Both dumb and smart people are prone to believing stupid things, and for many people, they’ve learned those stupid beliefs in prestige schools.
What matters is whether those beliefs are true or false, right or wrong. A person of average intelligence who recognizes truth is far better off than a brainiac who believes, for example, that nationalized healthcare is a good idea or that America is no better than any other country.
That doesn’t mean brains don’t help. Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison were brilliant, and that certainly helped them and the other Founders achieve first independence, then the first constitution designed to defend individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Too bad we lost our way.
Gee, I thought the smartest Americans stayed clear of politics.We don’t pay in salary (though the graft is mighty sweet) when we consider a baseball player or CEO of a failing business to be worth 200 times what the leader of the free world makes.Geniuses get praise from the people and their fellow highbrows. Politicians get scorn (mostly well earned).
Do you think a handful of Ivy League mathematicians would take half a year to balance a budget, then not have the equation balance? Does it take a social engineer to figure that if you pay someone not to work, they won’t. I bet there are people in physics labs who could tell you to know how to stop a process before you start it.
Oh, there are a lot of brains out there. They just don’t choose politics.
How many of the founding fathers were Ivy Leaguers? How many of them were farmers and businessmen and “regular” people? Unlike the artist, many Americans understand that common sense does not automatically come with an Ivy League degree. In fact many times the Ivy League degree comes with an astonishing lack of common sense because those receiving them are focused on minutiae and theory instead of broad spectrum and reality.
MisngNOLA,
The founding fathers were probably the most educated people in America at the time. Adams was a Harvard alum, Jefferson went to William and Mary. Franklin and Washington were autodidacts who read widely in history, philosophy and classical literature.
The Founding Fathers were intensely interested in learning and would probably be appalled by our current anti-intellectual attitude.
china, what we’re seeing is not an anti-intellectual attitude, it’s a “smarter-than-thou” attitude predicated strictly on where the “elite” has degrees conferred on them. I venture that the smartest people in America today are not those who are Harvard educated or Yale educated simply by manner of birthright. The backlash is against a type of group-think prevalent in Washington DC which says “I’m in Congress, therefore I must be smarter than you are” when in reality, the really smart people will have nothing to do with the mess that Washington DC has become. It is also a backlash against folks who believe that if you speak with a different accent (unless it’s a British accent of course) that you are an uneducated and ignorant hayseed. The last time I checked, most of the small businesses in this nation were run by non-Ivy League educated persons. These are the businesses which provide real economic growth, and provide actual goods and services to the nation, and not some firm which provides paper profits which vanish like a fart in a whirlwind simply by manipulating stock market transactions and such. My point is that it doesn’t take an Ivy League education to provide intelligence, and that said education doesn’t necessarily guarantee intelligence either.
Yeah, I’d hire the Ms from the U of Phoenix before the MIT grad. What’s MIT got but the finest scientific minds teaching,the most inquisitive student body, and a track record.
A Law grad from Harvard who has been lectured by the best judges in America has nothing over a on line degree grad. And why should I think just because Yale has some of the greatest authors and philosophers that WachamatterU cant compete with their grad student lecturers.
PhD Harvard/PhD U of Guam. Same same
I’m just astounded at how much absolute hatred “liberals” have for the “average” American, and the amount of contempt. This, from people who profess to “have great compassion for their fellow man.” The hypocrisy of it is truly astounding–and disgusting.
It’s just too bad some people are so priggish and self important they can’t laugh at themselves. I know I have come home from a hot ,hard, dirty day at the construction site and have zoned out in front of the tube with a cold beer. The cartoon just makes me laugh, I hardly feel hated.
Lew, that would be fine if those grads were working in their fields of expertise when it comes to Congress. My point is not that those schools don’t turn out fine specimens of their education fields, it’s that many of those non-scientific fields are filled with dissenting opinions on how things work. I could quote you at least 3 or 4 different economic theories of how “the market” works, and give fine examples of “proof” for how each one works. And yet each of those theories wind up with significant flaws when stupid things like human nature, or unexpected natural phenomena insert uncertainties into the theories. And as for the schools themselves, I was accepted into both MIT and Cal-Tech but due to my family’s finacial status, I attended neither. Does that make me ignorant? I have a college degree in business administration, was trained as a nuclear reactor operator, also was trained as an emergency medical first responder, can tear down and rebuild an internal combustion engine in a car, and have many other mechanical and intellectual skills. Am I any the less experienced or intelligent because Harvard or Yale or MIT has not conferred a degree upon me? I daresay I have a more rounded education than 99% of people in the Congress and at least 95% of folks in Washington DC as a whole. But I don’t go around telling everyone that I know what is better for them than they know because I don’t live in their shoes. I also daresay I’m not alone in being more well-rounded than the folks who are the brunt of this backlash.
Okay. Just suppose that the “average American” is exactly as depicted in the above panel. It would still take some real effort on his part to screw things up as badly as Obama or alot of other so-called educated men have done. Being educated does not preclude being stupid. As to our founding fathers, I believe if you research the matter you will find that their learning covered a much broader span of knowledge than is typically taught today. For that matter, check out some of the materiel needed to pass an eighth grade exam in the late 1800s. It’s an eye-opener.
pschearer Premium Member almost 14 years ago
Both dumb and smart people are prone to believing stupid things, and for many people, they’ve learned those stupid beliefs in prestige schools.
What matters is whether those beliefs are true or false, right or wrong. A person of average intelligence who recognizes truth is far better off than a brainiac who believes, for example, that nationalized healthcare is a good idea or that America is no better than any other country.
