Stupid Is the New Smart

[SfanGoch]

When I was a kid, we played what was then called the "retard' game. We would ask questions which required common sense to answer. Some of the questions were:

1. Why was George Washington buried on a hill?

2. A plane carrying 100 people crashes and everybody died. Where did they bury the survivors?

3. Which weighs more, a ton of feathers or a ton of lead?

I asked some Millennials these same questions. I wasn't surprised that they failed miserably. They can't even tell you who we fought in the Revolutionary War. Carpe diem, Roscoe.

Edited December 19, 2017 by SfanGoch

[Mike999]

1 hour ago, Snake45 said:

Have never seen a whole show, but I've walked in on The Lovely Mrs. Snake watching it a few times. I don't think she's that big on predicting the future; she seems to be into communicating with the Dear Departed. Two different psychic specialties, I believe.

And both equally fake. :-) Predictors of the future just make stuff up.  They depend on a well-known human tendency:  we tend to remember their "hits," or what looks like a hit. We tend to forget their many misses. 

The Talkers To The Dead have 2 basic tricks: hot reading and cold reading.  You can find out all about those with a quick internet search.

The Los Angeles Police Department...it's tempting to add "naturally"...did 2 scientific studies on using psychics, in 1979 and 1980.  Some in the LAPD were hoping psychics might reduce the time and manpower spent solving crimes.  That sure would have helped during 1979-80, when California had multiple serial killers all working at the same time:  the Hillside Stranglers, Rodney Alcala, Gerald Gallego, Doug Clark & Carol Bundy, etc.

And how did that study work out?  The psychics produced tons of empty verbosity but no helpful results.  Zero, zip, nada.  According to Dan Cook, head of  LAPD public relations:  "The LAPD has not, does not, and will not use psychics in the investigation of  crimes. Period. If a psychic offers free information to us over the phone, we will listen to them politely, but we do not take  them seriously. It is a waste of time."

http://daktologistindustries.com/totse_archive/en/technology/science_technology/lapd.html

Speaking of the LAPD...IMO, it's sort of a sad commentary on us citizens of 2017 that all the fake-psychic tricks are shown in "Bunco Squad," a quickie RKO crime movie.  It shows up on Turner Classic Movies occasionally. "Bunco Squad" was made in 1950:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042289/

[Ace-Garageguy]

17 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

...They can't even tell you who we fought in the Revolutionary War. Carpe diem, Roscoe.

The sad truth is that many folks who identify themselves as "patriotic Americans" can't tell you where the Vietnam war was fought...or when...or who America's allies and enemies were in WW II.

There are a lot of vocal young people proclaiming their adherence to the tenets of various philosophies that are the antithesis of what America has always stood for, but when pressed, they know absolutely nothing about the systems and ideologies they claim to favor.

This statement may be seen as veering too close to "politics", but it's as far as I'm going to go.

Widespread ignorance endangers freedom more than any other single factor...other than apathy, which is itself often the product of ignorance.

Edited December 19, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[espo]

While I agree to some extent with the Trashing of the Millennials I think it is mostly because of the ones that seem to do everything possible to make their presents know to all. There are many more who are very productive members of society with good work ethics and very responsible jobs. They will sometimes mutter their own dissatisfaction with their peers actions and conduct.  I base my feelings on my wife's Niece and Nephew and the adults they have become. I have meet some of their friends at a wedding and they have shared some of what they and their friends are doing. This world my be in good hands if more of them are like the people I got to talk to. I think in every generation there is "stupid" to some extent it's just that this time it seems that the "stupid" ones just want everyone to know they are here and just don't realize what they don't know and they often think they know more than the people who are trying to help them learn.  

