The impact of scientific illiteracy in America

[yukoncpa]

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Your report on the symptoms of the disease I find to be in the right direction, as far as I'm concerned - but I have some problems with your diagnosis. Demonstrably, the United States is the richest country in the world, has a population that is educated at a lower level than a lot of western democracies', and its capitalist economy is by any standard more liberal and unrestrained than almost all others.

So how can there be so many Americans who are American-Idol-dumb and at the same time this be the fault of "creeping socialism", when, at least comparatively speaking, the U.S. is the very opposite of socialism ?

Mickey Brausch


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Hey, American Idol is in demand. It’s a capitalistic phenomena. Are we dumber as a result? I’ve only seen one episode, so I’m not an expert, but that Simon fellow, taught me a thing or two about the art of music; I believe I came out of the show a bit more intelligent on popular culture. I always think I manage to learn something even from the most inane of experiences.

[MidGe]

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Why do most inventions come from the USA? no not diversity as we are told...it is freedom.

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Yeah, yeah, and americans have the biggest dongs too.

Top countries for patent applications - 2006

[Mickey Brausch]

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Hey, American Idol is in demand. I’ve only seen one episode, so I’m not an expert, but that Simon fellow, taught me a thing or two about the art of music; I believe I came out of the show a bit more intelligent on popular culture.
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I always think I manage to learn something even from the most inane of experiences.

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QFT. Good call.

I love trash culture quite a lot, too. It's just that my tastes are not strictly trash.

[MidGe]

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I love trash culture quite a lot, too. It's just that my tastes are not strictly trash.

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You did not have to say that, Mickey. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[hmkpoker]

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Also please note, that wealthy and educated families (which is correlated with intelligence) send more of their kids to private schools; and on the other side, public schools act as a catch-all for the ungifted and the downright stupid.

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While there is some truth to this, the strongest determinant in a child's education is parental input (I believe this was discussed in Freakonomics). Parents are usually encouraged by teachers to spend time (like an hour a day) reviewing their homework with them and supplementing their education...roughly the same amount of time that a homeschooling parent puts into their child's education. Parents that don't spend time helping their children with their lessons end up with dumb kids. I was in a program for gifted kids in my elementary school, and all of us shared something in common: our parents were very active in our education.

Think this is crazy? Send your kid to school and take absolutely no interest in his education. Don't do flash cards, don't read to him, don't check his homework. How bright do you think your kid is going to turn out?

Quite a system. Twelve years, a hundred grand and more, and you STILL have to educate your own damn kids!

[MrMxyztplk]

A rise from 10% to 28% in 20 years strikes me as quite impressive. I think society is doing a pretty good job of educating itself if these numbers are accurate.

And from a capitalist point of view, is it really that big of a deal if not everyone is scientifically illiteate? I don't have a problem with someone checking the stars to see if their gutshot will hit.

[MelchyBeau]

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Why do most inventions come from the USA? no not diversity as we are told...it is freedom.

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Yeah, yeah, and americans have the biggest dongs too.

Top countries for patent applications - 2006

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Your source says Japan applied for the most patents, however the United States had the most approved patents