the 1,377 999 calls it received between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day: "Research tells us that a very high percentage of these will not actually be related to an emergency.

"I urge people to think first and only dial 999 in an emergency, where there is threat to life or property, so that we can focus on the real emergencies."

[edit on 8-1-2010 by john124]

[edit on 8-1-2010 by john124]

reply to post by Mountainmeg

Here's the American version. And, yes, I do believe the average person has been dumbed down this much.


NEW YORK - resident Kathy Evans brought humiliation to her friends and family
When she set a new standard for stupidity with her appearance
On the popular TV show, 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.'

Evans, a 32-year-old wife and mother of two, got stuck on the first question
And proceeded to make what fans of the show are dubbing 'the absolute worst use
Of lifelines ever.' After being introduced to the show's host
Meredith Vieira, Evans was posed with a typically easy initial $100 question.

The question was: 'Which of the following is the largest?'

A) A Peanut
B) An Elephant
C) The Moon
D) Hey, who you calling large?

Immediately Mrs. Evans was struck with an all consuming panic as she did not
Readily know the answer. 'Hmm, oh boy, that's a toughie,' said Evans,
As Vieira did her level best to hide her disbelief.
'I mean, I'm sure I've heard of some of these things before,
But I have no idea how large they would be.'

Evans made the decision to use the first of her three lifelines, the 50/50.
Answers A and D were removed, leaving her to decide which was
Bigger, an elephant or the moon. However, faced with an incredibly
Easy question, Evans still remained unsure.

'Oh! It removed the two I was leaning towards!' exclaimed Evans...
'Darn. I think I better phone a friend.'
Mrs. Evans asked to be connected with her friend
Betsy, who is an office assistant.

'Hi Betsy! How are you? This is Kathy! I'm on TV!' said Evans,
Wasting the first seven seconds of her call.
'Ok, I got an important question. Which of the following is the largest?
B, an elephant, or C, the moon. 15 seconds Hun.'
Betsy quickly replied that the answer was C, the moon.
Evans proceeded to argue with her friend for the remaining ten seconds.
'Betsy, are you sure?' said Evans. 'How sure are you? Duh, that can't be it.'

To everyone's astonishment, the moronic Evans declined to take her friend's
Advice. 'I just don't know if I can trust Betsy. She's not all that bright.
So I think I'd like to ask the audience,' said Evans.

Asked to vote on the correct answer, the audience returned 98% in favor of
Answer C, 'The Moon.' Having used up all her lifelines,
Evans then made the dumbest choice of her life.
'Wow, seems like everybody is against what I'm thinking,' said the
Too-stupid-to-live Evans. 'But you know, sometimes you just got to go with
Your gut. So, let's see... I'm going to have to go with B, an elephant. Final answer.'

Evans sat before the dumbfounded audience, the only one waiting with bated breath -
And was told that she was wrong, and that the answer was in fact, C, 'The Moon.'

Wow, just WOW!!! Was this a stunt or real... any video of it, I would love to see it!

reply to post by spookfish


I believe "I could care less" is a common saying. It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense though. It sort of implies there's more room to care less, rather than it's at the bottom of your caring priorities, which is usually what people are meaning when they say this. "I couldn't care less" seems to be a more accurate statement for the message the people are trying to convey.

Also, with the, "For all intents and purposes" deal, a lot of people don't know what the actual statement is and actually say, "for all intensive purposes." It's kind of funny how often I'll catch people saying this.

reply to post by liketheplague


I totally agree with you on this. It's all about really caring... If people don't care to be more informed and educated this is what happens!

I have found that people around me are very obscure and stupid. I still don't know how I managed to be the way I am... I think it's my hunger for reading that has made me this way. Even though it's socially unacceptable.

Its not about the movies or the drug use its about menatlity. I live in Belgium (Europe) and we are overall smart people with some dumb people like in every country, but we are pretty modest compared to Americans. Russians for example are even more intelligent then us and more strikt.

I believe its the fault of your media, all the advertising and all of that proud being an American bull#, you guys have tunnel vision because you think your the greatest.

I don't want to # on your country but its a fair observation I believe. Capitalism and too much dreaming turned you into this. I'm not saying dreaming is bad, but sometimes the individual needs to make room for the whole. I'm not saying go commy style but atleast try to find another system.

Belgium is I would say socialistic but at the same time quite capitalistic and I believe we have a very good balance between consumerism and human life.

frankly consuming in America goes above humans.

You can't really compare Belgium to the United States, New York City alone has more than 1.5 times as many people in it then Belgium. Approximately 11 million people vs. approximately 19 million.

Plus you don't have to worry about your defenses, the stupid Americans take care of that one for you and have rescued you anytime things have gotten tough in the past, like when Germany took over, twice...

"Germany invaded Belgium in 1914 as part of the Schlieffen Plan and much of the Western Front fighting of World War I occurred in western parts of the country. Belgium took over the German colonies of Ruanda-Urundi (modern day Rwanda and Burundi) during the war and they were mandated to Belgium in 1924 by the League of Nations. In the aftermath of the first World War, the Prussian districts of Eupen and Malmedy were annexed by Belgium in 1925, thereby causing the presence of a German-speaking minority. The country was again invaded by Germany in 1940 during the Blitzkrieg offensive and occupied until its liberation in 1945 by the Allies."

en.wikipedia.org...