[SfanGoch]

46 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

Speaking of the LAPD...IMO, it's sort of a sad commentary on us citizens of 2017 that all the fake-psychic tricks are shown in "Bunco Squad," a quickie RKO crime movie.  It shows up on Turner Classic Movies occasionally. "Bunco Squad" was made in 1950:

There was an anthology series on TV in the early '50s called "Racket Squad" . Taken from actual case files, it dramatized the methods used by con men and bunco artists.  At the end of each show, the host would give viewers advice on how to avoid becoming a victim.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 minutes ago, espo said:

While I agree to some extent with the Trashing of the Millennials I think it is mostly because of the ones that seem to do everything possible to make their presents know to all. 

Maybe you meant "presence"?

One more time, this thread was NOT directed specifically at millennials, but only at stupid in general. 

I'm an old fossil, and my acquaintances include many more "stupid" than "smart" individuals.

Frankly, I'm surprised "civilization" has endured as long as it has, with the majority of those running it being securely within the "average" sector.

Then again, it's not at all hard to understand why things like the "energy problem" weren't sorted decades ago.

The tech has been there, but stupid just looks the other way.

[SfanGoch]

Unfortunately, stupid has become the new normal. How does one slide through, at a minimum, 12 years of primary and secondary education, five or more in under and post-grad studies, obtain a useless degree and their heads still whistle every time they encounter a stiff breeze? In a negative way, that, in itself, is a monumental accomplishment. 

[Mike999]

28 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

There was an anthology series on TV in the early '50s called "Racket Squad" . Taken from actual case files, it dramatized the methods used by con men and bunco artists.  At the end of each show, the host would give viewers advice on how to avoid becoming a victim.

Thanks for the reminder.  A bunch of those "Racket Squad" episodes are on YouTube.

From 2005-07, NatGeo Channel ran a great series called "Is It Real?"  (The answer was usually "nope.")  That show investigated all sorts of supernatural phenomena and showed them to be completely natural.  One of my favorites was the show on alien cattle mutilation.  A rural  sheriff in Oklahoma got tired of hearing about that nonsense, so he went out and bought a dead cow.  Aimed a motion-sensitive camera at the cow.  After several days, he had proof the cow corpse was mutilated by hungry nocturnal critters. But it looked exactly the same as the dead cows allegedly mutilated by space aliens.

Believers in that sort of stuff complained to NatGeo that the show was "too skeptical."  There ain't no such thing.

[High octane]

I just saw this video and got a good kick out of it: www.vimeo.com/239050403/

[SfanGoch]

Really funny. Art imitates life. Around the BushPointBurg (that's Bushwick, Greenpoint and Williamsburg) neckbeardplex, hipster rush hour starts at 11:45 A.M. That's when they roll out of their apartments with their deliberately arranged pillow hair stylishly covered with a bed bug-infested ski cap, 40 foot long scarf wrapped around their No. 2 pencil sized necks (during the summer, no less) with a copy of a book written by some obscure 15th Century French poet (they don't read it. It's only a prop) strategically placed in their jacket pocket so as to impress onlookers, heading to the newest artisanal organic hummus palace where they will first check through all of their social media accounts to see how many times they were mentioned. While nursing a $9.00 cup doublehalflatfrappespressochino (made from fair trade, cruelty-free coffee beans imported from somewhere in Tanzania and shipped by three masted schooner to Billbug, each bean individually delivered by a lice-infested bearded Mast Bros.clone dressed like Sikesey, the lovable,  homicidal 19th Century newsboy riding his penny farthing ), they will blog about their experience buying loosies (loose cigarettes) at the corner bodega.They'll do this until 4 P.M. That is when the the local trendy lounges open and they could start buying $10 bottles of some pisswater handcrafted microbrew even more obscure than that poetry book in their pocket. This is a regular 7 day a week routine. They're not encumbered by annoyances like this "work" thing, of which they are dimly aware through rumors. 

Yup, I'm critical of Millennials (not all) because I see this stuff every day. For all you know, some of them might be the kids of your friends. You might get a laugh from this:

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by SfanGoch

[Snake45]

Most millennials are idiots, but not all. My son is one of the exceptions. He's 28, has a beautiful wife, a new son, a house and three paid-for cars. Here he is making a special guest appearance at his alma mater last month. He shows up at about 1:10 in, if you're looking for him (you won't be able to miss him). 

