Comments on: The Decline of Intelligence and Responsibilty http://www.genxls.com/2008/09/the-decline-of-intelligence-and-responsibilty/ Ramblings and rants from the minds of the aging X'ers Mon, 04 May 2009 02:04:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: SA http://www.genxls.com/2008/09/the-decline-of-intelligence-and-responsibilty/comment-page-1/#comment-10 SA Mon, 04 May 2009 02:04:30 +0000 http://www.genxls.com/?p=92#comment-10 Hey Jeff, thanks for your post! I don't think the US has always been "dumb" and that certainly wasn't my point, but I do think we have become dumber and a bit spoiled since the end of WW2. And I don't blame TV shows. Goofy shows are as old as TV itself - I Love Lucy, the Honeymooners, the Brady Bunch, Game Shows, entertainment/variety shows, etc. All mindless entertainment to take your mind off the daily grind. I think there are many reasons why we are dumbing down. We have it pretty good in the US, so maybe we just don't challenge ourselves to do better in school, to study the hard subjects like math, science and medicine. I know you're only 20, but have you walked into an emergency room or a computer programing department lately? Doctors and programmers are from India, China, the Middle East, and other countries who take education very seriously, because they know what a gift it is to open a text book and gain knowledge. I long for the day when I can see a great mind from my generation rival the contributions of great men like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington Carver, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, etc. As far as your 10 - 20 year outlook, well, we can hope educational systems improve. Another thing we can keep doing is to continue to lure great minds from other countries to come here and help us to build a better life for everyone. It's working for us now (if we can get them to stay, buy their houses here, and invest back into this country) and it worked for us during WW2 when we had great minds come from Axis countries to help us. This is how we landed Albert Einstein! But can we get companies to start investing in US citizens rather than shipping jobs overseas to save money or get tax breaks? They play a role in this, too. Hey Jeff, thanks for your post!

I don’t think the US has always been “dumb” and that certainly wasn’t my point, but I do think we have become dumber and a bit spoiled since the end of WW2. And I don’t blame TV shows. Goofy shows are as old as TV itself – I Love Lucy, the Honeymooners, the Brady Bunch, Game Shows, entertainment/variety shows, etc. All mindless entertainment to take your mind off the daily grind.

I think there are many reasons why we are dumbing down. We have it pretty good in the US, so maybe we just don’t challenge ourselves to do better in school, to study the hard subjects like math, science and medicine. I know you’re only 20, but have you walked into an emergency room or a computer programing department lately? Doctors and programmers are from India, China, the Middle East, and other countries who take education very seriously, because they know what a gift it is to open a text book and gain knowledge.

I long for the day when I can see a great mind from my generation rival the contributions of great men like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington Carver, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, etc.

As far as your 10 – 20 year outlook, well, we can hope educational systems improve. Another thing we can keep doing is to continue to lure great minds from other countries to come here and help us to build a better life for everyone. It’s working for us now (if we can get them to stay, buy their houses here, and invest back into this country) and it worked for us during WW2 when we had great minds come from Axis countries to help us. This is how we landed Albert Einstein!

But can we get companies to start investing in US citizens rather than shipping jobs overseas to save money or get tax breaks? They play a role in this, too.

]]> By: Jeff http://www.genxls.com/2008/09/the-decline-of-intelligence-and-responsibilty/comment-page-1/#comment-9 Jeff Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:33:43 +0000 http://www.genxls.com/?p=92#comment-9 I'm 20 years old. I'm young, but I still don't believe the US has always been this dumb. I have such a hard time communicating with people in my own language, because most of the people I talk to cannot follow me. I don't consider myself a genius, but I'm not dumb. Look at all the crap TV shows that do great(I Love New York, Rock of Love, and anything on MTV). If there is such a huge a market for all this crap TV then there are enough people out there to connect to it. My theory on the end result of this topic is as follows: If it's true that America is dumbing down, then in 10 or 20 years if this process keeps happening, what will become of our vast empire. We have so many high level jobs, and if there are not enough people to work those positions, what happens? Less qualified individuals will get them, and run them down to the ground. If this happens on a vast scale, it could be the end of our superpower in the world. We are not the most liked nation in the world either. If this happens, it could be easy sometime down the road for someone else to move in and take us over. All just a theory though I’m 20 years old. I’m young, but I still don’t believe the US has always been this dumb. I have such a hard time communicating with people in my own language, because most of the people I talk to cannot follow me. I don’t consider myself a genius, but I’m not dumb.
Look at all the crap TV shows that do great(I Love New York, Rock of Love, and anything on MTV). If there is such a huge a market for all this crap TV then there are enough people out there to connect to it.
My theory on the end result of this topic is as follows:
If it’s true that America is dumbing down, then in 10 or 20 years if this process keeps happening, what will become of our vast empire. We have so many high level jobs, and if there are not enough people to work those positions, what happens? Less qualified individuals will get them, and run them down to the ground. If this happens on a vast scale, it could be the end of our superpower in the world. We are not the most liked nation in the world either. If this happens, it could be easy sometime down the road for someone else to move in and take us over.
All just a theory though

]]>