We have over 300 million people, including some of the stupidest on the face of the Earth coming here every year with a public school system that teaches to the lowest common denominator in countless different languages.

I'm not surprised that Belgium scores higher, I'm only surprised that with the benefit of a virtually homogeneous society and an academically oriented education system, not to mention a big skirt to hide under when things get scary in the world, that Belgium is just barely able to score better than us.

You should be blowing us away, in fact the biggest export you should have should be scholars from Belgium and we should all be trying to get one.

reply to post by factbeforefiction


What you bring up is very poignant to the conversation.

The ability of a smaller population and a much more regimented curriculum in a smaller population.

The US has a population now in the neighborhood of 310-350 million people. How can you compare that to a country of only 15 million?

Yes, we have our problems when it comes to education, what country does not?

That being said, we as a nation need to remember that to try to homogenize our environment, we need to prevent hamstringing our best and brightest. I am only a mediocre brain, we need to push our best and brightest, not shoe horn them in a homogeneous mix!

[edit on 1/8/2010 by endisnighe]

Just to loosen up - a bit. The Chasers again, this time in the USA



Enjoy

reply to post by neo5842


Heh. Yeah, we are really that dumb. Here's my idiot sighting story.

I was in the armys Professional Leadership Course a few years ago.
We were all handed different assignments to teach a class to the other soldiers. Each assignment had listed at the top of the page the time required for the length of our classes.
Mine indicated a time of .50 hours. So, being a math genius,



I realized that my class should last 30 minutes. Well, I was given a failing grade because I did not make the class last 50 minutes.

I tried very hard and respectfully to tell the moron with more stripes than me on his collar that the .50 meant 30 minutes, not 50 minutes.

Another soldier's assignment required .5 hours to teach a class. Heh.
So much for attention to detail and uniformity, eh? The guy was supposed to teach a class that did indeed require about 30 minutes to teach, but he was cut off after 5 minutes. lol.

MAJOR FAIL!!!

I had idiocy in action a few years ago at Mcdonalds... I cant eat pork products, and wanted a PLAIN egg mcmuffin. I said, simply, no ham please on it. I get " But gee- it isnt ham, it's Candian bacon!". I say, "NO meat". I get looks like I just spoken Chinese.

More recently, (and BTW- these are the BIG ones, I have stupidity happen like this happen all the time) I went to Wal mart. I picked up soe 'on sale' candy canes, some food, some non food stuff. I am on disability, so I get the eye watering amount of $16 in foodstamps. I get to the checkout with what SHOULD have been $2 in candy canes, food, and nonfood, and meet the most vacuous woman I have seen in some time. First, the candy canes, resplendent with a HUGE '75% OFF' sign above them, weren't being rung up right. I said something. 10 minutes later, I was told I was seeing things. So, no candy canes. Then... Instead of this stupid, stupid woman ringing up everything and then splitting it food and nonfood so I can pay with my foodstamps, and the rest in cash- she cant do that. I am trying VERY hard to be nice during this, so I just dont reach over and thrash her... I kinda say "oh, wow.. for a second, I almost had a heart attack from the scare of no foodstamps". What does this genius say? "are you alright? are you actually having a heart attack?" She hasnt been there since I have gone back, thankfully.

They walk among us, but where do they get the ability????

Ahaha, made me laugh! I go by the rule of 'stupid questions get stupid answers' and I love to play off gullible people... I love people telling me I work at a store that Im shopping at... they get a long description of where they can find their products!

Originally posted by Psychoses
In response to your reply,

I don't use an Iphone. My personal choice is my Nokia N95.

I can back up my hard drive faster than you can post a laughing emoticon.

The point I was trying to illustrate is that older people are more likely to have trouble adapting to newer technology. There are very smart and knowledgable people I have met who cannot attach a picture to an email message. They don't try to use their brain either and just sit there with arms flapped, looking helpless.

Just because I'm older don't ever think I haven't embraced the new technology. If they took technology out of the equation, us older people would be much more adept at survival than the younger generation. The reason for this is simple.

WE CAN THINK!

Firstly, I wasn't taking a stab at older generations or implying they cannot use technology. You are just ignoring that these are different worlds where people in general are much more reliant on technology than they were even 10 years ago. Just because people prefer and find it more convenient to use their iPhones to work these things out does not mean they cannot do it themselves. Lazy and distracted? Yes. Dumb people who cannot think for themselves? In most cases, no.

In regards to the survival thing, I agree. Although, one could argue that the older you are the more life experience you have and therefore will naturally be better at surviving in unfamiliar situations.

If the young people today had their phones and computers and their calculators taken away, they would be like like zombies, unable to function.

I disagree. It is all about distraction. The young of today are much more easily distracted by technology than those of the past. Of course there are exceptions, but most are not idiots that cannot think for themselves. They have been conditioned to believe they don't need to think about things critically using their own common sense.

I believe this has a lot to do with the fact that kids are not being raised properly by their parents. Schools, the media and state authorities are the ones raising kids and telling them how they should think. If half the people that have children actually knew how to raise them properly, you wouldn't see this dumbing down of society on such a large scale.

[edit on 9/1/2010 by Dark Ghost]

yes, we are that dumb....well most anyway