I couldn't possibly be any prouder. 

 

[Mike999]

If you want to see some real stupidity...I'm addicted to the true-crime shows on the ID Channel.  It's amazing how many times a pair (or more) of boneheads will literally plan a murder, using text messages on their phones.

They have no clue that their phone provider backs up those messages, or a history of their calls.  They also have no clue that their cell phone is a mobile GPS for the cops, pinging off cell towers wherever they go.  One show a while back had a woman with an alibi that she spent the weekend in Texas, IIRC.  Cell tower data showed that her phone was in Virginia...inconveniently in the same neighborhood where her ex-husband was killed.

[SfanGoch]

Want to know how not to commit a crime? Watch Perry Mason, The Lineup. Felony Squad, M Squad, Racket Squad, The F.B.I., Dragnet and Columbo. You can toss in Highway Patrol and Peter Gunn for the cars, though.  

[espo]

On ‎12‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 10:50 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

Maybe you meant "presence"?

One more time, this thread was NOT directed specifically at millennials, but only at stupid in general. 

I'm an old fossil, and my acquaintances include many more "stupid" than "smart" individuals.

Frankly, I'm surprised "civilization" has endured as long as it has, with the majority of those running it being securely within the "average" sector.

Then again, it's not at all hard to understand why things like the "energy problem" weren't sorted decades ago.

The tech has been there, but stupid just looks the other way.

Thank you for pointing out the error in spelling. I'm trying to override my Spell Check on the Computer but it seems to have a mind of its own. I apologize if my remarks offended you or others in regards to a particular age group. I think if you reread what I posted, not just the first sentence, I think you might better understand that what I was saying was in defense of this age group that was being criticized by others.  Now I see that others are also pointing out very similar experiences. Again,  I agree with this being about "Stupid People" but without trashing a group in its entirety   

[SfanGoch]

[Snake45]

34 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

These all used to be actual medical terms. And then at some point, it was decided to replace them all with a much kinder, gentler term--"retarded," meaning, literally, late or delayed. I am not making this up. 

[Rob Hall]

On 12/19/2017 at 11:54 AM, SfanGoch said:

Unfortunately, stupid has become the new normal. How does one slide through, at a minimum, 12 years of primary and secondary education, five or more in under and post-grad studies, obtain a useless degree and their heads still whistle every time they encounter a stiff breeze? In a negative way, that, in itself, is a monumental accomplishment. 

Heh-heh... I spent 9 years in college and grad school, getting 3 degrees, which have proven quite useful to my career...never without work, my skill set always seems to be in demand and pays well. 

[SfanGoch]

I'm referring to degrees in English Lit, Fine Arts and such. Parents piss away upwards of 150 Grand for their kids to attend Ivy League schools and get sheepskins in these dead end fields. The number of openings for well paying positions in the literary world and at museums are exceeded in the number of degree holders in these fields by a ratio of 2000+:1. What ends up happening is that these momos work as latte foam sculptors in some coffee shop, restock books at Barnes & Noble, selling clay ashtrays at the weekly Saturday Arts & Craft Market or fold skinny jeans at The Gap or Urban Outfitters. Degrees in technical field requires taking and attending real courses that require serious studying. That would interfere with their extracurricular activities.

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 hours ago, espo said:

Thank you for pointing out the error in spelling. I'm trying to override my Spell Check on the Computer but it seems to have a mind of its own. I apologize if my remarks offended you or others in regards to a particular age group. I think if you reread what I posted, not just the first sentence, I think you might better understand that what I was saying was in defense of this age group that was being criticized by others.  Now I see that others are also pointing out very similar experiences. Again,  I agree with this being about "Stupid People" but without trashing a group in its entirety   

I didn't mean to be offensive. HONEST.  

PRESENTS and PRESENCE are two entirely different words with different meanings, not a "spelling" error.

People routinely use SILICONE and SILICON interchangeably too, even though they're not.