That doesn’t mean brains don’t help. Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and Madison were brilliant, and that certainly helped them and the other Founders achieve first independence, then the first constitution designed to defend individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Too bad we lost our way.
lewisbower almost 14 years ago
Gee, I thought the smartest Americans stayed clear of politics.We don’t pay in salary (though the graft is mighty sweet) when we consider a baseball player or CEO of a failing business to be worth 200 times what the leader of the free world makes.Geniuses get praise from the people and their fellow highbrows. Politicians get scorn (mostly well earned). Do you think a handful of Ivy League mathematicians would take half a year to balance a budget, then not have the equation balance? Does it take a social engineer to figure that if you pay someone not to work, they won’t. I bet there are people in physics labs who could tell you to know how to stop a process before you start it.
Oh, there are a lot of brains out there. They just don’t choose politics.
myming almost 14 years ago
does the 2nd panel remind anyone of a recent president ?????
biemmezeta almost 14 years ago
Thank-you for not being a regular American. Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you
MisngNOLA almost 14 years ago
How many of the founding fathers were Ivy Leaguers? How many of them were farmers and businessmen and “regular” people? Unlike the artist, many Americans understand that common sense does not automatically come with an Ivy League degree. In fact many times the Ivy League degree comes with an astonishing lack of common sense because those receiving them are focused on minutiae and theory instead of broad spectrum and reality.
chinawanderer almost 14 years ago
MisngNOLA, The founding fathers were probably the most educated people in America at the time. Adams was a Harvard alum, Jefferson went to William and Mary. Franklin and Washington were autodidacts who read widely in history, philosophy and classical literature.
The Founding Fathers were intensely interested in learning and would probably be appalled by our current anti-intellectual attitude.
MisngNOLA almost 14 years ago
china, what we’re seeing is not an anti-intellectual attitude, it’s a “smarter-than-thou” attitude predicated strictly on where the “elite” has degrees conferred on them. I venture that the smartest people in America today are not those who are Harvard educated or Yale educated simply by manner of birthright. The backlash is against a type of group-think prevalent in Washington DC which says “I’m in Congress, therefore I must be smarter than you are” when in reality, the really smart people will have nothing to do with the mess that Washington DC has become. It is also a backlash against folks who believe that if you speak with a different accent (unless it’s a British accent of course) that you are an uneducated and ignorant hayseed. The last time I checked, most of the small businesses in this nation were run by non-Ivy League educated persons. These are the businesses which provide real economic growth, and provide actual goods and services to the nation, and not some firm which provides paper profits which vanish like a fart in a whirlwind simply by manipulating stock market transactions and such. My point is that it doesn’t take an Ivy League education to provide intelligence, and that said education doesn’t necessarily guarantee intelligence either.
lewisbower almost 14 years ago
Yeah, I’d hire the Ms from the U of Phoenix before the MIT grad. What’s MIT got but the finest scientific minds teaching,the most inquisitive student body, and a track record. A Law grad from Harvard who has been lectured by the best judges in America has nothing over a on line degree grad. And why should I think just because Yale has some of the greatest authors and philosophers that WachamatterU cant compete with their grad student lecturers. PhD Harvard/PhD U of Guam. Same same
dwandelt Premium Member almost 14 years ago
I’m just astounded at how much absolute hatred “liberals” have for the “average” American, and the amount of contempt. This, from people who profess to “have great compassion for their fellow man.” The hypocrisy of it is truly astounding–and disgusting.
america4ever almost 14 years ago
Dwandelt: It’s both possible to have great compassion for your fellow man and to have a sense of humor.
dabigbadwolf almost 14 years ago
It’s just too bad some people are so priggish and self important they can’t laugh at themselves. I know I have come home from a hot ,hard, dirty day at the construction site and have zoned out in front of the tube with a cold beer. The cartoon just makes me laugh, I hardly feel hated.
MisngNOLA almost 14 years ago
Lew, that would be fine if those grads were working in their fields of expertise when it comes to Congress. My point is not that those schools don’t turn out fine specimens of their education fields, it’s that many of those non-scientific fields are filled with dissenting opinions on how things work. I could quote you at least 3 or 4 different economic theories of how “the market” works, and give fine examples of “proof” for how each one works. And yet each of those theories wind up with significant flaws when stupid things like human nature, or unexpected natural phenomena insert uncertainties into the theories. And as for the schools themselves, I was accepted into both MIT and Cal-Tech but due to my family’s finacial status, I attended neither. Does that make me ignorant? I have a college degree in business administration, was trained as a nuclear reactor operator, also was trained as an emergency medical first responder, can tear down and rebuild an internal combustion engine in a car, and have many other mechanical and intellectual skills. Am I any the less experienced or intelligent because Harvard or Yale or MIT has not conferred a degree upon me? I daresay I have a more rounded education than 99% of people in the Congress and at least 95% of folks in Washington DC as a whole. But I don’t go around telling everyone that I know what is better for them than they know because I don’t live in their shoes. I also daresay I’m not alone in being more well-rounded than the folks who are the brunt of this backlash.
Rocky Premium Member almost 14 years ago
Okay. Just suppose that the “average American” is exactly as depicted in the above panel. It would still take some real effort on his part to screw things up as badly as Obama or alot of other so-called educated men have done. Being educated does not preclude being stupid. As to our founding fathers, I believe if you research the matter you will find that their learning covered a much broader span of knowledge than is typically taught today. For that matter, check out some of the materiel needed to pass an eighth grade exam in the late 1800s. It’s an eye-opener.