Dunce Americans Created 18 years ago2006-04-08 11:58:23 UTC by satchmo

I saw this clip on late-night TV, where the host goes on the street and asks pedestrians simple questions on (presumed) common knowledge.

• What is the term describing the process when a catepillar becomes a butterfly?

...no one knew the answer.

• With which country did the Americans fight the Revolutionary War?

...no one knew the answer.

• Which country was Christopher Columbus born?

Some gal said "Columbia"?

• Who was Christopher Columbus?

"...a lumberjack?"

• What is the central black part of the eye called?

...no answer.

---

A typical American is an idiot. It makes me wonder what makes this country strong and powerful. In fact, our leader is an idiot too.

Maybe we just control the world by bombing everyone else.

good god. thats makes me cry.

In fact, our leader is an idiot too.

That single line proves your absolute sanity satchmo, very well done. This just makes me even more proud to be Australian.

- What is the central black part of the eye called?

...no answer.

Good god.

To be fair, I can't remember the specific term for the butterfly one, just "metamorphosis". That's an Escher piccie, though.

Also:

It is generally assumed he was Genoese. However there is no solid evidence of this and historians claim he could have been born in other places, from the Crown of Arag?n to the Kingdoms of Galicia or Portugal, or in the Greek island of Chios, among others.

• Wikipedia on Mr. Columbus

he he! i love it when amercians are proved dumb... it makes me feel so good!! lol

It makes me wonder what makes this country strong and powerful

Even though there's an extended aura of ignorance among the population, most people know where they belong. They perform their job well and they know they can get fired if they dont. As a metaphor, we could say that a pulley inside a mechanism doesn't need to know how the whole thing works because all it has to do is rotate around its axis.
In my country, for example, I think people are lazy. Everyone thinks they can get the best jobs, too many people are allowed to apply for college and others will stay unemployed for a long time (living out of other people's taxes) because they feel the jobs offered to them are unworthy.

They're dumber then i thought. Good point there Satchmo.

Even though there's an extended aura of ignorance among the population, most people know where they belong. They perform their job well and they know they can get fired if they dont.

Doesn't society depend somewhat on 'good' people taking an interest outside of themselves?

Maybe we just control the world by bombing everyone else.

Give that man half a cookie, half because you dont control the world, you are just one of the most influencial countries in it. Mainly because you invade weaker countries and rape them for their oil, which powers your economy.

Just ask our own G. W. Bush whether he controls all of humanity. I don't doubt his delusion.

Even Dr. Breen is more sane than Bush.

Good...For once Americans are proved wrong and I can finally say they are obnoxious pigs with no manners. This view came from a certain trip to America when they treated everyone around them like dirt.

Yah, Jay Leno talks to the dumbest people

Jay Leno is a dumb person.

I hate it when people generalize. I knew the answer to all of those questions, and guess what? I'm a tipical 13 year old american. The people that were interveiwed can't reprisent the entire population of a country. Maybie the population of that city, but the educational standards change depending on state. All of the people I know could answer those questions.

Even Dr. Breen is more sane than Bush.

How ever hard that made me laugh, at least Bush isn't keeping us from reproducing. I do hate him though.

Exactly Gunter, i can hardly call this a correct objective geographical research.

You would need a equal representation from all of the scocial layers thus representing a small part of America, then give them all under exactly the same conditions the test. Thus repeating it twice with different question to ensure that someone is operating on its best.

They probably picked the most stupid answers from that interview anyway.

Mmm, reprisenting for real.
Yeah, Americans are top notch on the food chain.

America = stupid. Should be the dictionary definition.

You would need a equal representation from all of the scocial layers thus representing a small part of America, then give them all under exactly the same conditions the test.

It's called a stratified sample.

In many ways the only thing we share culturally is a language but its a shame the religious right stereotypes americans as 'stupid'. Afaik we brits dont all have bad teeth and speak in rediculous posh accents,

theres a small minority in a scottish town that dont.