Then there's THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE, which get misused continually here and all over the web...even by "professional" writers. TO, TOO, and TWO. And WHOSE and WHO'S. And ITS and IT'S. Ad infinitum.

Anyone see ME make a mistake in word usage, or technical information, or ANYTHING...PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POINT IT OUT.

I'd rather be corrected than to continue thinking wrong is right....or miss something I should have caught while editing. 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

31 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

I'm referring to degrees in English Lit, Fine Arts and such. Parents piss away upwards of 150 Grand for their kids to attend Ivy League schools and get sheepskins in these dead end fields. The number of openings for well paying positions in the literary world and at museums are exceeded in the number of degree holders in these fields by a ratio of 2000+:1. What ends up happening is that these momos work as latte foam sculptors in some coffee shop, restock books at Barnes & Noble, selling clay ashtrays at the weekly Saturday Arts & Craft Market or fold skinny jeans at The Gap or Urban Outfitters. Degrees in technical field requires taking and attending real courses that require serious studying. That would interfere with their extracurricular activities.

English Lit isn't a bad major for someone who really wants to write professionally, and a Fine Arts or Art History degree is useful for someone who wants to paint or sculpt (but you'll probably be paying the rent as a waiter or bartender or dog-walker until you make it). Admittedly, people actually making a living with these degrees doing much other than teaching are pretty rare on the ground, but knowing background makes for a superior technician, no matter what the field...including the arts.

What I can't figure is how somebody pursuing a degree in subjects like Gender Studies, Comparative Religions, or Theater Arts expects to find a paying job that uses anything they've "studied".

Edited December 21, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[Snake45]

5 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

What I can't figure is how somebody pursuing a degree in subjects like Gender Studies, Comparative Religions, or Theater Arts expects to find a paying job that uses anything they've "studied".

My daughter spent her time and money getting a degree in a similar field, and ending up working for the only employer on earth stupid enough to have a job that could use it: The United States Government. You would throw up if I told you how much money she makes (especially if you happened to remember where that money actually comes from).  Hint: It's about as much as three or four skilled people who actually know how to do something. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

My daughter spent her time and money getting a degree in a similar field, and ending up working for the only employer on earth stupid enough to have a job that could use it: The United States Government. You would throw up if I told you how much money she makes (especially if you happened to remember where that money actually comes from).  Hint: It's about as much as three or four skilled people who actually know how to do something. 

I dunno...I guess you have to hand it to somebody who can actually get paid for...whatever it is. At least you won't be supporting her while she's living in Sfan's neighborhood, slinging soy shakes for $5 per hour.

[SfanGoch]

34 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I didn't mean to be offensive.

PRESENTS and PRESENCE are two entirely different words with different meanings, not a "spelling" error.

People routinely use SILICONE and SILICON interchangeably too, even though they're not.

Then there's THERE, THEIR, and THEY'RE, which get misused continually here and all over the web...even by "professional" writers. TO, TOO, and TWO. And WHOSE and WHO'S. And ITS and IT'S. Ad infinitum.

Anyone see ME make a mistake in word usage, or technical information, or ANYTHING...PLEASE FEEL FREE TO POINT IT OUT.

I'd rather be corrected than to continue thinking wrong is right.

 

You forgot to mention using the possessive form of a noun as a plural, "troglodyte's" , "kit's" and other's.  

[SfanGoch]

24 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

My daughter spent her time and money getting a degree in a similar field, and ending up working for the only employer on earth stupid enough to have a job that could use it: The United States Government. You would throw up if I told you how much money she makes (especially if you happened to remember where that money actually comes from).  Hint: It's about as much as three or four skilled people who actually know how to do something. 

At least I'm not contributing to her salary. My (legal) income isn't taxable. 

[SfanGoch]

We all know Kojak's not a real cop, right? And, we also know that Jim Rockford's not a real P.I. When we watched these shows, it never occurred to any of us to contact them to help us because we knew they were just characters in TV shows. Stupid has finally been legitimized. Read the disclaimer at the bottom of this METV ad: