The average american...

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Medic
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The average american...

I really hope the majorety in USA are smarter than this one:

http://www.sol.no/klipps/video/hva_er_ikke_europa_et_land

Scout
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Haha. What an airhead.

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SAS_MB
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sure... not that bright...but hey! What do you expect from a country that call their baseball series the World series. If another country starts the World series in any sport...they invite other contries Lol

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SAS_Bajorq
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"Someone slept 5th grade" - But probably not all represent this level of knowledge.

50cal_Soldier
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Through extensive theoretical research and brutal physical/mental examination (you dont wanna know) of this subspecies, i hereby announce that this video does infact show the intelligence level of an average american citizen.

*ducks* Biggrin

Scout
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sure... not that bright...but hey! What do you expect from a country that call their baseball series the World series. If another country starts the World series in any sport...they invite other contries Lol

Naw, thats because we have the only teams in the world worth a buck. And we pay better than Domican Rep., Puerto Rico, Japan, and the list goes on. Go DODGERS!!!!

Noli Mi Tangere!!! Don't Tread On Me!!!

Cara
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Hahaha MB, I've always wondered about the 'world series' thing... never could understand it either Blum 3

Spidey01
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Honestly Medic, I'm not surprised, the stereotypical dumb blonde on a country bobkins voice aside. A virtue of our country only having about a 230 year history and being larger then most countries, the average American is a total dipstick about foreign environments.

I can still remember when I was in the youth group at Church, we were divided into two groups, the 6th graders and the 7th and 8th graders, then divided again into boys and girls groups. One of the 8th graders in my group (a year my senior), could barely read or write. In England, I believe that he would correspond roughly to being in Year 9 or Year 10 in terms of age. I'm not sure what the average UK school system introduces at a given stage.

We are a nation of fat, stupid people, but we do have some intellectual geniuses. Just take a look at some of the fun projects students have cooking over at MIT.

ESCRT
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Spidey, most of the "american" geniuses at american universities are from other countries, mostly from Europe, Russia or Asia. American universities pay rather much for talented people and you have the chance to get into a high positon at young age. But America itself doesn't do a great deal to breed its own high-educated elite, but relies on attracting ppl from other countries with good conditions.

Those who believe to be something, have stopped to become something

Spidey01
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Thanks for rubbing it in Escrt B:

ESCRT
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Always a pleasure Wink

Those who believe to be something, have stopped to become something

SAS_JB
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Hey give the girl a break, she is a blond you know. :roll:

MaverickH1
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Spidey, most of the "american" geniuses at american universities are from other countries, mostly from Europe, Russia or Asia. American universities pay rather much for talented people and you have the chance to get into a high positon at young age. But America itself doesn't do a great deal to breed its own high-educated elite, but relies on attracting ppl from other countries with good conditions.

You can believe that if it makes you feel better. But it's not completely true.

We do have a lot of foreigners that come here to use our secondary education system, and most of them are extremely dedicated and very book smart as a result. That doesn't mean we don't have plenty of very smart people that are American.

We certainly have our fair share of airheads, though.

Personally, I didn't know what country's capital was Budapest. I think trivia like that is mostly irrelevant to the course of my life and my career. Think about it... what practical reason do I have to know the capitals of all the countries in the world? I'm going to be a Mechanical Engineer, not a traveler, politician, school teacher, etc. I'll focus on how to improve simple mechanical designs, and I'll let other people worry about which trivia questions to put on a game show. Wink

Valroe
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Spidey, most of the "american" geniuses at american universities are from other countries, mostly from Europe, Russia or Asia. American universities pay rather much for talented people and you have the chance to get into a high positon at young age. But America itself doesn't do a great deal to breed its own high-educated elite, but relies on attracting ppl from other countries with good conditions.

This utterly and complete BS.

The united states of america has forged some of the greatest minds in the world.

J. Robert Oppenheimer
Steven Pinker
Joseph Murray
Ernest O. Lawrence
Barbara McClintock
Edwin Hubble
Marie-Claire King
Edward Witten
Dawn Wright

Just to mention a few GREAT american scientists.

And who do you think teaches these so called European "top students"?
You guessed it, American Professors.

Not to mention NASA`s Earth Observation System. If the USA had not launched that program we wouldn`t know even 2 percent of what we know about our own planet today.

This is a heads up to everyone who thinks USA solely consists of inbred rednecks and gun crazy christian fanatics.

I say THANK YOU America.

(hold for applause :P)

ESCRT
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Those who believe to be something, have stopped to become something

MaverickH1
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The problem with studies is that they get to study whomever they want, and then pick out the results that they want to use. The resulting "statistics" can tell a lie just like any person can. What's the saying, again? "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Anyhow, I do believe our educational system is spiraling downward. The trend is obvious in that we spend more money on education now than we ever have, but all signs point to the reality that the outcome is dropping. Because the AVERAGE American is so worried about the American Idol competition, they don't care about the Constitution. Our system ALLOWS people to be idiots as much as it allows people to be geniuses.