I agree that most people are stupid, but NOT JUST AMERICANS! You cant judge a population of people by the random people you encounter. Try asking those questions at my college, or ANY COLLEGE! People are equally stupid all over the world. You wonder why america is so strong? Its full of brilliant people who are smarter than the rest. Why does everyone want to come here? Economy is great thats why, and technologicly advanced. Dont get me wrong, Im not a Over-zealous american lover, (I actually like Japan and Germany about the same as USA) but saying a country is stupid and full of stupid people is just dumb. Political agendas shouldnt be expressed here (Even if Bush is a fuckin ass hole) Dont forget that what your using now to respond to my post was invented by an American. Whoa, electricity? American?? Computer? ZOMG american! I really hate to see jealous people badmouth america........ OWNED and WRECKED!

america is so strong because it has a crapload of natural resources enough to make it self sufficient from the rest of the world. Also, the computer was invented by a brit, the www was invented by a brit, so dont diss you punk ass blood and who honestly gives a shit who it was that invented something

stereotypes are fun anyway

LOL a "brit" invented the computer? Do some research. www was invented by a "brit" ? It was invented by american colleges to transfer data from one another. Are you an idiot? Oil is in other countries, water is everywhere around the world. We have just as much resources as everyone else. Smarts is what makes a country great, not blind dumb pride and just "saying it is".

BTW Satchmo, arnt you a doctor? What kind of intelligent person who is a doctor uses late night TV as a refrence for the rest of the country?

I think we all know the answer to that :

an American doctor

Once again you people amaze me...

You cannot generalize Americans based on the survy of some late night talk show host who goes out and asks questions to people. The entire purpose of that clip was to make people laugh at the stupidity of others. Yes, if I saw that clip, I'd find it quite humourous, but it does not represent Americans as a whole. It is completely ridiculous to sterotype and generalize America by a simple joke. Yes, of course there are stupid people here. THERE ARE STUPID PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! The fact is that the people who were interviewed, at least the ones that they showed, do not represent the average American.

There is a show that I watch called "Street Smarts", where two contestants compete by choosing which person they think will miss or make a simple question. Before the show, the host goes onto the street, and finds fairly unintelligent people, and askes them questions similiar to the ones you listed. The point of this show is to poke fun at the stupidity of some people in America. The key word there is SOME people. "Some" specifies a minority.

In fact, America has a great education system. Pretty much, when a student reaches Highschool, they choose classes that they find interesting, and will most likely fall into a career asociated with that class. Some people, who don't put random knowledge as a high priority, learn the things that they will actually use in life.

Personally, I enjoy learning random knowledge, even after school. I'm the kind of person who watches Jepordy and gets most of the questions right... Even before Ken Jennings (American Joke)

oh it is on

Americans invented the ARPANET, the military forerunner to the Internet
Tim berners lee invented the WWW as I said, the hyperlinks and websites that actually make up a large part of the internet today, without which it would just be another network

The term computer could be argued as to have been created by any number of people, it just depends how anal you want to be, in this case I would cite charles babbage glitter, who created his computer when america had only barely been founded, before taking it to differential engine world and getting caught for having kiddie porn in the gears.

America existed on a policy of isolationism for a large part of the last century, very few countries could have done that or still could do it today, America is abundant with natural resources and is conveniently located in such a way that have allowed it to flourish in a fraction of the time it has taken other countries. No country is founded by 'smarts' that doesnt even make sense.

Bratty lord you are a wise man. Hes right. There are stupid people everywhere. Geography doesnt dictate your intelligence. Hasnt man evolved past that kind of thinking? This kind of jealousy and hate leads to wars and death. You encounter and see stupid people on TV and think America is stupid. Dont forget that most intelligent people arnt on TV. You dont get a chance to see the doctors, professors, and scientists working and creating.

I think this thread needs to degenerate into a flame war rapidly else we're all fucked

well.. i think its obvious what to do here...
DANCE PARTAY!

<cough>

Anyways, i dont believe that every American is a dumbfuck, but to be perfectly honest i do beleive taht a dangerously high percentage of Americans are... Much higher a percentage than anywhere else...
I mean, Americans can legally own guns... That's just fucking stupid.

Joba bob you just condemned yourself with your own words.

"America is abundant with natural resources and is conveniently located in such a way that have allowed it to flourish in a fraction of the time it has taken other countries."

THis fraction of time was due to philosophical beleifs in democracy, and intelligent people crafting our brilliant economy and military. When smart people create a country, and it contiues to flourish, what does that say?

Joba, your anger and jealousy is astounding! A truely smart man can admit his faults, and accept the truth. This should be the basis of thinking around the world.

This kind of trivial bickering is pointless.

