Happy July 4 (and Dominion Day)!

[AngusThermopyle]

Those were very interesting articles Bambino. Of particular interest was a link in the first one that lead to an article titled "The Renaissance Of Anti-intellectualism", fascinating reading and sadly to say, very true. It's a lengthy article but well worth the read. It may be of interest to you in particular AW as it does tend to reinforce some of the observations you have made in the past.

Well Worth The Read

I almost forgot to mention. This is not a uniquely American problem, in fact its a very old problem. For the most part those of greater intellectual ability have generally been ridiculed by the masses and the preference for simpler answers has been deemed desirable.

Often I have been quite mortified by the state of general ignorance people prefer to exist in. More than once I have been amazed when teenage kids have admitted that they don't know such basic things as the location of the African continent or what WWII was. As I said, not a uniquely American problem.

Edited July 11, 2008 by AngusThermopyle

[g_bambino]

Often I have been quite mortified by the state of general ignorance people prefer to exist in. More than once I have been amazed when teenage kids have admitted that they don't know such basic things as the location of the African continent or what WWII was. As I said, not a uniquely American problem.

Of course, you're absolutely right (and, just to note, I'm sure anyone who wants to review my posts will see that I never once said the phenomenon existed only in the United States). It worries me too that kids in Canada can't even properly identify key moments or figures from our own history, let alone those of other nations. Though, here, I suspect the rather unique layer of multiculturalism adds to the problem; education specifically about Canada, in an effort to become so inclusive to every culture, becomes diluted as other information is sacrificed because of the limits on classroom time. On the swing side, though, more doors to the world are opened, which allows Canadians to peer out and see that the ways of our home are not necessarily the ways of everyone else. I don't think, though, that education is limited to the school years; travelling - which we, along with Brits and Aussies seem to do more than Americans - can also be a great learning experience; and, of course, reading and study can continue throughout one's life. But, that's where the dumbing down of the media comes into play: television and print media are the most readily available sources of information we all have at our hands. When it starts to degrade to only tabloid coverage of professional sports and what kind of diapers Angelina Jolie's babies will wear, then, obviously, we lose a real window to beyond our own borders. One could go out and buy an international affairs magazine or some book by a statesman, but those aren't as prevalent as newspapers and TV news; they aren't marketed as heavily, either; so, that takes more effort to search out what you want to know. And the cycle downwards to more introversion and selfishness takes another turn.

I've found Jon Stewart to be particularly good at highlighting with humour the increasing idiocy of mass media (ironically using his own TV show).

[bush_cheney2004]

....When it starts to degrade to only tabloid coverage of professional sports and what kind of diapers Angelina Jolie's babies will wear, then, obviously, we lose a real window to beyond our own borders. One could go out and buy an international affairs magazine or some book by a statesman, but those aren't as prevalent as newspapers and TV news; they aren't marketed as heavily, either; so, that takes more effort to search out what you want to know. And the cycle downwards to more introversion and selfishness takes another turn.

There is no cycle downwards, only confusion between entertainment, education, and choices for each, of which there has never been more content or access (i.e. Internet/Web), not only for the Americans, but for many other nationals as well. There has been a media explosion of late, and I suspect that old school book and treatise lovers would rather feel elitist about the newer distribution channels. They abhor the Cliff's Notes versions favored by a faster moving consumer of news and opinion.