Does this scare the hell out of you?

[Ally]

This is where we live and it's embarrassing, until I see videos like this from all over the country. It's astonishing and horrifying at the same time.

 

[pb4uski]

[-]Idiocracy[/-] NEA at work.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Car-Guy]

Embarrassing and sad. Hopefully this was just a joke.

 

[Bikerdude]

Her latest was politics and it was pretty scary some of the wrong answers people gave to simple questions such as "Who is the governor of New York?"

The scary thing is those people vote.

 

[Milton]

Reminds me of Rick Mercer's "Talking to Americans".

P.S. The Roundheads won the Civil War. Next question.

 

[M Paquette]

Oh, gosh! If there was only some way that we could have a smaller group of learned individuals who would represent us and vote for us on matters of policy and planning, rather than just leave it all to whoever can find a polling place.

 

[MichaelB]

There's plenty to talk about without bringing up our recent elections or political issues.

 

[braumeister]

Oh, gosh! If there was only some way that we could have a smaller group of learned individuals who would represent us and vote for us on matters of policy and planning, rather than just leave it all to whoever can find a polling place.

I know you're kidding, but for those who might not get the reference, I think M Paquette is referring to this quote from William F. Buckley:

I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.

 

[razztazz]

It explains a lot but probably has never been much different.

Not too different from a lot of the people I had to matriculate through this world with.

BTW always and everywhere the masses know more of pop-culture than history. And throughout American history the sitting Vice President has always been sort of a running trivia question

 

[M Paquette]

I know you're kidding, but for those who might not get the reference, I think M Paquette is referring to this quote from William F. Buckley:

Would you believe "The Federalist #57", by that James Madison dude?

 

[razztazz]

Would you believe "The Federalist #57", by that James Madison dude?

Just read Federalist#57. What a fool Madison was. He just did't get it

 

[Telly]

With these "I can't believe these people are soooo stupid" videos, we don't know how many respondents video clips were NOT used.

A similar tactic often used by local TV stations here is to take some late-breaking news event, and then "get the reaction" of moms in school afternoon pickup lines. The one-on-one video clip always starts with the persons response. They never show the "reporter" (ugh, I cringe at the misuse of the term!) rattling off some info blurb that the person has not heard before. It is obvious, well, at least to me, that the person responding did not hear of it before, and is coming up with something quick to satisfy the "reporter". And here again, how many respondent's video is trashed to select out the few they really want? News, or entertainment. Unfortunately, for some in the business, they are one and the same.

 

[powerplay]

With these "I can't believe these people are soooo stupid" videos, we don't know how many respondents video clips were NOT used.

A similar tactic often used by local TV stations here is to take some late-breaking news event, and then "get the reaction" of moms in school afternoon pickup lines. The one-on-one video clip always starts with the persons response. They never show the "reporter" (ugh, I cringe at the misuse of the term!) rattling off some info blurb that the person has not heard before. It is obvious, well, at least to me, that the person responding did not hear of it before, and is coming up with something quick to satisfy the "reporter". And here again, how many respondent's video is trashed to select out the few they really want? News, or entertainment. Unfortunately, for some in the business, they are one and the same.

+1 This is done to sensationalize the piece so we hopefully all say OMG. Guess it worked!

 

[Nodak]

That is just sad.

 

[BLS53]

It not just college age, it extends well into adulthood. Any working knowledge of anything beyond their social circle, and mainstream pop culture is beyond them. Spend some time watching the most highly rated TV shows, and the commercials that accompany them, and you realize how stupid the majority of people are. Listen to the conversations of people in public, there is seldom anything of substance beyond their own personal lives.

 

[travelover]

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever
[-]Idiocracy[/-] NEA at work.

Fixed it for you.

Yea, it is all the teachers' fault. They should go home with these kids at night and make them do their homework instead of playing video games. Lazy bums.

 

[M Paquette]

Yea, it is all the teachers' fault. They should go home with these kids at night and make them do their homework instead of playing video games. Lazy bums.

I'm not entirely sure that explains the equally goofy responses gathered in various similar surveys from older people. Eventually we can blame dementia, but that doesn't cover the 40-60 year olds very well.

Then again, all these polls and surveys rely on statistics, which as a form of applied mathematics, a known science, is suspect.

 

[brewer12345]

Meh. I don't think it is a secret that I think most of my fellow Merkins are as ignorant as the average trailer park denizen. This is nothing new. Classical education is dead. You think more than half a percent or so of high school kids are reading Cicero in Latin? How many of them read and critique Shakespeare's work? How many of them can spell "exigesis" let alone do it? So it goes. Presumably I am quite ignorant of things that matter to others. I would not have the faintest idea how to write a line of code these days (that intro Comp Sci class was a looonnnggg time ago). Ah well. So long as they service the national debt I won't complain too loudly.

Maybe that is why I get along with the blue collar/redneck set best these days: nobody expects them to be more than room temperature bright with anything more than a shotgun or a pickup. The key to happiness is low expectations.

 

[HFWR]

Who is Brad Pitt?

My doppelgänger...


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[braumeister]

How many of them can spell "exigesis"

Probably fewer than you think.

 

[brewer12345]

Probably fewer than you think.

Heh, very good. Bourbon fuelled rants are always perilous.

 

[EastWest Gal]

"Ask the person on the street" type surveys are always skewed. After all, they can just edit all the correct answers. The correct answers are not entertaining video, so my guess is we don't see the students who actually knew the right answers to the political and historical questions.

Another thought: Perhaps they should try interviewing the students that are actually in the library studying.

 

[travelover]

"Ask the person on the street" type surveys are always skewed. After all, they can just edit all the correct answers. The correct answers are not entertaining video, so my guess is we don't see the students who actually knew the right answers to the political and historical questions.

Another thought: Perhaps they should try interviewing the students that are actually in the library studying.

Plus students are another subgroup that tends to get caught in voter suppression schemes and this kind of stunt plays to the crowd that thinks that they shouldn't be voting anyway.

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/dxhtvk/suppressing-the-vote

 

[Live Free]

These types of interviews are done frequently on college campuses by fellow poli-sci students, especially during election season.

Honestly, you could do this interview anywhere in America, with any age group, and put together a similar video.

Do not fret, though. I can say with certainty that my kids (in their teens) and all of their visiting friends could easily answer all of these questions. I know because after seeing this post, I asked them all last night at dinner. I even asked them to name the Supreme Court justices, the House speaker, the Secretary of State, and what was the Emancipation Proclamation and they got all those, too.

What the OP's video did not show, was the folks that were interviewed and knew the answers.

 

[scrabbler1]

"Ask the person on the street" type surveys are always skewed. After all, they can just edit all the correct answers. The correct answers are not entertaining video, so my guess is we don't see the students who actually knew the right answers to the political and historical questions.

Another thought: Perhaps they should try interviewing the students that are actually in the library studying.

I agree that it would be a pretty boring segment if they showed mostly correct answerers. In the News12 (Long Island) "On the Spot" segment, they do show Lily Solzberg getting correct answers along with those answering incorrectly. But we would have no way of knowing if there were 10 correct answerers and 3 morons and all we got to see was one correct answerer and the 3 morons.

If I ever got on that segment, Lily's topic that week would probably be something I know little or nothing about, like popular TV shows (which I have no interest in), and look like an idiot.