I read somewhere (The Dilbert Blog?) the suggestion that the "perfect" President would be one who has no thoughts or opinions of his own, but only works to implement the preferences of the American people. Do you really want the people who think American Idol is vitally important deciding how the country should be run?
In many polls I see that a majority of Americans believe in ghosts, doubt evolution, and that a substantial percentage believe that UFOs are abducting humans for "tests". Those things make me hesitant to want the country, as a whole, run based upon the opinions of average Americans. Run your own life according to whatever ideas may be rattling around in your skull, but don't think that others are required to hold the same notions. That's the beauty of anarchism: your ideas can not be forced upon others, and neither can mine.
Good blog subject. :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't particularly want the country to be run by anyone who thinks American Idol is vitally important, hehehe. This is especially true when this year they have a ringer, some broad who already had a record contract (with the same company where one of the judges was a big-wig), the record company spent $2 million promoting her, and her CD only sold 400 copies, ROFL.
However, I would like to see the country run by someone who watches the American Idol auditions just to laugh at the delusionals who think they can sing, but who actually sound like a wounded animal, since that means they at least have a sense of humor. ;-)
Where did you see the info about a substantial percentage of Americans believing that aliens are abducting humans for tests? Not that I doubt you, I'm just curious to read it for myself.
I really don't think the average American doubts evolution, or believes in alien abduction (or maybe I just tend to associate only with smart people, LOL). However, if you're right and I'm wrong, that's scary.
Whatever happened to the healthy skepticism which stops people from appearing to be a schizoid? Whatever happened to people being smart enough to realize (if they believe in a diety) that an omnipotent god could have created evolution so his or her creatures would be able to adapt when necessary?
I did like your comment "run your own life according to whatever ideas may be rattling around in your skull". That one literally made me LOL.
Does this mean that the old Kent is back? I sure do hope so, since he's a lot more interesting. :-)
I keep reading at various websites that about 20% of Americans believe in alien abductions (and around 3% think they have personally been abducted, according to a couple of sites I found). Just now, I did a dogpile search on "percentage Americans believe alien abduction" and found the same numbers. Now, that doesn't prove that they get their numbers independently; they may all be citing the same polls. Still, that is a substantial number, even if inflated by a factor of 10.
ReplyDeleteAs for the evolution denial, I found this: CBS poll. Also, a good source is the book "Why People Believe Weird Things", by Micheal Shermer. In this book he cites a 1991 Gallup poll that stated that 47 percent of Americans believed that "God created humans in their current form". It depends upon how the question is framed, of course.
If those polls are correct, we're in serious trouble.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the percentages actually reflect an information overload. If the average American has an IQ of 102, there is a lot of information out there which the average American is incapable of understanding. So what we may be seeing is a phenomenon wherein people are attempting to explain complex subjects in a way that makes sense to them. That's not at all unusual, and in fact that's how the Bible was written.
I read recently about a boy who was sexually molested as a child, and he decided he was instead abducted by aliens. I therefore also wonder how many people explain sexual molestation in that manner, as a coping mechanism. After all, if you are abducted by aliens, no one would ever blame you for being molested; whereas if you are dealing with a mere human, there is always a contingent of ignoramuses who will blame the victim.