That in no way, shape, or form translates into your comment about how "MOST" geniuses here in the states are from other countries. It cannot be overemphasized how important common sense is to complement book smarts, and on that I question how "genius" many of the foreigners are. One of the Arab guys I went to school with was a book genius, but he didn't know how to use a vacuum cleaner. An Asian guy I lived with knew all kinds of stuff about computers, but stated things like "That's why I went to Georgia Tech, because Virginia Tech is so dangerous". This was after we had a discussion about the VT shootings and such. It was hard to get him to understand that practically speaking, GT and VT are identical in levels of security and risk. And so on, and so on.

Odds are that the US will continue to lag behind in book smarts for a quite a few years until some things change.

We have a bunch of idiots here, for sure. But we still have a lot of very gifted people as well.

**And I did a face-palm when she said "I kind of thought Europe was a country" too Lol Even so, I will pose the same hypothetical question to you that I posed before: If she is a brain surgeon, what practical reason does she have to know the difference between a continent and a country?

Spidey01
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I wonder how many people asked, "Is Japan a continent or a country?" after Pearl Harbour was attacked one December morning.

ESCRT
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The problem with studies is that they get to study whomever they want, and then pick out the results that they want to use. The resulting "statistics" can tell a lie just like any person can. What's the saying, again? "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."

Haha, a teacher of mine used to say: "Don't trust the statistics unless you faked them yourself." I as a scientist often come to a point where i am tempted to interpret data in a certain direction.... Most (un?)fortunately for my career i am still being objective though Wink

I do believe our educational system is spiraling downward.

Btw, i don't think this is solely a US american problem.

We have a bunch of idiots here, for sure. But we still have a lot of very gifted people as well.

Very true. And that goes for every country out there.

Even so, I will pose the same hypothetical question to you that I posed before: If she is a brain surgeon, what practical reason does she have to know the difference between a continent and a country?

We are talking about very basic knowledge here. You have to feed peoples brains with knowledge so they can decide what they want to be or not to be. How is a little kid supposed to know if he wants to be a brain surgeon, a carpenter, an architect or whatever in his future life..... There are certain standards of basic knowledge that everyone should have, at least that's my arrogant opinion. But maybe i am wrong and old-fashioned. Maybe Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is not a horror scenario but the ultimate solution for mankind....

Those who believe to be something, have stopped to become something

Scout
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Americas the best! From its airhead blondes to its great scientists. Haters! Lol "And thats all I have to say about that!"

Noli Mi Tangere!!! Don't Tread On Me!!!

SAS_Sniper
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Come on now Gentlemen lets not bash one country based on one stereotypical Blonde.

The USA has one of the worlds best education systems (next to the UKs OFC).

All countries no matter who they are have their highs and lows. Just because the USA is regarded by some minority of all Rednecks being the representatives of their nation. Then we are in trouble.

Just remember that German has their country redneck aswell as the UK chav.

But hey that video was very funny lol. It reminds me of this one i got in my email.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJfr35gXEoc

or this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ12Ry-hD6I

or this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ytn8uplERY

or this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU6AVtQethw

or this one real good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SFpZlKBvY8

SAS_Capt_Sniper

Head of Recruitment & Tactical Training

GCHQ - 22nd SAS Elite Virtual Regiment

MaverickH1
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We are talking about very basic knowledge here. You have to feed peoples brains with knowledge so they can decide what they want to be or not to be. How is a little kid supposed to know if he wants to be a brain surgeon, a carpenter, an architect or whatever in his future life..... There are certain standards of basic knowledge that everyone should have, at least that's my arrogant opinion. But maybe i am wrong and old-fashioned. Maybe Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is not a horror scenario but the ultimate solution for mankind....

Absolutely. And she probably knew that to pass a test in 5th grade, or she said "I don't care about that crap, I want to do something else with my life". But as you certainly know, our brains often dispose of old data that we determine to be irrelevant. Couple that with the anxiety she must have been feeling while being on a TV show, and you can get a mess up like that. In an extreme case, remember the lady who answered that elephants were larger than the moon? You know she didn't believe that!

We all do dumb things. We all say dumb things. The really unlucky ones get caught on film. Lol

Spidey01
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After parsing the Wikipedia article Escrt, I think that brave new world looks twice as likely then it looked back in the '30s. At least from an American perspective anyway, since I'm not familiar with English cultural norms of the period. Huxley would've seen an America populated by people that either grew up during the roaring 20s or participating in it... and perhaps, we're heading towards another roaring such period in a less "Tommy gun" filled way.

The USA is a good place to learn for those who WANT to learn, but I'm sure many other countries are as well. American culture is now having to deal with some what of a reversal of 'modern' life. Things that were once a topic for outcasts and wizards will become daily toys in the coming century, or society (in any equally developed country) will fail to keep pace with technology. The outcasts will be the old types that don't understand how to USE technology, rather then the freaks who figured out how to make technology dance being the outcasts of society.

Smart people are everywhere in every shape and size, technology continually is dumbed down for the rest. 10 years ago, it would be permissible for someone in my age group to know nothing about computers, unless it was job-related. 10 years from now, if they can't cut, copy, and paste, they are going to be stupid. Today people who don't own computers are more odd then people who actually know how to use one (which usually are people who still don't know how).

