The problem is that given the facts (average IQ under 100; 80% of us overweight; overpopulation, etc.) I doubt our version of humankind is capable of studying "today's facts and history." A democracy is fueled by participation, and we are not up to participating. Hence, a grim outlook. Lie and entertain. Little buyer's remorse to be seen as Rome burns.
Not at all a helpful suggestion and I question where your stats are coming from.....a better suggestion is anyone is capable of learning; the subject matter needs to be presented in a coherent manner with reasonable arguments backed up by FACTS. This is the reason why we have to fight against the efforts to dismantle the education system in US and return to teaching as it was before this crusade to turn America fascist began. Also we must watch carefully to stem the tide to ban books...it happened under Hitler, it can happen under Trump if we let ourselves be afraid of their bullying.
I'd counter-argue that... we cannot afford such a cynical outlook on the American people, the present and future. So let's unpack your arguments for a moment.
First of all, by definition the average IQ is set at 100, so what do you mean by "average IQ under 100"?
Secondly, studying is a SKILL that anyone can develop, not some kind of innate personality trait. All that is needed is that we help others develop it (and taste the joy of develop it), that's all. Why would we miraculously no longer be able to do that... ?
Third, it's precisely when social media and unhealthy diets lower our political literacy and knowledge of the most relevant facts that we need to step up and invest in (formal and informal) methods of education again. And here, AS a progressive (defined as someone espousing most of the ideals that the vast majority of the American people today want to see Congress put into law, and who believes in the democratic process as the best way to get there), I have to admit that "the left" is in part to blame. For decades now, universities (which are mostly left-wing, if only BECAUSE conservatives turned away from believing in basic fact-checking and critical thinking for a long time already) mistakenly saw their first job (when it comes to pedagogy) as VALIDATING a student's "personal opinions" (as if these would by definition be valuable), with the explicit goal of making him/her feel valuable AS an individual, rather than prioritizing debunking false ideas and TRANSMITTING the many wonderful things people in the past (who mostly happen to be "dead old white men", for past political/cultural reasons) have invented, discovered, and created.
That's imho how today so many journalists (including most people working for The Bulwark) have such a superficial take on what is going on.
Add to that the tendency of the English-speaking world to have an aversion for "ideas" (which even made The Bulwark reduce MAGA 2.0 mostly to Trump's clownish behavior without truly refuting the neofascist ideology that was behind it and made it SO dangerous in the first place), ever since Hume saw ideas/thinking as something less real/important than the sensory level of experience... and it becomes more understandable why we got where we are at today.
Still, for all these important problems, there is only one solution: tackle them head-on. Imagining that somehow we could skip that stage and just "jump" to a well-educated society, and if not should give up altogether, is again, imho, a stance that is not only demonstrably false, we just cannot afford to indulge in those types of idealism/pessimism...
Thank you
The problem is that given the facts (average IQ under 100; 80% of us overweight; overpopulation, etc.) I doubt our version of humankind is capable of studying "today's facts and history." A democracy is fueled by participation, and we are not up to participating. Hence, a grim outlook. Lie and entertain. Little buyer's remorse to be seen as Rome burns.
Not at all a helpful suggestion and I question where your stats are coming from.....a better suggestion is anyone is capable of learning; the subject matter needs to be presented in a coherent manner with reasonable arguments backed up by FACTS. This is the reason why we have to fight against the efforts to dismantle the education system in US and return to teaching as it was before this crusade to turn America fascist began. Also we must watch carefully to stem the tide to ban books...it happened under Hitler, it can happen under Trump if we let ourselves be afraid of their bullying.
I'd counter-argue that... we cannot afford such a cynical outlook on the American people, the present and future. So let's unpack your arguments for a moment.
First of all, by definition the average IQ is set at 100, so what do you mean by "average IQ under 100"?
Secondly, studying is a SKILL that anyone can develop, not some kind of innate personality trait. All that is needed is that we help others develop it (and taste the joy of develop it), that's all. Why would we miraculously no longer be able to do that... ?
Third, it's precisely when social media and unhealthy diets lower our political literacy and knowledge of the most relevant facts that we need to step up and invest in (formal and informal) methods of education again. And here, AS a progressive (defined as someone espousing most of the ideals that the vast majority of the American people today want to see Congress put into law, and who believes in the democratic process as the best way to get there), I have to admit that "the left" is in part to blame. For decades now, universities (which are mostly left-wing, if only BECAUSE conservatives turned away from believing in basic fact-checking and critical thinking for a long time already) mistakenly saw their first job (when it comes to pedagogy) as VALIDATING a student's "personal opinions" (as if these would by definition be valuable), with the explicit goal of making him/her feel valuable AS an individual, rather than prioritizing debunking false ideas and TRANSMITTING the many wonderful things people in the past (who mostly happen to be "dead old white men", for past political/cultural reasons) have invented, discovered, and created.
That's imho how today so many journalists (including most people working for The Bulwark) have such a superficial take on what is going on.
Add to that the tendency of the English-speaking world to have an aversion for "ideas" (which even made The Bulwark reduce MAGA 2.0 mostly to Trump's clownish behavior without truly refuting the neofascist ideology that was behind it and made it SO dangerous in the first place), ever since Hume saw ideas/thinking as something less real/important than the sensory level of experience... and it becomes more understandable why we got where we are at today.
Still, for all these important problems, there is only one solution: tackle them head-on. Imagining that somehow we could skip that stage and just "jump" to a well-educated society, and if not should give up altogether, is again, imho, a stance that is not only demonstrably false, we just cannot afford to indulge in those types of idealism/pessimism...