And dont think I dont like other countries. I love Italy, Germany (their technoligacal advances) Japans innovative thinking, Russia's determination, (and communism, good philosophy, bad how Stalin did it)

Stop the hate and give your fellow country a hug GOD DAMIT!

well so can a lot of other countries, I think we should pick up on the fact that half of america believes that they are going to live forever with a giant man in the sky if they kill all the gays

And not to forget the fact that racism is still a very large issue in America

OK Joba this is getting ridiculous. I think that ignorant idiots in america who harm Gays for the reason of homosexuality are FOOLS AND DESERVE TO DIE! Dont think I wont hate parts of my own country, because I will. Some southern states are filled with the most fools you have ever seen. But, every country has their flaws. I personally believe that there is no such thing as sexual preference. I dont feel like going on a philosophical rant, but there are some good arguments on it.

All our cops should be violent combine soldiers who beat the hell out of anyone who breaks the law.

its a good thing we dont have any racism in the UK, enoch powell and the national front wiped that out thankfully

this thread is really going places

I think this thread needs to degenerate into a flame war rapidly else we're all **expletive deleted**

Oh oh, maybie you just think that because your losing! Ohhh, you just got served, your face foo'.

How was that?

How is Joba getting ridiculous?!

You just spent about 5 posts talking about how awsome and flawless America is, now you're admitting that 50% of them are law-breaking dumbfucks

We should all join together and be like Star Trek The next generation! Federation of planets (countries) who work together. Sounds a little hippy-ish, but it should be. GERMANY, AMERICA, BRITAN, JAPAN, RUSSIA, etc etc ALL JOINED TOGETHER! IMAGINE THE ADVANCEMENTS AND POSSIBILITIES!!!

LOL a "brit" invented the computer? Do some research. www was invented by a "brit" ? It was invented by american colleges to transfer data from one another.

Al Gore invented the internet!

You're all missing the point. The whole world hates America cause it's a big bully with lots of weapons, taking advantage of countries everywhere. Saying they're all stupid, even though it's uh.. true and all, is just a way of taking out anger against America itself. Discussing smartness is just pointless. And if generalising is bad, how is it that someone who invented a largely used technology makes the country's average citizen smarter? Come on. Americans were limeys originally. And limeys, much like the rest of the world, were Africans.

what. this thread desperately needs an injection of british sensibility, seventh where the hell are you

LOL a "brit" invented the computer? Do some research. www was invented by a "brit" ? It was invented by american colleges to transfer data from one another. Are you an idiot?

You know, I'm pretty sure jobabob did spend the last three years of his life doing a networking degree.

Dont forget that what your using now to respond to my post was invented by an American. Whoa, electricity? American??

Haha, yeah, all those great Yanks: Otto von Guericke, Michael Faraday, Nikola Tesla.

I think we should pick up on the fact that half of america believes that they are going to live forever with a giant man in the sky if they kill all the gays

Indeed. The mark of a great modern civilisation indeed.

WOOT FOR EUROPEThat concludes our broadcast day.

There is no winning or losing here. I simply was trying to show Joba that Americans are not stupid. DId I say 50% ? No I didnt. As I said, we need to admit our flaws, and stop focusing on everyone elses.

What the fuck? Down with the european union, you globalist bastard.

I guess everyone here cant take others opinions and facts. sigh........ the world is still filled with so much hate.

As I said, we need to admit our flaws, and stop focusing on everyone elses.

Yeah, we must ignore everyone else who has greater power over the world than us and concentrate on ourselves. ;|

I think the best way to end this thread would be -

If the majority of Americans aren't dumbfucks, how the hell is Bush in power?

Everyone who voted for Bush in the past presidential elections is by my defintion stupid. So that's at least 50% of registered voters.

All our cops should be violent combine soldiers who beat the hell out of anyone who breaks the law.

YES POLICE STATE <3 <3 <3 <3

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So that's at least 50% of registered voters.

Not neccisarily... You seem to be forgetting that the votes are rigged

Sigh seventh... wouldnt the Oil producing countries hold power? Dont forget america always tries to help everyone. Global conflicts and accidents we are always there. The Tsunami in Europe. We were there. IRaq (I know we shouldnt be there) BUT!!!, We are spreading democracy. A philosophical belief that helps lives, and saves people. We dont really hold power over anyone else.

I think the best way to end this thread would be -

If the majority of Americans aren't dumbfucks, how the hell is Bush in power?

Simple, he was running agaonst cheney, and the majority of americans are conservative. In their eyes, Bush was the best bet for the consevative party.
They don't seem quite so sure anymore anyway, have you seen Bushes approval ratings?