However, all that push from the world around us, ain't going to help with the intellectual problems. Asking students questions of history, is no good. You will learn a fair bit of history in the American school system, but unless you "Like history" (werido!) it is going to be a random jumble of half facts in the end. It's always been that kind of way in every culture, from todays America all the way to before Ancient Rome.

There is what you have got to learn, what they make you learn, and what you want to learn.

US schools force you into the middle option. If it goes beyond the "Three Rs", it is more so a question of the Spaghetti process IMHO. (Throw enough at them, something has got to stick). Everything else is usually acquired because they have to learn it, like how to pay the rent on time or drive a car. If the person likes a topic, they may choose to learn it.

All my knowledge about history, military, and technological topics, is because it "Interested" me intellectually. Most Americans are preoccupied with doing whatever they please without a care. Average -> watch football, drink beer, and ogle the cheer leaders; Me -> Analyse the tactical implications of a play, while watching the cheer leaders :-D.

People who take an interest in more purely intellectual matters then practical ones, are a rare element of the human population. In my experience, there are a lot of stupid people -- American, British, Russian, German, Chinese, and every where else. They out number the "Freaks" and always will. It might sound Imperialistic, but I think at certain times throughout history, one nation has always been the "Focal point" of things that tends to influence many other parts of the world. Greece, Rome, England, America, and others have taken that seat, it changes with the times -- people will probably be saying the same things about the Chinese in another 200 years.

Personally, no matter what foreign viewpoints of America are -- I take great comfort in remembering two things. America is descendant of England and we are a nation of nations.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
"

We are made up of English, French, German, Canadian, Russian, Mexican, Indian, Hungarian, African, Italian, Polish, Japanese, Norwegian, Serbian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and even Arab. -- All our stupidity is the worlds too lol.

Oh why, oh why, didn't someone event that "Smart pill" idea they cooked up decades ago...

--> Nearly a quarter cannot identify Adolf Hitler, with ten percent thinking Hitler was a munitions manufacturer.

I mean no offence to anyone but that one really made me laugh (for reasons beyond what an offended German would likely infer).

ESCRT
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Very well spoken Spidey01.

Those who believe to be something, have stopped to become something

SAS_MB
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Spidey01
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Now that would be a catastrophe!

Piratexzibit
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I know what you mean MB.
I study with some really, awkwardly, stupid people.
But I don't think it has to do with their intellectual level.
Games and movies are all about ACTION, drama etc. where things happend frequently. People get used to that. They loose their patience, and school becomes very dull. Cyberlife is more attractive nowadays, than real-life. People just don't care.

10 years ago, Swedish students were better at English than, (guess who), the Brits. I don't think that is correct anymore.

Scout
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We are the champions my friend, and we'll keep on fighting to the end. BTW happy Bday Elvis!

Noli Mi Tangere!!! Don't Tread On Me!!!

Piratexzibit
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We are the champions my friend, and we'll keep on fighting to the end...

Wow...I've heard Queen lyrics all day! LOL

Cara
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Awww MB, I consider you brilliant! You make the funniest noises over TS Blum 3

SAS_MB
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Don't blame the students who have to endure the US educational system. Back in the 50's and 60's I had to learn Greek and Latin roots for English. I had to take a year of US Geography and a year of World Geography in Jr. High School and opted for a second year of World Geography in High School. In Physics I learned how things worked instead of memorizing specific problems. My teachers were socially upper-middle class with good manners which they taught to their students. Their choice of fields was pretty much limited to teaching and nursing. I knew every country and capital in the world.

Since the 1970's, education has moved into theoretical ideas that dumped the old basics. Kids are allowed to use calculators for math. They get almost no geography unless they opt for it. Many people in the US cannot point out Mexico or Canada on a map. The educational system has failed them. The Women's Liberation Movement has allowed the upper-middle class teacher material to move into medicine, law, engineering, business, etc. Their replacements were prole to lower-middle class. They did not have the social graces of their predecessors. They did not, therefore, teach these to their students. The system spiraled downward. Fancy ideas for teaching English resulted in semi-literate graduates. Education was one of the areas hit every time their was a budget crunch. The local university cannot now manage enough classes for the students in their last year to graduate. I am considered a disabled student and yet I am usually the top student in my courses in college anyway. It's not that hard and I flunked out of college twice in my early years until I managed to work around my learning disabilities. I am stunned at the inability of my classmates to cope with even basic level courses at college level. Teachers are trying to teach students at the college level to write short papers as well as teaching the course material.

I am glad that I am not being taught pre-college material in the current educational system in California. However, do not confuse the young people dealing with that system with the older adults. For us, it is a "good" thing because we can meet the basic skills for low level jobs if we want to work, as well as skilled jobs. For the future....well 10% of the population has always carried the other 90% in terms of progress.

I just hope she doesn't get Hungary and eat the Turkey.

IMAGE(http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/sh/type/0/slack911.png) aka Slack911, yamaraion, M827_CSM_COUGAR,Cougar]

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