Stupid Americans?
People around the world generally seem to think that most Americans are stupid. Moreover, it seems like even Americans consider most Americans (sometimes even including themselves) to be stupid. For decades the greatest scientists from all over the world have been flocking to America, and Americans are stupid? What's going on here?
What is it that makes people think Americans are stupid? The videos and articles of Americans being confused about geography, politics and arithmetics quickly come to mind. Although I find those clips quite funny, I think they mislead viewers.
First of all, I've been to quite a few countries and I would say similar videos and articles could be made about any nation. It's easy to interview hundreds of people, edit out reasonable people's responses, keep the most outrageous ones and make the whole nation look silly. As a matter of fact, I've seen such clips on Russian television about Russian youth.
Second of all, even if the majority of Americans was confused about geography, politics and arithmetics (which I suspect is not the case), I wouldn't call that a sign of stupidity. It seems more like apathy to me. I believe the majority of Americans is impartial to all three (geography, politics and arithmetics). Maybe it's a little selfish, but I see no stupidity in this. In America, there are computers to do arithmetics for you, so why would Americans want to be able to multiply 3-digit numbers in their heads. Most Americans will probably never need to know what the capital of some far-away country is and the fact that most Americans don't care to do much research before voting in a presidential election is a clear indication that the American government is set up in such a way that who the president is won't have a significant impact on an average American's life.
Specialization is what makes a society work. When living in a society, it's important that everyone can do their job right and I would say that Americans are generally competent to do their job. As long as I'm doing my job right, who are YOU to say whether it's Paris Hilton's latest adventures or Zimbabwe's gross national product that's a smart thing for me to follow in my spare-time?
